October 9 – 11, 2014: I’ve heard from more than one person that Vancouver is their favorite city. I get it, there’s green space and waterfront, along with public transportation and jobs. I guess I’m just not a city girl. It’s taken me a long time to admit this but I think it’s true. I probably belong in overalls on a farm. We had a great time in Vancouver but I already miss the open space, mountains, and small towns that I’ve grown accustomed to in Canada.
Whilst in Vancouver we had drinks at a brewery (Steamworks Brewery), pubs, and cocktail bars; and dinner at an amazing restaurant. We explored the Gastown area, we saw seaplanes take off and land (can you imagine commuting daily on a sea plane?), found the Olympic Cauldron, walked the trails of Stanley Park, visited the Vancouver Aquarium, and walked the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
Dinner was at the Japanese restaurant Miku. It was nice to sit down and have a great meal – sushi for Michael and Shabu Shabu (raw meat, vegetables and udon noodles ready to be cooked in hot pot broth) for me; along with sake and wine. Sometimes, living in Camper Dan, I start to feel a little lowbrow and dinners such as this remind me that we can still enjoy the finer things in life. Now probably isn’t a good time to mention that we also ate at The Tomahawk Barbeque – featured on Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins.
The Vancouver Aquarium was definitely a highlight – they had absolutely stunning jellyfish exhibits. Jellyfish are so delicate and elegant that you feel like you’re watching a choreographed ballet. There were also outdoor interactive programs; we watched one with beluga whales and another with sea otters. I don’t think I had ever seen a beluga whale and it’s funny because Camper Dan has been said to look like a beluga. I now see the resemblance.
The Capilano Suspension Bridge is touristic and probably wasn’t worth the money. Admission covered walking on a large suspension bridge over a canyon river, a forest walk, a cliff walk and a tree top walk (that also had some smaller suspension bridges). It was nice to get back into nature – the park is in one of the few temperate rain forests in the world – but we’ve seen so many beautiful vistas and had so many amazing experiences recently that it seemed a bit contrived. Perhaps if you’re only experiencing Vancouver (without other parts of British Columbia and Alberta) then it is an interesting diversion from city life.
Accommodation: