Project 289 - Day 232 : Criss Crossing Vancouver Like a Hummingbird on Speed

What a madcap but totally fun day!

I long ago gave up what I lovingly refer to as Frenetic Tourism, where you dash back and forth in an ever maddening frenzy trying to get to absolutely everything that's listed in the guidebook. But today, in an attempt to re-visit some of my favourite old haunts in Vancouver (I have visited at least 8 times so the tourist sites were done and done repeatedly a long time ago), Ken and I hit the road early in the morning, dropped the kids off to daycare, Sandra off to work in Burnaby and then raced downtown to the first stop - GRANVILLE ISLAND.

This is a very funky precinct with views of the City and the Granville Island and Burrard Bridges - got some cool photos with them behind me - and everything from a public food market (where I got the most delicious butter pecan tart @ Staurt's Cakes ...YUM!) where we first encountered what seemed to become an ever growing throng of Japanese school girls, artists enclaves (including the work of the fabulous Peter Kess) and fantastically unique and one of a kind stores. The day was cold but sunny, and it was wonderfully relaxing moseying from building to building browsing, grabbing all sorts of cool stuff like moose-themed fridge magnets, a Canadian toque (pronounced 'tuke', which is like a beanie) and fun kitchen utensils and soaking in a totally unique tourist precinct.

We screamed out of the parking garage - actually we drove out carefully but 'screaming' sounds far more dramatic! - and headed down the street all of 5-10 minutes (with the help of Ken's GPS street directory which has, of all things, an Aussie accent called Karen) to the funky neighbourhood of KITSILANO. It's very Newtown-esque with many one of a kind stores and a number of fun chain stores including Mantique where I got a smokin' pair of jeans and trendy cardigan/jacket hybrid. But before the shopping began, and that involved walking up and down 5 blocks each way so again with the exercise, we lunched at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, which reminds me so much of my favourite cafes in Newtown and Erskineville. I ate the most divinely delicious vegetable and nut burger with a coconut and banana burger and in a world of ordinary cookie cutter food, the food was one of a kind and an event in itself. While we ate, we took in the million and one retro toys and sundry other items attached to the walls. The whole neighbourhood is so much fun!

Final stop, and one of my favourite places on Earth, is STANLEY PARK, a heavily forested area that occupies an entire head of a peninsula on the edge of Vancouver's downtown. It also has Vancouver's aquarium in it which I visited on my first trip in 1994, and a seawall path that goes right around the park. It's a long walk, something like 10km, and baby, we walked it all! Ken thought it would take about an hour to do but 1.5 hours we were still walking, and mad eit back to the car a full hour after our parking had expired! (Sadly yes Ken got fined.) The views around every bend were just gorgeous and I snapped something like 105 photos on that leg of the day alone (see some below....well eventually when I post them!).

Just to remind me that we were in a large city we got stuck in a traffic jam for 1 hour trying to pick Sandra and the kids up, and eventually, wedged firmly in gridlock, Sandra had to catch the train home, and the kids were picked up by friends. But we finally found PoCo again and had a lovely relaxed night, which was a good thing since my legs were absolutely toast after a 10km bike ride yesterday, and a 10km seawall walk today. Ah the bliss of not moving!

BIRTHDAY DINNER

After a day spent racing hither and fro across Vancouver,