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Saved: September 15th 2021
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These days, it seems like the only way I can make it through the weekend without going into the office is to get out of town. So a couple of weeks ago, I decided I would spend the Canada Day long weekend in Vancouver with my sister and her boyfriend.
My flight was late leaving home, and while I was sitting in the airport waiting for my plane to show up, I witnessed an accident on the runway. A catering truck tried driving under the wing of a parked plane, but he didn't have enough room. There was a large shattering sound, and everyone in the terminal looked out the window to see the truck stuck under the wing of the plane.
I hadn't been to Vancouver in the summer since I was too young to remember it. My last two trips over the Rockies to here were in the winter, when the sea, the sky, and the city are all gray. I arrived in Vancouver after dark, so it wasn't until the next day that I saw how beautiful the city is in the summer.
We watched the first World Cup quarterfinal of the weekend from my
sisters' place, in our pyjamas. She had to leave to go to work for a couple of hours, so after the first match, her boyfriend and I headed out to find a place to watch the next quarterfinal on Commercial Drive. Since Italy was playing, and we were in Little Italy, everywhere was packed, with crowds on the sidewalks looking through the windows. We managed to find a spot in a little 'hole in the wall' English pub that had amazing food, a good selection of beer, and several televisions showing the game. After Italy won, we joined the crowds celebrating on the street. The police came along and shut down the street to traffic for a few hours, and everyone had a great time in the sun. There were flags and painted faces everywhere, and people playing soccer. A small group of Ukrainian fans paraded through, still proud of their team despite their defeat. When the German fans came through with their flags, it didn't change the mood of the crowd--both sides were just excited to be facing each other in the semi-finals.
As things started winding down, we popped into a gelato shop (when in Little Italy...)
for a sweet fix before heading out for a walk. We ended up walking for several hours in the hot sun. I hadn't planned on being outside for that long when we left home that morning, so I had no sunscreen. My arms ended up as red as the Canadian Flag, and painful. By the time we reached downtown and caught a bus back home, we were exhausted.
The next day, Canada Day, we headed downtown to a great pub to catch France's quarter-final defeat of Brazil after watching England lose in our pyjamas. This time I had my sunscreen with me, so we spent a few hours at the beach after the game.
That evening, my sister and I headed down to Granville Island in search of fish 'n chips for dinner, before her boyfriend met us and we walked along the water towards Kitsilano to watch the fireworks across the water. Vancouver doesn't have it's own Canada Day fireworks, but fortunately North and West Vancouver have theirs far enough out to see from many of Vancouver's beaches. It was a great way to end a fun, football-filled weekend.
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