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Published: September 7th 2009
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I'm so happy to be in Vancouver!
It is wonderful to see Laura and spend time with her and talk for eons. I've been getting other great visits in to - which I'll get to. And this is such a great city. I can see why so many of my friends are moving out here. It'd be a great place to live. I'll file it away in my list of ideas for places to live . . . not yet something I'm ready to settle on.
It has been super chill being here. I arrived super late on Friday, early Saturday morning really. Saturday we had breakfast at a little diner in Laura's neighbourhood. We walked down to the beach so I could see just how close to the ocean we really are. Ah, the Pacific Ocean! I've grown quite accustomed to always having the ocean around, but I haven't seen the Pacific since my trip to California 4 years ago. We walked along the water to Granville Island. We spent some time exploring the shops on the island and Laura pointed out all the different art centres. So many great places! We had martinis on the patio that
looked across the water to downtown. We talked about life and the things I'm trying to sort out with mine. Then we went through the public market sampling and snacking and buying fresh foods to build our "epic dinner". We walked back to her place - I love being in cities where you can walk everywere! - and popped in and out of shops and bought heavenly little cupcakes. Back at Laura's, I cooked our epic dinner, then we sat on her porch talking and drinking wine. It was like when we lived in Toronto around the corner form each other. I loved it then - her being around the corner was one of my favourite parts of those few months. I love it again now.
Sunday we bused downtown. We looked in all sorts of different boutiques and visited Laura's favourite used bookstore. We went down to Canada Place, the cruise ship terminal. A Norwegian and a Celebrity ship were in. Sadly I'm missing the Carnival ship that comes to Vancouver by two days before my trip and 5 days after, otherwise I'd be meeting up with ship friends. I entertained Laura by being able to spot the
crew members walking along the streets in the area. "How can you tell?" We spent some time in Gas Town which really is a great neighbourhood, the historical area of the city. Had martinis on a patio and chatted and watched the crowds gather around the Steam Clock, an interesting site, but the extent of people's fascination with it seemed over the top. But I am playing tourist, so we took some photos there. We passed by the art gallery and the Fairmont hotel and saw the clock that is counting down to the Olympics. And then we worked our way back to Laura's neighbourhood where we had a leisurely dinner at a great vegetarian restaurant.
Monday, Laura needed some time on her own to get ready for round-two of a job interview. So I went off exploring on my own. I took the bus to downtown and then walked to Chinatown. I haven't had Dim Sum in so long so I found myself a little restaurant to have some in. The restaurant is filled with Chinese; I didn't hear any English. And I definitely kept being watched by the couple next to me - she looked at my
order to see what I was getting, he watched me pick up the chopsticks to see if I knew what I was doing. I love that I can get cultural immersions in Canadian cities! And the Dim Sum was great! After eating, I explored Chinatown some more. I went to the Chinese Gardens which were really lovely. Popped in and out of some shops - I'd forgotten how much I love shopping in Chinatown shops! - but resisted purchases only because I didn't want to carry things around all day. Then I hopped on the bus and headed off to Stanley Park.
When I was 12, my family drove across Canada from Ontario to British Columbia and we went to Vancouver. I'm not sure how long we stayed in the city, but the only two things I remember from that part of the trip is going up Grosse Mountain and biking around Stanley Park. I wanted to re-visit Stanley Park and considered renting a bike too. But then I discovered the park's shuttle - small trolleys that take you around the park and you can hop on and off them all day for only $2! So I took that
instead. And I saw many of the things around the park - the totem poles, lighthouse, Lion's Gate Bridge, Prospect Point, Second and Third Beaches, the Rose Garden. I didn't visit the aquarium, which I know is supposed to be awesome, but I get lots of sea life when I'm living a sea. I especially enjoyed the view at Prospect Point and walking through the rose gardens. At Second Beach, I also decided to hang out for awhile on the swing set. I sat down on a swing and started swinging away. At first I got a couple of funny looks from other adults walking by. Then one guy, probably also in his twenties, walked by, stopped and looked at me, then sat down on another swing and started swinging. A few minutes later, another woman did too. I liked that I spread some swing joy to other adults.
From Stanley Park, I headed back to Granville Island, this time to meet Heather! Heather and I grew up on neigbouring farms and our families have known each other for literally generations. We've both been working for Carnival (she much longer than I), though we didn't ever get to work
on a ship together. We'd intended to visit this summer when we were both home but with my limited schedule at camp, it didn't work out. However, she's just moved to Vancouver, so we got to meet up out here! My last three visits with Heather have been in Vancouver, at home and in St. Thomas (Virgin Islands) - I love how we're so all over the place, yet we get to meet up. She had a couple other friends with her, also from the ship-world, and we all had a late lunch together. Then I headed back to Laura's, taking a long leisurely walk along the waterfront. I love the constant backdrop of water and mountains here. It's so gorgeous.
And today was filled with more visits! The first was one I had not expected . . . Quentin, a South African guy who I worked with on the Destiny almost 2 years ago and hadn't seen since. Earlier in my trip, I'd seen on facebook that Quentin was in Squamish, BC. So I messaged him asking if that meant he'd be in Vancouver, because I was in Vancouver, and if we were both in the same city
we had to visit. And as it turned out, we both were! He's staying with his lady in the city while on vacation from the ships and is currently working through immigration papers to move to Canada! Very exciting news. So he picked me up and we headed downtown and had lunch on a patio overlooking Robson street. It was such a wonderful surprise to find him out here and get to visit and catch up. It had been a long time.
After Quentin dropped me back off at Laura's, I met up with Monique, another camp friend who has moved out to Vancouver. She and I had snacks and lots of chat in a lovely cafe in the neighbourhood where both she and Laura live. Then we walked down to the water and sat in the park looking out at the lovely views that I can't get enough of. She took me to the yoga studio where she teaches. Then Laura, who had her interview today and was then finished, met us and we went to a restaurant known for it's pie - good pie indeed.
In between my visits today with Quentin and Mo, I had
a phone meeting with my boss at Carnival to discuss my next contract. Nothing is yet written in stone, but things are looking promising. Hopefully soon I will have some very exciting news! But for now, I am quite content to continue soaking up Vancouver, the water, the mountains and all of the friends I seem to have scattered around the city.
Lots and lots of pics with this entry - I couldn't narrow them down!
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