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Published: October 13th 2012
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It's amazing how good you can feel after a great sleep! Waking up Thursday morning I felt refreshed and ready to get out and continue exploring this fantastic city. I was really hanging for a nice, hot cuppa and so I headed to one of the many Tim Horton coffee shops that are all over the city (along with the multitude of Subway shops, seriously I have about 6 of them within a three block radius!) and feeling like I had started my day in my normal way I headed off to find a bike rental shop so that I could cycle around Stanley Park.
I headed to Coal Harbour to start this adventure and had managed to get about 6 blocks from my hotel when I was stopped by a police motorcade which had pulled up outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. As each car went by I peered inside trying to see who was getting such special attention...secretly hoping it might have been President Obama (please peeps, I
know that I am in Canada and not the United States, but I was
hoping that he may have decided to pop across the border for a quick little visit) but
alas each car was empty! A little crowd was gathering on the pavement trying to see who the dark cars and men in black suits was for so I decided to hang with them to work out who was in town. Whispers started through the crowd that it was for Justin Bieber who had performed in Vancouver the night prior. Hmmm, difficult decision do I continue to hang out or do I move on? To help out with the decision, I decided to ask a lovely police office what was going on, he told me that they were conducting a training exercise for potential future visits by dignatories. As lovely as the police man was, I wasn't sure if he was being truthful - I mean surely they say that to keep people moving on? But at the same time I had no great burning desire to waste my time on potentially nothing or nobody so I contined on to Coal Harbour.
I collected a bike from one of the shops offering them for rent and took off for the 9km or so bike ride around the sea wall. The ride was fantastic! For the most part the path
is one way for cyclists and skaters this is to avoid any nasty collisions, particularly in the summertime when I can only imagine how busy it would be. The path winds around Stanley Park with a number of stops that you can make along the way. First stop - First Nations Totem Poles which are a gesture of welcome to the traditional Coast Salish people. Back on the bike and the second stop was the Girl in the Wetsuit Statue which reminded me of the Little Mermaid Statue in Copenhagen only this statue was much more modern with a set of goggles resting on her head. After passing underneath the massive span of the Lions Gate Bridge I spotted a sea lion out in the water. The beautiful animal was lolling around in the water looking at me with it's big brown sad looking eyes, I managed to get a picture just as it was diving back under the water. Another few kilometres on saw me arriving at Third Beach and then a little futher along was Second Beach (clearly the one way cycle path goes in the wrong direction!!) before I cut back through to Coal Harbour where I
could just life my leg high enough to dismount gracefully from the bike. Walking away, just a little sore from the bike seat, I was really glad that I had made the decision to see the park in this manner. Chances are that I will do the path again on one of my other days/visits to Vancouver.
After all of that exercise and fresh air I decided to do a little shopping - just to see what exciting stuff they have on this side of the world. I was very restrained in the clothing and cosmetic shops (only two tops and two scarves even after finding the new OPI Gold Flake nailpolish at a bargain price!) and after looking in the stores I decided that I would try some of the 'candy' that I have heard about. My first purchase - a box of Milk Duds which are a chewy caramel covered in milk chocholate. Yes, I know it sounds a lot like a fantale, and it did remind me of fantales although they do seem yummier. They are incredibly sweet, so I can only eat a few at a time, and the box seems never ending - they
could be good on one of my long train trips!
Today, I decided to walk off the soreness from the bike ride (read into that sore bum!) and head to Granville Island - the long way. In hindsight it was a lttle silly given that the rain had set in overnight and it was quite a long walk (almost 7kms) however the path did take me past BC Place (the 2010 Olympic Stadium and now the home of the BC Lions and the Vancouver Whitecaps the football and soccer teams) and Rogers Place (the home of the Vancouver Canucks the Ice Hockey team). Arriving at Granville Island, in my slightly soggy jeans, I wandered in and out of the many markets that they have. Fresh food stalls are mixed in with jewellery and arts and crafts in the Public Markets. It is quite a pretty little area, with the shops brightly coloured, offering the typical tourist type gems.
The weather forecast for the near future: rain, rain, rain and more rain - perfect weather for my hair! The locals are happy to see the rain again as it has apparently been quite dry for the last few weeks.
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Michelle
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Can you please post a photo of the nail polish!