Thanksgiving in Vancouver

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Our first Thanksgiving in Canada was exactly what it should be - a fun weekend full of food and wine, feeling thankful for good friends and family.

We were lucky enough to get an invite to Vancouver to spend Thanksgiving with our friends Zara and Simon. We hired a car and left after work on Friday night, spending the night in Kamloops so we could get to Vancouver fairly early on Saturday. It was a bit of a shock to arrive in Vancouver, with all the traffic and people everywhere - after a year in Jasper, Jamie and I have apparently turned into small-town people. It was a little overwhelming to start with, but we found our way to Simon's apartment in West End, and only needed a cup of tea and a short time to calm ourselves down before we were ready to explore.

Zara and Simon had their work cut out for them - Jamie and I have been thinking about moving to Vancouver, so this was their big chance to convince us that Vancouver is the best city in the world to live. We started off with a nice lunch and then a bike ride around Stanley Park. Riding around the sea wall was a great introduction to Vancouver - Jamie and I have never been big fans of cities, but how can you not like a big buzzy metropolis that is surrounded by sparkling water and huge snow-capped mountains? Stanley Park is huge as well - a little oasis in the middle of a city.

We also had a little bit of an opportunity to explore Kitsilano, which is where Zara lives. We topped off our first day with dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant and drinks at Bayside Lounge....lovely!

Next day we head off to Squamish - the main reason that Jamie is keen on moving to Vancouver. He has dreams of climbing the Grand Wall - all 17 pitches - one day. But today we had set our sights on a more realistic goal - hiking to the top. The hike was fantastic, starting in a deep dark woods. The trees were absolutely huge, bigger than anything we've seen in Alberta, and when we broke out through the trees we were greeted by the most amazing views down the valley and out to Howe Sound. The trail is quite steep, with an elevation gain of 750m by the time you reach the 3rd peak. Near the top, we even got to use fixed ropes and chains and ladders to get up the larger rocky areas. It was hard work, but the view from the top was totally worth the effort.

Jamie spent a bit of time peering over the edges of cliffs and imagining himself climbing up them. We all managed to crawl to the edge and have a look over, but I think Jamie was the only one who was enthusiastic about abseiling off! Luckily for us, we had no rope available and Jamie would have to wait for another opportunity.

After Squamish we headed back to Zara's, where Simon cooked us our first Thanksgiving dinner. It was fantastic. We all hung around in the kitchen offering moral support (or just watching, some might say) until it was ready. We drank champagne, ate the best roast dinner ever and then played a bit of Cranium. Now I'm not one for board games, especially if there's a performance element to it, but this was the best game EVER! Maybe the wine/champagne/beer helped, but it was seriously so much fun - I've never laughed so much!

On Monday we went out for brunch and then it was time for Jamie and I to head back to Jasper. We haven't decided whether Vancouver is the next place for us to live, but after having so much fun with Zara and Simon, I know we'll be back...

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