Vancouver 2

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This morning we awoke, very early again, to cloudy skies and a big drop in temperature. We set off for our planned bike ride, but decided to get off the sky train at central Vancouver for a quick look around there first. This proved to be anything but quick, as we somehow kept going the wrong way and eventually ended up in China town and then Gas town. We had planned to visit these areas in the afternoon, but actually this did work out better, as by the time we actually hired the bikes the sky was clearing and we had another lovely warm day. The bikes were only 7 speed, but had a lovely comfy saddle, which we were very pleased with as we did not have our lycra on!! The ride around Stanley Park, which is a huge urban park with water on three sides, was very enjoyable with many lovely views. We stopped for an ice cream overlooking the imaginatively named third beach and admired the pool at second beach. We also biked along the shoreline of downtown Vancouver overlooking English Bay to False Creek. We returned the bikes after about 4 hours and after a restorative coffee, we caught a bus back to False Creek to catch one of the many little ferries over to Granville Island. This is a small island which has been regenerated and houses a marvellous undercover food market along with many other diverse shops and wharves. After a good browse we sat in the sunshine enjoying a lovely meal, whilst listening to a street performer and indulging in a spot of people watching. A lovely end to yet another enjoyable day in Vancouver. Tomorrow we pick up our car and head over to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

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