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Published: September 26th 2018
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Cousins
Christopher & Maria Tuesday, September 25
Vancouver, BC Canada
So....the suite is PITCH BLACK when the sun goes down (and the lights are off)....perfect. The only issue...if one has to visit the loo in the middle of the night in a strange room....might get a bit precarious (just sayin'). We survived just fine!
We got a minimally late start to the day; we are, after all, on vacation - 8:30 is NOT late. Right? Nah. So, clean-up and off to Sciute for breakfast (we had a snack there yesterday and thought we'd try for our starter today). Ordered an omelette a double espresso and waited for our food to arrive. Freshly made to order omelette (spinach, provolone and pancetta)...who knew the spinach was sauteed with garlic. I literally had an entire clove of semi raw garlic in my spinach stuffed omelette (DISGUSTING). I managed to pick out 98% of the garlic...able to reassemble the clove on my plate. So gross. I despise garlic...it does wicked things to my digestive system. The bread and coffee were sublime - but I HAD to get back to the room to brush my teeth and gargle to get the garlic taste out of
Elevator Hint
This is GENIUS. How often, when on holiday, does one wonder which day it is? The Pan Pacific has solved this problem! my mouth. Success.
We decided to take a nice long walk along the waterfront to Stanley Park. Today the sun shone through billowing clouds which ultimately were blown inland by the soft breezes, a perfect weather day. Fall chill. The trees were ablaze with colors from light green to scarlet red. Some trees, their delicate golden leaves slowly drifting down to the earth below on the slight breezes, cast a mottled shade on our walk. We are at Canada Place and walked all the way into Stanley Park (I'm guessing at least a mile, perhaps two...we don't do metric)....gonna have to learn. We walked for almost two hours, more like a leisurely stroll, with minor bursts, this was no race. Again, we're on vacation. As we walked back towards our hotel, we noticed an increase in walkers, bikers and hikers - LUNCHTIME. The crowd expanded exponentially. In their wisdom Vancouver has segregated the bikers from the hikers - dodging a cyclist can be hazardous to one's health - no worries here!
Arrived back at the hotel to monitor the progress of our travel partners. So far so good - other than a minor hick-up here and there with some delays out of Seattle. BE and Jeremy had a VERY early start to their day as did Paula, Steve and Lee, Perry. All arrived safely at their various times - and we presume are totally ZONKED after their respective travel days. I got to writing and Christopher tried to solve my texting issue (Samsung 9+ is driving me NUTS with the multimedia texting failure messages....SAMSUNG/Verizon...FIX IT!) Rested, did some writing (previous blog entry).
After recharging ourselves, we decided to grab a little something before it got too late as we have 6:30 dinner reservations and it was almost 3:00. We decided on the Lobby Bar where we each had a Boulevardier and a spicy shrimp dragon roll - just enough to slake our thirst and hunger without spoiling our dinner. Done with "lunch" we went on a mission to the Pharmacy and Sephora to pick up a few items. Done. Back to the hotel and get ready for dinner.
Darren and Maria picked us up and drove us to dinner. The Restaurant, St Lawrence, is a real "Quebecois" style restaurant. WE LOVED IT! Christopher started with a Richart, Maria had a Champagne, Darren and I each had a Sazerac - so sophisticated, right? The space is quite intimate a few tables spaced appropriately and a bar seating area. The space allows for normal conversation without having to shout. Soothing blue/grey walls with traditional decor add to the experience - it has a real "French" feel.
The Food. THE FOOD - what a menu! We started with Oreilles de Crisse (Tears of Christ) which are fried pork rinds with maple syrup & spice...mere words cannot express the true genius and taste of this dish. Suffice to say it is a must have for the table. Devoured. Then a rabbit sausage (special) and a pate filled puff pastry with a wild cherry and fig sauce...OMFG. It was THAT good. A small amuse bouche arrived which was a tablespoon of pate with a wonderful mustard sauce (likely housemade). Our entrees....Maria and I ordered the Tourtiere de ville au cerf (Venison traditional meat pie); Christopher ordered the Ballotine de Canard, navets et sauce Barbra Streisand (Duck in orange sauce); Darren ordered the special - a Ham Steak with meatball, pickled egg and potato (not on the menu, so no french description...sorry). The meal was sublime. Each of us admitted to one another that if possible, we would have licked our plates. Dessert...What, you think we didn't order dessert after gorging ourselves on that meal? WE ORDERED DESSERT. The Rice pudding (with salted caramel sauce) is served "for the table" Yes please - but a small portion - perhaps a table of 2? We also ordered a flaky - I MEAN FLAKY Fudge Napoleon. The pastry melted in your mouth.
Dinner was an event. A two hour event sharing stories, food and excellent conversation. A perfect evening. Darren drove us back to the hotel where we said our goodbyes and promised to get together soon - a promise we intend to keep.
Tuesday done. Wednesday with the gang....more to come.
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