Day 3 in Vancouver

Today, Saturday, we were extremely lucky to have a sunny day! Yay! We were also very lucky as we discovered that out tickets for the hop-on hop-off bus had not been dated so we were able to use it a second day for free. Double yay!

One of the many different views of Stanley Park

So first on the to-do list was to head back to Stanley Park and to wander around and see the whole thing. When we got off the bus, our driver told us that another (different) bus would be coming in 10mins which was a free tour of the park. You say free, we say yes. This tour was really good and allowed us to see far more in our short space of time than if we had walked around the whole place.

The totem poles at Stanley Park

View from Stanley Park

Next, we got back on the hop-on hop-off bus and rode it to Gastown, named after Gassy Jack, the founder of the first saloon here. This is quite a touristy area with the majority of Vancouver's souvenir shops, but we found good food and cool souvenirs (I got super awesome PJ pants with moose's all over them!), and it led into Canada Place which had the Olympic cauldron and some nice views.

Gastown

The Olympic cauldron

The view towards the mountains from Canada Place

I really wish we had more time to spend in Canada. I would love to come back and drive across the whole country (yes I realise I need a license to do this!). It is just so stunningly beautiful. If anybody is interested, let me know!

Day 2 in Vancouver

Friday was yet again cold and rainy so we were in a bit of a dilemma as to how to fill our day as everything we had planned to do was outside (and we are without wet weather gear). We decided to do one of the hop-on/hop-off bus tours as they were half enclosed so if the rain let up we could sit out in the open or if it kept raining we could see the sights from inside. This proved to be quite a good idea as out knowledge of Vancouver is extremely limited so we were able to go to all the sights and have a look. We visited places such as Stanley Park, English Bay, Granville Island, Robson Street and Gastown.

Part of Stanley Park

Entrance to Granville Island

English Bay Beach

At the 'Engagement' sculpture at English Bay

Thankfully, our view of Vancouver has dramatically changed. We love it here and wish we could spend much more time in Canada. It is so pretty with so many nice areas in the city. Saturday is supposed to be sunny so fingers crossed we will get to have a closer look at some of the areas we really liked.

Friday night we had tickets to see Tegan and Sara at Malkin Bowl which is in Stanley Park. It was quite a lot like when there are events at Kings Park only in Australia we don't seem to be stupid enough to book a concert outside in a park in a time we know is most likely going to be raining. So we were rather dreading the night as it was raining and freezing and we didn't have wet weather clothing or jackets. we walked into the fenced off area and about 40% of it was mud (great for my canvas shoes!), there was no sheltered area and umbrella's were not allowed in the venue (fair enough). We had to choose if we wanted to be sheltered a bit from rain under the big trees on the hill or huddled and slightly warmer down the front but in the rain. We chose under the tree as if we got wet, we would be freezing anyway.

Malkin Bowl

So we perched ourselves on some massive roots and sat in the cold waiting (we got there rather early as the hop on hop off stopped right next to the venue so we took the last service they ran but it got us there just as gates were opening). The show was really good but it was a very cold, uncomfortable experience. And I think I may have ranted way too much just now but I want you to really understand how damn cold it was!

Tegan and Sara

Very cold at Tegan and Sara

By the end of the concert we were shaking with the cold, sore from trying to huddle into balls, various body parts were numb and I couldn't feel my toes at all and they stayed numb the entire way back to the hotel (we took a bus and then walked 8 blocks and they were still cold!). To try and warm up, we ducked into Tim Horton's (love) for hot chocolates and doughnuts.

My 'Canada' doughnut

(yes those are little maple leaf candies)

First Day in Vancouver

So, as title suggests, yesterday we left San Fran for Vancouver. It's so time consuming every time we swap cities. It's annoying, we lose a whole day practically. So anyway, we got to Vancouver late afternoon and it was raining and rather miserable looking. Not very inspiring, even though I love the rain.

We are staying downtown so we decide we would go for a little walk and attempt to dodge the rain. We are just not really equipped for the wet and cold due to limited suitcase space. As the downpour set in we retreated back to our hotel as we didn't really know what we could do to fill time. Everything we have planned for Vancouver is outside and pretty much relies on it not raining. Fingers crossed the next two days with be ok.

Dinner was had at a cool bar/pub next to our hotel called Morrissey's with great music and then we went to the other side of the hotel for Belgian hot chocolates and tasty cupcakes (still raining hence close proximity to hotel!).

Christie with our hot chocolates and yummy cupcakes