I almost didn’t do a travelogue for this trip… I mean, it’s just a pop over to Vancouver to do some visiting with friends and family, doesn’t seem that interesting to anyone other than Rob and me. But then I remembered that I send this out to nearly 150 friends, who are literally all over the world, and it might be that a good chunk of folks on that list have never been to Vancouver - and this week is also likely to generate quite a few “food porn” photos and I know how popular those are with my readers. So here we are…

Woke up to a gorgeous sunrise… on the south-facing balcony, there was a rainbow to greet the day…

…but over on the east side, Mother Nature was finger-painting the sky.

After a couple cups of coffee and the NYT crossword, we were Ubering to YYC and hanging out in Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge. I’ll tell you I’ve never been through airport security as quickly and easily as this morning. From the time we flashed the Nexus cards to the guard to the time we were on the other side of the scanner collecting our things from the tubs couldn’t have been more than three minutes. If it were like that every time, air travel would be much nicer!

Before long, we were on the plane and over the Canadian Rockies. Very little snow left, but there are the occasional smallish glaciers hanging on to a few peaks.

Air Canada can be hit and miss in terms of the food and service, but this morning we had some really nice eggs with a chunky ranchero sauce, potatoes, fruit bowl, and a sausage. Really good - and here’s your first food pic.

Since Vancouver has a really good mass transit system from the airport (are you listening, Calgary???) and because we only had carry-on luggage, we ditched the cabs and Ubers and opted for public transit instead. The SkyTrain was built for the 1986 World Expo here, but it’s now used by thousands of people every day. It’s just so easy. Buy a ticket at the kiosk and tap the ticket to the turnstile. Soon, here’s your train.

We rode all the way to the end of the line and got off at the Waterfront station, where we transferred to a SeaBus. These are rectangular, squatty boats that cross the harbour all day from Vancouver cruise terminal area to North Vancouver. The boats are roomy and the trip is only 12 minutes.

The best part is that the ticket you bought for the train works on the SeaBus, too. Just tap it at the turnstile and on you go. Our SeaBus dropped us off at Lonsdale Quay - which is supposed to be pronounced “key” but so many people mispronounce it as “kway” that the dictionary now lists that as an alternate pronunciation. And before you get your undies in a bunch over that, I’ll let you know that in spite of what most people (myself included) believed, the dictionary doesn’t provide the correct spelling and pronunciation of words, it provides a record of the current common usage.
If you’re reeling over that info, I feel you. I felt the same way when Webster’s (and others) started printing “noo-cue-ler” as an accepted pronunciation of “nuclear” (noo-clee-er). Their rationale was that at least two American presidents (Jimmy Carter and George W Bush, for the record) pronounced it that way. I’m still bitter about it. I wonder if “covfefe” or “hamberder”will make it in there with the a similar excuse…

[Back on topic]

We walked a short distance on a gorgeous sunny day to the Pinnacle at the Pier, one of Rob’s favourite hotels. We were well before check-in time, so our room wasn’t available yet, but the nice lady at the desk offered to put us in a different room that was ready to go. Sure, no problem! When we got to the room, we realized we’d been upgraded to one facing the harbour. Suh-weet!

The room is spacious, the bed is comfy, and the view off the balcony doesn’t suck at all.

This used to be shipyards, but now it’s a bustling retail and residential area with restaurants, shopping, hotels, and such. After a quick nap, we headed back to Lonsdale Quay for a belt for me (forgot to pack mine) and a bite of lunch.

Decided on “WELA” for lunch after seeing a group of people with food from there that looked really good. It was! Got the bulgogi bowl (Korean style marinated sliced beef, carrots, cucumber, pickled red cabbage, brown rice, sesame seeds, onions, romaine lettuce, and a big dash of sriracha sauce.)

A bit of a walkabout after that, enjoying the sunshine, then we popped into the Fresh St Market for some snacks, milk for coffee, extra coffee pods, and Diet Coke before heading back to the hotel and getting to work. This is actually a working holiday for me, as I’m the chair of Classic Bronze Handbell Ringing Association and we’re less than three weeks away from the start of the big handbell festival that happens every two years. This is the first year it has been in Calgary and the first year I’ve been involved with making it happen, so I’ve got a lot to work on while I’m here “on vacation!” If you want to know what I’m talking about, have a look at the website.

Evening came and our Jon and Lisa (niece & nephew) joined us for dinner to celebrate Lisa’s retirement from the Sav-On Foods company after 40 years(!) I guess she started when she was still in grade school.

Dinner for me was a tuna poké bowl. I’ve really grown to like poké, man. (sorry)

At this point, I’m just going to get a bit of work done while I wait for darkness to fall on the harbour for a nice ending photo… [time passes]

Well, that was the plan. I was too tired to stay up and crashed early (for me) around 11pm. But I woke up at 3:30am for a washroom break, liked what I saw outside, and got dressed and went down to the waterfront to get the photo.

…and here it is:

Now, back to bed.

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