Mike, Jamie and I spent the day walking around downtown Vancouver, getting our bearings and checking out the beautiful town. It was a brisk 6 degrees, but the walking and frequent food/hot drink breaks made it perfectly tolerable.
We headed out from Mike's pad on Keefer place, and made our way via central Vancouver to the Burrard Inlet. Vancouver central is on a penninsula, surrounded by water and views of snow capped mountains on all sides. It's stunning, and the mountains inspire awe whenever they sneak into view.
The city has some beautiful architecture, and a strong 'arty' feel with many installations and sculptures. It's a neat and clean city, and the traffic is orderly and gives way to pedestrians - which is nice after Derby traffic (sorry Derby, but it's true).
The convention centre (below) puts the Perth one slightly (vastly) to shame - it is a huge and well designed building with a rooftop garden (inaccessible, we found...) and contains 3 giant flying straw eggs. We liked the eggs.
The city has some beautiful architecture, and a strong 'arty' feel with many installations and sculptures. It's a neat and clean city, and the traffic is orderly and gives way to pedestrians - which is nice after Derby traffic (sorry Derby, but it's true).
The convention centre (below) puts the Perth one slightly (vastly) to shame - it is a huge and well designed building with a rooftop garden (inaccessible, we found...) and contains 3 giant flying straw eggs. We liked the eggs.
We stopped for lunch at Templeton - an original refurbished 1950s diner. The menu was extensive and included healthy vego/vegan options, original diner food choices as well as the Canadian classic "poutine" - chips with gravy and cheese curds and tomato sauce. We gave that one a miss, and had fab salads instead. All was well except my sesame tuna looked suspiciously like chicken...and I ate it, and it was. 2 years of pescatorian-ism ruined in one FOWL swoop. Damn. We didn't have to pay for the tuna though...
The pic below is Jamie and Mike wandering back through downtown Couv - I was a bit taken with the strange green colour of the roof behind them, although the cold overcast day washed the colour out a little.
The final pic is the boys playing in the mud with some large friends they found on our stroll.
The pic below is Jamie and Mike wandering back through downtown Couv - I was a bit taken with the strange green colour of the roof behind them, although the cold overcast day washed the colour out a little.
The final pic is the boys playing in the mud with some large friends they found on our stroll.
