Before I get into Vancouver, I wanted to post a picture of the room in San Francisco. I'm sure many older hotels have beds like these, but I hadn't slept in one until now.
We arrived in Vancouver late on Saturday night. We went to a local pub and then went to bed. The next day was New Years Eve. We asked the hotel receptionist about some of the areas we were interested in and what day(s) they'd be open. The Granville Island public market area would be closed on New Years day, so we hopped on the train and went south to the tiny mini island.
Inside the public market, we were offered many food samples, including little Taiwanese blueberry and pineapple cakes, which I picked up, along with different nuts, seasoned with different flavors. I picked up something from this stand as well. We found a fairly exotic craft stand and picked something out to be shipped home as a belated birthday gift for my father.
At night, we ate at a Thai restaurant and then walked around the town. As it was New Years Eve, the town was busy.
One thing that I noticed about Vancouver is that there isn't a huge amount of people. It is fairly sparse. What isn't sparse is the homeless problem, which is absolutely bonkers. I've never seen as many homeless people all together in my life, including my many trips into New York City. It is sad, and even sadder because it is absolutely freezing in Vancouver this time of year.
There are not many things open on New Years day, but the Bloedel Conservatory, just south of Vancouver's downtown, was open. Once we got off the bus, it was a short walk up a hill, that offered some beautiful views. We were one of the first people into the conservatory, which was filled with over 120 birds and many flowers. I took so many bird pictures that I decided to give them their own upcoming blog post.
Once back in downtown Vancouver, we ate lunch at a well rated Indian take out place. I asked if their chicken tikka masala was spicy. She hesitated before saying medium. I have to assume that when someone like me asks this question, the person answering is thinking, "Does he mean spicy for a white person or an Indian person?" She offered me a sample. I've been meaning to try the real version of this dish, as I've only had the frozen dinner variant so far. It was very good, though I drank three glasses of water while eating it. I also had naan for the first time. It was absolutely incredible.
We walked around town for a bit and I caught this side of a building, which was beautifully covered in art.
The next day we took a bus from Vancouver to a ferry, which brought us to Vancouver Island, and then another bus to Victoria. I've never been on a ferry that shook as much as this one did while turning.
We checked into a brilliant and elegant, old hotel, called the Fairmon Empress. I paid for it by cashing in free nights that I've accrued on the booking site that I use. I'd never have paid what they were charging! The weather, which has been rainless until now, is scheduled to be rain for the rest of the trip. We went out tonight with borrowable umbrellas that are in front of the hotel. I will post pictures of the town at night in tomorrow's blog.
After the wetness started bothering me, we decided to walk over to a local four storied mall. Inside, we found that they had a Christmas display setup, across two floors, where companies and organizations donated their own decorated trees. Some were quite creative.
We have a few ideas about what to do during the rain tomorrow, but no solid plan yet.
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