Canada and Alaska – Part 1, Day 2: Tuesday in Vancouver

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We slept well and by morning, we were fully refreshed and ready to take on the Apartment’s continental breakfast! We arrived just as they were refreshing the stocks of pastries – and I’m pleased to report that they lived up to expectations!

After breakfast, our first stop, was a bit of instant retail therapy – and nostalgia – in the shape of the local Safeway!

An impressive store – and just a five-minute walk away too! That means we could easily top-up our larder for meals whilst we’re here in the Apartment.

With enough provisions for our few days here, we took advantage of gorgeous weather and spent the rest of the day out walking, taking in the local sites in-and-around Vancouver.

First call was down to Canada Place for a quick look round. We then had a coffee and a waffle before planning out the rest of our walk.

 

…and then we headed off in the general direction of Vancouver’s Chinatown.

 


…but apart from the shots above, overall, it didn’t feel very ‘Chinesey’. In stark contrast to the well-heeled souls we’d seen earlier near the Harbour, here were plenty of FOLK sleeping rough. I’m not sure what we expected of Chinatown, but overall, it was clearly a lot less affluent – and not very large. Slightly disappointed, we headed for the Metro and took a short ride to Yaletown (towards the south of the peninsular) and Yaletown Dock.

…and what a pleasant surprise! We had a beautiful view across False Creek and the weather was now even warmer (but with an occasional breeze). With these perfect weather conditions, we headed for the local Ferry that would take us to Granville Island (not really knowing much about the place). I say ‘ferry’, but it was probably the smallest we’d ever been on – maximum 8 passengers!

As things turned out, Granville Island was the highlight of our day. It had a bustling indoor market selling what seemed like everything known to man!

 




..and even stuff UNknown to man too!

What the heck are these?

Wow! what an interesting place! And so busy too!! After a thorough look round, all that food had given us an appetite… and a thirst!, and just after leaving the market, we spotted this sign for the Granville Island Brewing Company.

We didn’t need much convincing, even if what we’d read wasn’t quite believable, and we were soon sitting down looking at the menu – and struggling to decide which beer to have!

Luckily, our Server was on hand to advise us, and before too long, we’d chosen a foursome (equating to just under a pint) as well as a sharing-board of meats and cheese!


The beer complemented the food perfectly, and even Ann (not known for her love of beer) who HATES beer, commented on how nice the one was with raspberries.

Not only did this place offer a wide range of beers, it actually had the brewery next door too! Perfect!

We headed back to where we’d left the ‘micro’ ferry and jumped aboard to get across to Hornby, just the other side of False Creek and the Market.

The ferry journey was a short one – just five minutes – and were soon taking the long (but very pleasant) walk back up the west coast of the peninsular towards the apartment by way of English Bay and its beaches.

It was perfect walking weather and just under an hour later we were back at base – ready to put our feet up! If the weather is the same tomorrow (and there are conflicting forecasts), we’ll probably do some more walking and soak up some more of the local area – probably Stanley Park.