Now, even though Canada isn't our home nor our native land...Branden and I still had a wonderful time visiting Vancouver B.C. for a quick weekend getaway. The original purpose of this visit was for Branden to see his beloved Zags play against Hawaii. Well, they won (73-54)...which was the good news! YAY! However the upset lies in the fact that Roger's Arena wouldn't serve us a beer! We stood in line for a minimum of 20 minutes, only to be told we need TWO pieces of identification for EACH of us. WHAT?! Your country allows 19 year olds to drink any ole' day, and your telling me a 26 year old from the U.S. needs to bring a passport and drivers license into the arena for a beer. A sign would have been nice.......nonetheless--we watched a win on Saturday night and it was awesome!
We drove up mid-day on November 18th and went straight to the Victoria Hotel. Well done Branden, well done. It was a historical boutique hotel that was in a great location and fit our needs. That night, we walked and walked until we finally decided to eat at Japa Dog. I love me some hot dogs, but this just didn't do it for me. Branden on the other hand, devoured his.
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| Megan's dog = Okonomi |
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| Branden's dog = Oroshi |
Post dinner at the food cart, we went to an Irish Pub to get warm and get some [expensive] beer. The good ole "sin tax" got us good...all weekend! Here is the breakdown of why it cost us a pretty penny for a drink or two....There have been many justifications for having an excise tax, both federal and local, on beer. Some argue that these so-called “sin taxes” are a great tool for curbing habits that are deemed less than healthy, while others see them simply as a tax on a luxury item. Credit: Trappist Punks.
The following morning we walked, a lot. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. I didn't know what to expect, but seeing Vancouver in the daylight made me enjoy the city that much more! In 2010, it was ranked as having the 4th highest quality of living of any city on earth (but also one of the most expensive cities to live in!). In the 1950's, city planners began encouraging the building of high-rise residential towers in Vancouver. This is still the case today. In my picture tour below, you'll see several buildings with floors and floors of livable space, and business opportunities on the ground level. Basically, it's completely walkable/liveable.
Here's what our walk included:
-Running into a guy who fell from his apartment from a potential domestic abuse fight.
-Breafast at The Templeton. Ohh boy, it was yummy!!
-Walked 3,600 feet across Cambie Bridge to Granville Island.
-Used the freeway off ramp to exit the Bridge (there is no stairwell down to ground-level, woops!)
-Spent some time on Granville Island (ooogling over yummy fruits, cheeses, veggies and meats).
-Listed to a musician and his Hurdy Gurdy. You know you're curious...click here!
-Took the water taxi back to the mainland. Realization sets in that no one walks the bridge like we did.
Insert: Water Taxi Pictures
-Drinks at Shark Club. Saw the BC Lions football players AND a women getting stood-up (....for hours....)
The rest of the weekend included the b-ball game, late night pizza, Irish pubs (Side note: pizza and Irish Pubs are HUGE in Vancouver), a taco restaurant, stolen hot sauce (Branden!), junk food at the local 7-Eleven, sleep, then a drive-through tour of Stanley Park. And on the way home...we went to McDonald's. Soo typical of us on a road trip. But, this is where we found out you can get 50 chicken nuggets for $10. Wowza! And no, we didn't order it. Overall, it was a successful trip! I still can't believe that I've lived in Seattle my whole life-and have never visited Vancouver. I highly recommend the trip. It's truly a beautiful city!
Take a glance at our "walking" picture tour of Vancouver!
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| Picture Collage 1 |
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| Picture Collage 2 |
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| Picture Collage 3 |
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| Picture Collage 4 |
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| Picture Collage 5 |
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| Picture Collage 7 |
The.End.
2 comments:
As always, GORGEOUS photos Megs! Looks like you guys had a wonderful time.
Loved this! You take wonderful photos. I think Kevin and I will try the walk across the bridge, if it's nice out, I'm up for the challenge :)
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