It started out with a walk from the house/hostel/whatever to the Skylink Train. Super easy to ride and took us straight ot Granville. Unfortunately, not the island like I had thought. So, after some directions from a security guard in the station, which was ignored since it wasn't what we wanted, we walked down Granville. We stopped once to get batteries because a guy was walking really close to us and we wanted to lose him but otherwise it was an uneventful trip down. We crossed over the massive Granville Bridge and probably added half a mile to our walk getting down off the bridge and back over to Granville Island and the incredible Farmer's Market with the fruits, veg, bakeries, chocolate shops, flower shops, coffee stalls, nuts and maple syrup stalls and several little restaurants. My first market of the trip and it was totally worth it. Plus, it's all inside so perfect for a chilly March afternoon.
After waiting about fifteen minutes, we boarded this tiny little ferry which took us through False Creek and over to the Science Centre. While riding, we saw some of the new buildings of downtown Vancouver, Olympic Village, the one remaining manufacturing plant on the south side of False Creek and some floating apartments. We were dropped off at Science World and headed up Quebec Street to Chinatown. Our first stop was Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Garden which was a beautiful, peaceful re-creation of a Chinese Garden. Chinatown was easily recognized as Chinatown and my favorite thing about it were these beautiful murals painted on some of the walls.
We continued up through Gastown, one of the older sections of Vancouver, stopping into several stores, Blood Alley (where Dean and Sam get shot at by Gordon and Kubrick in "Fresh Blood") and observing the pretty cool Steam Clock. We continued along the water front to Canada Place which overlooked the harbour. While there, we saw the location of the Olympic Torch from a little more than a year ago. There again were some gorgeous views of Stanley Park, Northern Vancouver and the clouds covering the mountains. We walked along Coal Harbour (another Supernatural location- this one being my favorite part in Red Sky At Morning when Dean can't find the Impala) and all the way around to Stanley Park. There were also some bizarre statues in Coal Harbour. But what would a city be without their bizarre statues. We began our way around the park but ended up deciding to head back to downtown Van to find some dinner and tomorrow, after we do North Vancouver, pick up some bikes to rent and ride around instead, so we can be there to listen to the canon at 6 pm. After a lot more walking, we finally came to an Irish pub where I had fish 'n chips. It wasn't a very good Irish pub though- we later went into O'Doolins, a location for Criss Angel is a D-bag, and that was much better. Lights were lower, music was more authentic and the vibe was a lot better. Oh well.
We finished off the evening with a walk back up Seymour Street (we didn't want to walk Granville a third time) until we reached the Waterfront. Slight mishap on the Skytrain home- I got on the train to read the map and Kirbi did not. Then the doors closed. With me inside and Kirbi on the outside. The train headed down the tracks. With me inside and Kirbi outside. Oh dear. Kirbi turned to the people next to her and said "I just lost my travel buddy". I meanwhile got off at the next stop, as you should always do when you lose your buddy on the train and crossed my fingers that Kirbi would get in the next train. She did and we easily met up again at the next stop. All was well. Exhausted after 9 miles of walked, we headed home to the hostel and crashed. Again, no rain and hopes for tomorrow to be the same!
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