Day 6 – Vancouver, British Columbia

It was unusual to stay in one place for an entire day – today was the first day since we left on Sunday that we haven’t traveled at least 800 kilometers. And it was fantastic to spend the day walking around, rather than behind the wheel of Canyonero.

After a nice sleep-in, I met Grandpa for a coffee at his regular little right next to our building. The two of us spent an hour chatting and sipping delicious coffee from the awesome little Italian Café. The morning was beautiful – you could tell it was going to be a very hot day, but in the morning it was still nice and cool.

Later, Vone, Lilo and I explored the neighbourhood, and it is fantastic. We’re just steps from the seaside path, and we followed it under the Burrard Street bridge to Sunset Beach, just 5 minutes away.

Dotted with massive beached logs, the rocky sand was sweltering thanks to the sun, and the low tides. Lilo sure liked playing in the sand.


After the beach, we turned to follow the path south to the Granville Street bridge, past the harbour and Granville island which was buzzing with activity.


We continued past some of the new developments on what was the former Expo ’86 site. The entire east shore of False Creek has just been developed in the last decade and while the buildings are somewhat typical glass and steel condo’s, they done a fantastic job of keeping the shoreline public and pedestrian friendly, and integrating lots of parkland and grass.


We followed Granville street through a rougher neighbourhood that reminded me of a more-raw Queen Street west. It was a place Keith Richards would surely love – literally it for a few blocks it was all rock and roll bars, sex shops, and drug cafes (and some pizza’s shops, for when they get the munchies). We continued on, and eventually found ourselves in the heart of downtown. Lots of stores and good shopping – if this were a different sort of vacation I’m sure I could spend a lot of money, but we just don’t seem to be in a shopping kind of mood.

Tonight, we joined Grandpa and Auntie Pat for a quick drink at Gramps’ apartment. On the 17th floor, just across the street and facing the ocean, we had a spectacular view of all the boats rushing to leave the harbour for weekend trips on the ocean.


For dinner, we took the Aqua-Bus down the water to Monk’s – a yummy seafood restaurant that is built on a pier over the water.

The food was delicious and the view of the sunset was also spectacular. After Vone and I split a plate of fresh raw oysters, I had the mixed grill, which included shrimp, scallops, mussels, crab, and small filets of tuna, salmon, and arctic char, all grilled and served on a bed of light and buttery pasta. Vone had the Thai Hot Pot, which featured similar seafood ingredients in a spicy cilantro broth. Delicious.

Vancouver is certainly blessed with some amazing restaurants, and we are being spoiled by Grandpa and Auntie Pat. We definitely won’t leave Vancouver wishing we had eaten more seafood – though we might be a few pounds heavier.