Christmas brunch

A double challenge today: overcoming the slight dispirited feeling of not having got to where we wanted to go, and finding a breakfast/lunch at a restaurant that was good and NOT offering only a buffet. We didn't need to pay $40-60 for a huge selection of food that has been sitting around, after all. Wow, did I say dispirited? That was outright catty.

Hotels were the likeliest places to go, and after a quick couple of phone calls, we settled on noon at Elixir in the Opus Hotel in Yaletown. The added bonus to it was that we could walk there, and so we did, using the quiet streets in many places to avoid the wet, slushy, icy sidewalks.

Brunch was great. The menu included several appealing egg dishes, which was kind of what we all wanted. Marie (eggs Florentine, not pictured) and Conrad (scrambled eggs with croissant and smoked salmon) went old school basic, but I had to foo-foo it up: warm smoked mackerel with poached egg, piquillo pepper hash, and red pepper hollandaise. Tasty!

A nice stroll on a day that brightens bit by bit found us singing and feeling happy. Ah, but now we face the challenge of flying out if we can. On to YVR for us!