the day I left Vancouver

Let's finish Vancouver, shall we?  Essentially an excuse for a last photo dump from the morning walk,

but hey, isn't it a treat to see Nanaimo bars in the Maple Leaf Lounge at YVR? 

Speaking of YVR, I had time to kill there, and I was tired of sitting in the lounge, so, yep, you guessed it:  a walk.  I headed down to the small planes end of the US gates and found absolutely no one there.  Nice and quiet.

I really must get up to Vancouver again soon.  My step count this past week has been terrible!

May the weeks ahead bring some more activity, some things to blog about.  Happy March, everyone! 

Monday in Vancouver

Sigh.

So every good intention to blog this week hit up against what turned out not to be sniffles from seasonal allergies but an actual cold.  Always fun.  I've been in bed an awful lot the past few days and eaten little and have done absolutely nothing of note beyond, perhaps, watching one more Oscars contender (Sinners, good movie).  But I'm feeling better today, happily.  100%?  Nope.  But I'm sitting here, sniffling a bit, half-watching Monday's American Idol, and digging into another blog entry.

Jeepers, it was a month ago that I was in Vancouver, right?  Still, let me do my duty and check in on the Monday there.  And what do you know, it starts off with a morning walk.

I love my morning walks.  With Conrad or others or alone, I just love that peaceful part of the day.  It will be interesting to go up to BC in the future now that they have changed their time zone to favour light evenings (meh) and find myself walking in darkness more, but ah well.  I still had a nice walk to start off a quiet-ish holiday Monday.  So once again, a photo dump from a walk that took my west and then back along the waterfront to the hotel.

But that's not all!  I was meeting Bryan for lunch, and I decided to do a bit of a stroll before that, taking myself almost right the way around Canada Place and getting some shots

before meeting up with him at Nightingale.  It was threatening rain later, and I wanted some step count before that.

Good to see Bryan. 

I made the right choice in giving myself one more day in Vancouver to catch up with people.  It meant getting together with him for a tasty meal of charred cabbage (so good!),

a vegan pizza with squash and peppers (nice and light),

and a carrot cake dessert (pretty but not as good as many carrot cakes I've had). 

What was especially cool was that in all the years I have known Bryan - 6 or 7 by now - I didn't know about his figure skating past.  So we were able to gab at length about Winter Olympics stuff, and it was great to hear his perspective on the performances and judging and personalities.

I came back to the hotel after lunch and chilled with the three-part ANTM documentary series before girding myself to head out into the rain and walk to dinner.  Hotel umbrella, thank you for your service!

I met Sherri

at Tavola for dinner.  She knew the GM well, but he didn't realize that I was meeting her when I arrived.  I liked the place.  Good neighbourhood spot with interesting food and good drinks.  I got served the wrong drink first, but they let me keep it while they made mine, and that was kind.  Her friend also topped up our wine, so that may have been the booziest meal we had.  But I very much enjoyed our food

and the seating at the end of a long communal table.  Also, Sherri and I had so much hometown gossip and more to get through.  It was a blast.  I think we were together for over 3 hours, not at all rushing and not at all being rushed.  I think Mark told me that he and Linda go there sometimes even though they don't live at all close, and I could see being a regular there if I lived nearby.

Sherri dropped me off back at the hotel.  My day of walking was done.  I put on some more ANTM and headed off to bed, very happy with the day that was. 

Sunday in Vancouver

Alright, then.  Weeks later, let's tackle the February Vancouver trip again.  

I did a lot of walking in Vancouver.  Up early in the morning, then setting out to stroll and take photos of local art

and scenery and buildings.  I would head to a nearby Starbucks first and fortify,

then get going.  On the Sunday morning of the trip, I headed (post-Starbucks) through Robson Plaza,

then down around the Vancouver Public Library,

past BC Place Stadium,

and on into Gastown

before returning to the hotel. 

A good walk.

I was able to relax a bit, then it was time to make myself pretty

and catch a bus to meet up with Remi

at Chez Celine.  Nice to get to a neighbourhood I pretty much have never visited before, and nicer still to catch up with a former grad school classmate and friend whom I hadn't seen in far far too long. 

We each had a breakfast sandwich with an all-too generous serving of fries,

and when the meal was done, we strolled in the neighbourhood before he got in his car to return home and I caught the bus back to the hotel.

I don't think I napped before dinner.  I am pretty sure I read a bit.  As dinnertime approached, I made myself pretty again (ha!), and took a leisurely amble, indirectly heading to the restaurant. 

Dahlia was where Mark had chosen for a family meal.  It seems that he and Linda go there regularly for the oysters and are known to the staff.  It's a handsome space in a hotel lobby. 

I did like the oysters,

and I thought the scallop crudo was also good. 

My chicken milanese was fine enough. 

The two Gibsons I had were great. 

The service was alright.  Verdict:  Lovely space, maybe great for a cocktail and oysters at the bar.  But no matter.  Here's the embarrassing thing:  I had not seen Bella since before the pandemic.  No, nothing bad between us at all.  It was really happy seeing her at long last and catching up, sitting next to her at dinner.  We were missing Nigel (who is thriving in Bolivia, it seems) and Marie (who really should have been there, but ah well), but it was a nice family dinner just the same.

And that was Sunday!  Another fine day in Vancouver, and another full day ahead....