Even after our busy day on Thursday, we were up early…I blamed it on our excitement and the two-hour time difference between Vancouver and Minnesota. Our room had an electric tea kettle which worked out perfectly to make breakfast with the packets of oatmeal we had brought from home. (We are cheap…and lazy!)
My plan for the day was to take the Hop-on/Hop-off Trolley to tour the city. I could tell Bob was NOT excited about this idea. One of the perks of staying at this Best Western was they offered free use of the hotel bicycles. Bob loves to ride and cycles 25 miles or so several times a week. I knew he would enjoy biking so much more than just sitting on the trolley.
So…with the sun shining brightly I gave in and agreed to ride bikes. By 6:30 am we were in the lobby checking out two bicycles and helmets and we were on our way.
Vancouver is a very "bike-friendly" city with designated bike lanes on many of the city streets. We biked down the hill towards the False Creek area where we had walked the night before and picked up the bike trail along the sea wall. Ships were waiting in a long line in the harbor for their turn to unload.
Our destination was Stanley Park...the crown jewel of Vancouver. (A couple of weeks after our visit, Trip Advisor named it the "Best Park in the World!") The bike trail follows the coastline around the park on the sea wall.
Getting around in Stanley Park is a bit confusing. A couple of times we had to stop to ask directions but eventually we found our way to the totem poles on exhibit in the park.
While Bob checked out the totem poles in detail...
I was more interested in seeing what ships were docked at Canada Place...the pier where we would be boarding our ship the next day.
The path continued on and went under the end of the Lion's Gate Bridge.
The low tide exposed a lot of rocks along the shoreline and attracted different kinds of birds looking for food.
One of the advantages to traveling by bike is that we saw things that normally would have been missed...like the early morning dew.
Back at the hotel, a rest was in order after our morning bike tour before we headed to the public market at Granville Island. Getting there involved a short walk to False Creek and then a ferry ride over to the island. Besides the free use of bikes, the hotel also provided a free pass for the ferry...one way. The public market was very large with vendors selling fruits, vegetables, meats, crafts, tea, etc.
There were also many different food stands with just about any ethnic fare you could want. For lunch, Bob was able to get one of his favorites…Thai food and I splurged…calorie-wise…and got a crepe filled with…butter & sugar! (You can do that sort of thing when you are on vacation!)
There was an indoor seating area but it was such a beautiful day we chose to eat outside instead. The seagulls were out in force…and fairly aggressive. We saw one poor man almost lose his fish & chips when a gull swooped down and tried to grab some lunch!
The courtyard area of the market featured street performers throughout the afternoon so we settled in and enjoyed the entertainment and the gorgeous, sunshiny day. On the docket was a balancing act, a guitarist, a man singing what was billed as “songs from a French café”, and a knife throwing/unicycle riding/contortionist act…which somehow I ended up being a part of!
I hate being in the limelight so you can imagine my horror when this young man from Germany grabbed me from the audience and pulled me out in front of everyone to be part of his act! He started by trying to pass his whole body through a small ring…but of course he got stuck in the process and he “needed me” to help him get out!
The grand finale came when he mounted a huge unicycle with three wheels (a tri-unicycle?) and had me throw machete’s to him to juggle. These were REAL knives and I am not known for being coordinated…but I did it!
With such a short time, we were only able to see a small fraction of the sights in Vancouver...but it had been a very enjoyable day. That evening our friends, Kent & Laurel from Illinois, arrived at the hotel ready to begin our Alaskan adventure together.
Our friendship with them goes back to our college days when Laurel was my roommate and Kent was Bob's. Over the years we have traveled together several times including a 10 day Caribbean cruise just a few months earlier. Laurel and I both love to research trip details and I can't even imagine how many hours we spent on the phone with each other discussing every detail of our trip.
The view from our hotel that night. Coming up...the cruise begins!
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