Vancouver in technicolour (Throwback post)



Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver

At the start of May we flew from Edmonton to Vancouver and immediately noticed the difference that 500 miles makes.


Vancouver

Where still chilly Edmonton was just losing its snowy covering and looking dreary in the slushy brown mud and a few dark evergreens, Vancouver was warm, sunny (a bit too sunny for walking with a heavy backpack), and ablaze with greenery and colourful flowers.



Vancouver

We were staying in an Airbnb near to Commercial Street, which is a real neighbourhood area of town.  There are nice leafy streets of family homes as you go towards Main Street, but around Commercial Street itself, the locals tend to be younger and hipper.  Lots of students and more than the average number of piercings, tattoos and unusual clothing choices!




Vancouver

It was a great area to stay in for a while as it had a cheap cinema, inexpensive places to eat - including St Augustine's, which was excellent for craft beers as well as great value and very tasty wings on Wednesdays - but was still walking distance to Main Street and only a quick bus ride into the centre.
 






Vancouver

We did a bit of touristy stuff here, but mostly just 'lived' here, so. it was good to be near to the shops and bars of Main Street.  We took quite a liking to one bar, although we felt a little out of place at times as I'm sure we were the only people there who didn't have multiple, sizeable tattoos.  We also discovered that Vera's Burgers are very good, and decent value.
 






view from Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver



Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver

Main Street is also home to Queen Elizabeth Park, which has a small aviary at the top of the hill, but more importantly offers a great view over Vancouver.

Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver

Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver

Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver



Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver












When we were there it was graduation day, and this is where they all turned up to have photos taken in their fancy frocks.


Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver

It was certainly a colourful sight, and I rather liked the groups of girls that made the effort to stand according to the shades of colours, or the one group that went for the rainbow sequence.

Gastown, Vancouver

We did spend some time downtown.  The older gas light district was probably the most interesting to walk around.  Of course we needed a few breaks, and made a couple of fortuitous finds.

Gastown, Vancouver

One was East Van Roasters, an artisinal chocolate shop in Gastown that is part of the Rainier Hotel, and aims to give shelter and employment to women with a history of addiction.  They import the cacao beans in their raw state and roast them on site before shelling them and using them to make really excellent chocolate.  We took away a bag of the cacao shells after discovering how tasty and healthy they are infused as a tea.



East Van Roasters, Vancouver

East Van Roasters, Vancouver

Gastown, Vancouver

Our other find was Salt Tasting Room, which was predominately a sherry bar, with an excellent range.

We also had an unexpected surprise in Vancouver, when we got a message from Vanessa and Bert, a couple from Belgium who we met whilst on our Dragoman trip in South America.  They happened to be in Vancouver briefly while we were there, so it was great to meet up with the for a quick drink and to catch up on their news.  We knew they had got married since we last met, and now they were expecting their first baby (which they will have long had by the time I get around to posting this!). So we send our Congratulations to them both.