Vacation 2013 Part 2 - Vancouver

We didn't want to keep you waiting too long! That, and we know that if we put this off for another day it'll never get posted! So we left you at the train station in Vancouver. This was definitely the highlight of our trip. It's a city that has everything we love: good food and drinks, bodies of water, mountains, and plenty of outdoor activities. Below is a snapshot of our short, but quite memorable time in Van City.

Day 3: We arrived around noon and checked into our hotel. We didn't realize how fancy our hotel actually was. Apparently, Justin Timberlake stays there! Our room was awesome and luxurious (they upgraded us for free) and it came equipped with a soaking tub, a Keurig coffee maker, and an iPad! We walked over to Gastown for lunch at The Salt Tasting Room. It's a small restaurant that specializes in cured meats, cheeses, and homemade condiments. It was delicious and our waitress gave us some insight into the neighborhood and some of the challenges that the city is facing (homelessness, gentrification, lack of affordable housing, and bed bugs).

The lovely Chelsea enjoying a welcome beverage in our roon

Me, wearing my tourist/vacation outfit. I go for comfort over style! Our kids are going to love me/make fun of me for this some day. 

The tub! 

The Salt Tasting Room.

The view from Granville Street Bridge

Vancouver is the most densely populated city in British Columbia and I think all of Canada. These high rise apartment buildings are everywhere.

Walking our bikes over the bridge.

View of a beach on our way to Stanley Park. We dipped our toes in the water... it was really cold! A triathlon was taking place on this day as well!

Us in front of the Iconic Hollow Tree in Stanley Park

Prospect Point

Ms. Chelsea at Prospect Point

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Maple Walnut Ice Cream

The Teahouse. Former mess hall for gun crews in WWII! So much history. 

Lemon parfait dessert at our favorite meal of the trip- Fable in Vancouver. The top was basically marshmallow fluff and then there was lemon pudding and graham cracker crumbles in the bottom. Super sweet but yummy.

We continued our day on our bikes and found out that Vancouver isn't as bike friendly as Seattle. We trekked to Granville Island and also checked out a Hipster festival that our concierge sent us to. It was cool, but a little too cool for us! We went to the Yaletown Brewery for dinner and ended our night back at The Opus Hotel.

Day 4: The cool thing about Yaletown is that there are so many restaurants that are nearby. We had breakfast at an Italian Cafe and split pastries and an omelette. It was our fuel for the bike ride that was to follow. Because it was a gorgeous day outside, the only bikes that we could rent were a beach cruiser with back-peddal brakes and a mountain bike. It was an adventure biking to Stanley Park and up to Prospect Point. We were rewarded with beautiful scenery... and Maple Walnut Ice Cream! On our way back we stopped by the The Teahouse which had a nice view of the water and mountains from Stanley Park.

For din-din we made our way to Kitsalano (former working class neighborhood not too far from the University of British Columbia, now a trendy part of town with nice cafes, restaurants, and shops) and ate at Fable. We sat at the bar and watched the kitchen cook. We had "canned tuna" (poached tuna with olive oil and potatoes), Pea Gnocchi with Pork Belly (the peas were grown on the roof of the restaurant), and a Lemon Meringue Parfait for dessert. This was the best meal of our entire trip. We worked off our dinner with a nice walk back to the room where we rested up before our trip to Whistler.

We will leave you here and pick up in part 3 of our trip, which was Whistler and our trip back to reality. Enjoy!