I’m writing
this whilst I wait from my breakfast -, or is it last night’s dinner? – at
Mary’s Diner on Davie. Mary’s Diner is
your typical stereotype, a juke box playing various rock (well, it might be
digital but it’s a juke box), plastic seating, lots of chrome, and movie star
posters adorn the walls. And neon, don’t
forget the neon. It’s fantastic. And I’m starving.
It’s
actually right by where I stayed 3 years ago, and I figure I should have stayed
there again.. Davie is right in the
heart of the gay district, and I’ve got to say, I feel really comfortable
here... Robson, where my hotel is, is like staying on Oxford St..., right in
the middle of all the ‘name’ shops...
But It was
a nice little amble along, only 5 minutes or so through some green
surburbia. And I came across a tree,
with a door and flowers and a sign said it was gnome’s home... surreal.
It’s kind
of fitting, that I’m here in Vancouver, and beginning my travel blogs
again. When I started blogging last
time, I hadn’t planned on ever coming home.
I didn’t quite know where I’d end up, if I’d end up anywhere, and I
certainly didn’t even think of myself as having a home to go home to. Now, I definitely do. But back then, when I was feeling optimistic,
I’d thought that maybe I’d come here, make my life in Vancouver, live &
work abroad. I knew I’d be able to get
decent work, and I’d loved the city when I was here before. It’s so laid back, relaxed, inclusive, yet
cosmopolitan and full of buzz. So, it’s apt
that following what I could characterise as my breakdown/breakthrough, the next
time I use my passport, is to come here.
But I’m rambling. So far, this holiday has been amazing, and it
hasn’t even started yet. As soon as I
got my bag checked-in and was through passport control & security, I felt a
weight lift from me. No stresses. A strange weightless feeling that I tried to
interrogate and decided it must be what ‘happy’ feels like. Not the kind of happy that feels like being
high, on drugs or alcohol, the kind of over-excitement kids feel, and is always
far too temporary and usually followed by a crashing low. No, the kind of happy that is calm, peaceful,
content, and just ‘is’. I kind of like
it.
The flight
passed without too much incident. Being
over-tired, sleep eluded me, so I settled for 5 mini vodkas washed down with 2
cans of soda... During that time I watched True Grit and the Lincoln Lawyer –
and enjoyed both more than I’d expected.
I didn’t even realise it was Matt Damon in True Grit until the titles at
the end! Doh! And Matthew McConnahey should really make more
films. By the time I’d woken up the guy
next to me to go the toilet, I realised that I was really quite nicely pissed
and settled in for some shuteye. I got
about 2 hours, but it was better than nothing.
(I’m glad I made the sensible choice on the alcohol choice, vodka being
much ‘cleaner’ to mix with altitude than cheap plonk).
45 minutes
to get through passport control, but no time to wait for luggage and downtown
traffic still meant that I was early to check into my room at the hotel, so I
went to the hotel bar, had some chowder and a glass of their local sparkling
wine to pass the time. In what would
surprise most of you, I sat at the high seats at the square bar, picture the
bar in Cheers. It was friendly and meant
I could exchange in some banter with the waiters – they’d forgotten that
amaretto goes into a blueberry tea, as well as grand marnier... The room still wasn’t ready at 3pm but they
upgraded me to the top floor which means I’ve got authentic art from the museum
of anthropology hanging in my room, and a balcony. It isn’t all that, though. But it’s
comfortable. I basically fell asleep
straight away.
And woke up
16 hours later. I guess, it was like
going to bed at 11pm and waking up at 3pm, which , let’s face it, is how I used
to spend my Sundays before I got both a social life and a busy work life... So, I missed doing anything in Vancouver
yesterday afternoon/evening, but I’ve got all day today. And I needed that sleep! Still managed to dream about work though...
Because it
was early I had an indulgent bath with bubbles, slowly sorted out my stuff and
here I am, eating Eggs Benedict with Canadian sausage... Except they call them
Benny’s and the Canadian sausage seems to be a close cousin of Spam... Very
very yummy, and just what I needed. Continuous
black coffee replenishments, and I am a happy girl. This is a very busy place, it was emptyish
when i came in, but now it’s packed and they’re queuing out the door... I came
to the right place.
Next up,
Granville Island. If I get time, off to
Gastown, and then later tonight Rogers Stadium for Ice Hockey, watching the
Canucks.
It’s now
approaching 1pm and I’ve taken a brief break in a Blenz coffee shop – the local
version of Starbucks, although they’ve plenty of those too. This time I’m indulging in an iced tea, one
of my favourite things which I really ought to make up at home... I took the ferry across to Granville Island,
huge towers of flats line the coast, but who’d care living in a sky-rise with a
view like that..? The market at
Granville was a smorgasbord of different smells & aromas, salmon next to
meat, next to veg, next to fruit, next to chocolate, next to the deli & the
pasta counter, next to the Chinese & Indian comfort food counters.. Bread,
rolls, pastries, cakes. I was glad I’d
already eaten, but still couldn’t resist the fruit skewer, so flavoursome. You just don’t get fruit that tastes the same
in the UK... Somehow, in the shipping they must suck out all the sweetness...
And then
the dangerous part.... Jewellery, silk, handbags, postcards, pictures, tourist
tat & fine art. Once again, I went
into the hat store, and once again I found a hat I loved, but didn’t buy
it. This one was a bit like a twenties
swim hat in soft fleece with a flower on the side... It felt lovely, looked
great but was just too ‘fussy’ & different for me to ever wear. And at $88 I did the right thing and walked
away... I wasn’t so strong with everything though, managed to spend a fortune on
what will be my Mum’s Xmas present (sssshhh, in case she’s reading this) and
bought some beautiful – not black, red (but with a rose) – fingerless glove
things for myself. I also popped back
into the store where 3 years ago I bought myself a hammock. I remember trying to figure out how to get
the pole home, it was a nightmare. And
of course, I’ve never erected it, not having a garden, or a wooden beam in the
ceiling where I’m allowed to hang it from... I didn’t buy another one...
The weather
is warmish but muggy & wet... sometimes the rain is quite heavy, but mostly
just light. It’s pleasant and I really
don’t mind it... That happy feeling – it seems to be here to stay... I hope.
After my
iced tea, I got distracted by a huge HMV where I just *had* to buy seasons
5&6 of Weeds, and be *very* disappointed that they didn’t have
Californication... I also *had* to go into La Vie en Rose and buy a couple of
skimpy little numbers that I may never wear... Well, I might.... and because the shop is called Rose, I *had*
to buy a bag with the rose logo, and also a red rose... Which I hope doesn’t
get too crushed in the journey home... (and first to Seattle, and to San
Francisco...)
Shopping
done, I decided as I was only a couple of blocks from the hotel I would return
to dump the bags, so a quick detour and then out to Gastown. Why is it, that something as usually as dull
as getting the bus feels like a huge adventure in a strange town..? I was more than mildly pleased with myself
when I got on it... On my way I stumbled across the Look Out, which is
high. I need to look up how high. But I took loads of pictures, the views were
stunning, it was a shame it wasn’t a clearer day.
Then, into
Gastown. Quite disappointing – I thought
it would be full of funky independent stores, but instead it had a few high end
Hampstead type artsy stores and the rest was tourist tat. Wandering on, I came across the Sun Yat Sen
Chinese Garden, which was stunningly tranquil & beautiful. Again, I took loads of pictures. Onto get my
bearings for the Rogers stadium, which I found quite easily, but also found
there was nowhere really to eat – unless I fancied MacDonalds or similar, which
I didn’t – so back to Gastown to the Old Spaghetti Factory, which had taken up
residence in the 70s in an old warehouse.
Beautiful decor. Indifferent
spaghetti. And finally, back to Rogers
for the game.
The Rogers
stadium is a little like the O2, except much smaller and without all the shops
& restaurants. So, nothing like the
O2 then. Except it’s a Stadium trading
on the name of the telco. And so, I
couldn’t quite switch off my work head, noting how they were encouraging ‘famcam’
MMS, and supporting the local youth charities...
The game
was really something else. Apparently there
are 3 periods, each of 20 minutes.
Although, the clock does keep stopping, so the first period took about
45. Several times during the period they
stop for the ice to swept up (by cute girls with big brushes, and cute boys
with spades & buckets), and in the interval of 16 minutes, they had the
motor things come on to do a proper job. Whenever the clock stops, they’ll play a few
bars of some rousing rock tune (we will rock you), and tell you to ‘make a
noise’ but the game itself was quiet – you could hear the crack of the putt
against the hockey sticks. (I think it’s
called a putt). At the start, some guy
sang Star Spangled Banner (the Canucks were playing the San Jose Sharks), and
then the Canadian equivalent which was fairly forgettable. At least, I’ve forgotten what it was called,
or what it sounded like. Everyone
cheered though afterwards.
It was VERY
rough. People being slammed into the walls, sticks being used as weapons. At one point, it descended into an actual
fight. Or rather, 3 separate fights at
the same time. I began to see why there
were 4 referees on the ice. Players
would be ‘sent off’ for 2 minutes for ‘an elbow’, or ‘roughing’, but 5 minutes
was the penalty for ‘fighting’. One
player eventually got sent off for 10 minutes for ‘serious misconduct’ – I think
because he was involved in his second fight...
It was really quite exciting.
But it was
also a real family experience – almost everyone was there with children,
anything from babes in arms, to toddlers, to young teens.
Oh, and
they also did the ‘love cam’ where the camera would rest on a couple and they’d
be expected to kiss. Just like in the
movies. And mostly they did. Made me smile.
I left
after the 2nd period. The
Canucks were 1-2 down, with 20 odd shots, vs the Sharks 24 or so... I think
since they were keeping score of the shots too, that it must matter in the
event of a draw... But the jet lag was closing in, and I didn’t want to get
caught in the crowds coming home. So, off I trundled, this time on the Sky
Train – basically, the tube. Cool name
though. And then, a short walk back to
the hotel. 8pm on a Sunday night – most of
the shops were just shutting up...
Bedtime. Lousy wireless signal means this won’t get
uploaded tonight, I’ll try in the morning when I have more patience, or maybe I’ll
do it from reception. (My room is at the
top, in a far corner, so is probably the furthest away from the router as can
be got). Sleep tight.
