Vancouver II

A fun day in Vancouver.

We decided to take the Hop-on, Hop-off trolley around Vancouver this morning. The purpose was to see as much as possible in one day. The cost of $36 ($38 less hotel $2 coupon) per person was a bit steep, but allowed us to achieve our aim. The drivers were interesting, offering titbits of information all the time.

Before we left, we made ourselves some delicious Starbucks coffee from the sachets placed in our hotel room for use with the in-room coffee maker. We like the Westin Bayshore and would recommend it. We did however, get our rooms through Priceline, getting a good deal. Vancouver hotels can be very expensive.

We were picked up by the Vancouver Trolley Company outside our hotel. The red route trolley started by touring through Stanley Park. We decided to come back to the park in the afternoon for some exploring. We got off the bus at the False Creek Ferries, where we travelled across the bay to Granville Island by ferry. The trolley ticket included a free ferry ticket. Neat!

We went directly to the Blue Parrot, a small coffee shop in the Public Market on Granville Island. We ordered coffee and an avocado sandwich to share. The coffee was STRONG and the sandwich was big enough for the two of us to have a good meal. We sat by the window, watching the passing parade of people and boats. The weather was gorgeous.

After breakfast, we wandered through the market. The variety of food on sale was fascinating. There was a fun atmosphere with many buskers inside and outside the market. We walked to the opposite end of the island where we found the blue route trolley to continue our journey.

We got off again in Chinatown, the second biggest in North America after San Francisco. We walked around and even managed to buy some stuff. We even found delicious lychees for a snack in our hotel.

Boarding the blue route trolley again at the other end of Chinatown, we traveled through downtown to Canada Place, the cruise terminal. We changed trolleys, back to the red route to go back to our hotel to drop off our purchases and to have a short rest.

Time for more touring. We boarded the red route trolley again to return to Stanley Park as planned. We got off at the Totem Poles. Very interesting. We walked down to the bay and walked around the tip of Stanley Park, enjoying the varied views. We returned to the Totem Poles where we again got onto a red route trolley. After a short ride, we got off at English Bay, where we ate a tasty early dinner at the Boathouse. We sat on the upper outside deck, which was heated. The food and ambiance were good.

We managed to get the last trolley for a ride back through downtown back to Canada Place. We could have got a ride with the trolley back to our hotel, but decided instead to walk along the promenade. We found a series of many plaques highlighting true interesting stories about Vancouver's fascinating history. We watched the sea planes take off and land from one of North America's busiest seaplane ports.

So.. a really enjoyable, busy day. It worked out that we toured the city for over nine hours!