Day 3 - Vancouver (17/8/15)

Well today we met up with Dominique who has been very lucky and has been in Canada for 5 weeks.

First off we moved from our hotel in Richmond to a B&B in Vancouver itself. Pretty painless and the B&B is close to Broadway Skytrain station so easy for our trip to Victoria tomorrow.

We decided to go to Stanley Park and hire some bikes as Dominique said it HAD to be done! And boy was she right!!

It is a 8km bike ride around the sea wall and the views were fabulous. It is an easy ride (thank god as bike riding isn't my thing!!) But i did enjoy bombing around ringing my bell to let those on a leisurely ride know that speed queen was overtaking them on their left!

There are some gorgeous totem poles to see too as well as the Lionshead Bridge (hope thats the right name!!)

Here's the pics!!!

Aftre the bike ride we took a bus downtown to meet Dominique who was saying goodbye to Darah her last friend who has visited her in Canada and who was flying home that night. We then went to Gastown (naturally) for a drink and a bite to eat before heading back to the B&B. We enjoyed it so much we are going to Stanley Park again tomorrow to hire bikes and have a picnic in the park!!

A police car - for Michael!!!

Day 2 - Vancouver (16/08/15)

Still a little jetlagged....not a nice feeling.....

So today we decided to visit a botanical garden - VanDusen botanical garden!  It was a bit of a trek to get to it as we had to take the skytrain then walk quite a few blocks. We had initially looked at the University of Columbia botanical garden as there is a Canopy Walk there but the receptionist at the hotel thought we meant VanDusen's so thats where we went!!

It was the 40th anniversary of its opening and instead of $11 only cost $2 each! We had an enjoyable stroll around - as there has been a severe drought here for 3 months we expected things to look a little dry but the gardens were beautiful. Most of the flowers were past their best but everything was lush and green.

After walking around the gardens for a few hours we headed back to the Skytrain and back to the waterfront. We had a lovely drink and a bite to eat in Gastown which i think is becoming a real favourite! Also the sun was out and it was hot!!

After a stroll around Gastown we headed back to the hotel for a nap as we intended to go to the International Summer Night Market in Richmond - luckily only a 10 minute stroll away from our hotel (I say only 10 minutes but my feet are now killing me!!! So even 10 minutes feels a looooooong way!!)

The market is an annual event and experiences over 30,0000 visits every weekend (most of them last night when we went I think!!!) and this year runs from May 8 - Sept 27 every weekend.

It was an enjoyable experience and very busy - there were loads of different foods to try and it was just lovely walking around on a warm summer's evening experiencing something  like this! 

My flashing icecube cocktail!

So tomorrow....Stanley Park...

Our first day in Vancouver! (15th August 2015)

Well we arrived into Vancouver Airport at 13.40 yesterday afternoon after a 9 hour flight from Birmingham. We had an early start as we caught the 6 am Birmingham-Amsterdam flight first (😱)

so we were a little tired (read knackered)

We caught the free shuttle bus to our hotel which was all easy and very straightforward. After a brief visit to Tim Hortons to catch a bite to eat  - 🍔☕️-we conked out! Jetlag 😳😳😳😳😳

At 2am we were awake...so a cup of coffee and a muffin later we attempted to get a little more sleep! 

After a quick breakfast we decided to catch the Skytrain downtown and go to Granville Island market. As the hotel we are staying at is close to Bridgeport Skytrain station (which is on the Canada line)we had a 5 min walk only. Ideal and highly recommended!

 We decided to buy day passes for the Skytrain which cost $9.50 each but give unlimited travel. I would highly recommend doing this as it is cost effective and reduces pfaff time!!

The train only took about 20 mins to Yaletown Roundhouse where we got off and walked down to catch an Aquabus to Granville Island.

Anyway less writing more pics!!! This is what fab produce you can buy in this market!!!! (Not Doug though)

We had a walk around the island and saw some very interesting things!!!!

These are amazing and part of an urban art project!

We also came across a floating village! These houses were amazing and such a contrast to the glass buildings behind. Apparently they cost between $3000 and $5000 a month each to rent. They are on a floating platform which list with the tide! So neat!!!!

As you can tell i rather liked these!!!!

After our visit to Granville Island we caught the aquabus back to Yaletown. Doug had spotted a train situated in a community centre! A Canadian Pacific Loco which is being preserved by volunteers. 

We then decided to head downtown to waterfront and walk along to Gastown. Gastown is named after Gassy Jack Deighton a riverboat captain who built Vancouver's first significant structure (a bar !!!) in 1867. He was nicknamed gassy as he talked a lot....nothing wrong with that I say!!!

We passed the steam clock on the corner of Water and Cambie streets. A perfect photo opportunity for every tourist in Vancouver including us!!! It gives a steamy rendition of the Westminister chimes every 15 minutes!!

Enjoying a drink in Gastown!

Me and a cuddly mountie!!! And dont i look jetlagged!!!!! Lol

Our last day! A homage to Sex and the City!

Last day!!! Airport by 5.30 pm and flight to London at 8pm...so what to do on our last day! 

A Sex and the City tour of course! Bags packed, checked out and bags left with the concierge...car picking us up at 3.45....

We walked to our usual breakfast spot! Then onto The Plaza Hotel (thinking of Friends at this point) to pick up our trip. I had paid a little extra (£6 each to have VIP seating at the front of the coach and it was worth it). Our guide was an actress called Sarah originally from the UK but now married and settled in NY. We had a fantastic time - little snippets from the show as we drove to the next location put everything on context. 

One of the highlights of this tour is that it took us to areas we had not explored - the Meatpacking  Distrct and Greenwich/West Village were fab! We had a wander around Greenwich/West Village where Sarah Jessica Parker actually lives (yes we saw her house!) and were desperately trying to spot any stars wandering around - apparently they actually LEAVE their houses and go shopping and to restaurants and stuff?!????

NOT SJP's house but near it!! The owners came out and took our photo - must be annoying 30 tourists standing outside your house every day taking pics just because it was in SATC a long time ago!!!

We did see the start of the High Line - something we didn't get time to do but definately on my list if i am lucky enough to get back to NY at some point! (The High Line is a public park built on an old freight line elevated above the streets on Manhatten's West Side and sounds awesome!)

A cupcake from the Magnolia Bakery compulsory!!

Some other lovely shops in the area!!

Lol!!! ....

We had a brilliant tour and were dropped off at Bryant Park a short walk to the hotel. We stopped off for a slice of pizza (huge) and then back to the hotel for our bags. The transfer to the airport was great - very interesting taxi driver from Guyana who pointed out places of interest in Queens (the airport is in the borough of Queens). The airport was heaving and it took an age to clear security but the flight was called on time and off we went! A lovely flight with Virgin Atlantic - i have never had so much leg room!! It takes just over 6 hours back and we landed at Heathrow just after 7 am the next morning!

So that was our trip to NYC! We loved it!! Thanks for reading!