Yesterday (Monday) morning we made our final pass at the all you can eat bacon on the breakfast buffet and disembarked in Vancouver. It was a great cruise with some more great memories created, as well as some new friendships forged along the way. We hope British Air is back up and running smoothly for Derrick and Flora and that Chris and Joan enjoy their time in San Francisco before they head back to England.
Our hotel here in Vancouver is the Hyatt (Hotwire) which is just a few blocks from the cruise terminal so it was an easy walk to reach. Fortunately even though it was only around 8:00 AM they had a room ready so we were able to go ahead and check in before heading out for the day. Vancouver is nicknamed "Rain City". It's a well earned nickname since they average close to 45 inches of rain per year and are coming off one of their wettest winters in history. However we were greeted with blue skies and temperatures in the 70's (it is raining a little today). So we did what we like to do which is take off by foot and walk, and walk, and walk, and walk!
We were on the streets around 9:00 and not back until close to 7:00. Through town, across the Burrard Bridge, through the Kitsilano neighborhood to Kitsilano and Wilderness Beach, along the sea wall to Granville Island, a short ferry ride across the inlet back to the city and then around the Stanley Park Sea Wall. We're not sure of the exact distance but somewhere in the 16-18 mile range. A long walk but a lot of nice benches along the way!
Spending that much time walking there is a lot of time for conversation. One topic along the way was favorite international cities. I suggested we come up with a top five but were never able to whittle the list down to just five. If we would have, Vancouver would have been near the top of the list. It combines friendly people with beautiful coastlines, mountains, great food, and pedestrian friendly walkways through town and along the waterfront.
http://granvilleisland.com/public-market
http://granvilleisland.com/
http://covapp.vancouver.ca/parkfinder/parkdetail.aspx?inparkid=112
http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/stanley-park.aspx
Even though it was a Monday the weather brought out a lot of beach goers, walkers and bikers so the people watching was as entertaining as ever. We also enjoyed watching the ships coming in and out of the harbor at Burrard Inlet, spotted several seals and had an eagle land on a group of rocks no more than 20-30 yards away from us. As we finished up the day we sat on a bench and watched as the Norwegian Sun, which had been our home for the past two weeks, made it's way out towards the Pacific Ocean with a new load of passengers heading for Alaska and hopefully a fresh supply of bacon!
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| Wilderness Beach-Behind me is a tree trunk that washed up on the beach, it's huge! |
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| Vancouver skyline from Kitsilano Beach |
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| Not a good day of sailing for someone! |
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| Coal Harbor Marina |
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Granville Island Public Market
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| From Vancouver with Granville Island and Granville Bridge in the background |
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| Siwash Rock in Stanley Park |
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| Along the Sea Wall Walkway in Stanley Park. Lions Gate Bridge in the Background |
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| Totem Poles in Stanley Park |
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| Vancouver skyline from Stanley Park near Brockton Point |
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| Hopefully they restocked the bacon! |
