WillTravel

Hi Annetti, the Sylvia Hotel is a lovely, ivy-colored building near the southern edge of Stanley Park.

http://www.sylviahotel.com/

A great place to have a drink, and not expensive.

oliverandharry

A second vote for the Sylvia where we stayed for five nights last summer. It doesn't appeal to some because it is not really updated and has no a/c, but the view is amazing, and the dining room excellent. Have a meal on the outdoor patio (brunch is lovely, too) and people watch - it's terrific.

annetti

Thank you, Willtravel and Oliver and Harry re the Sylvia hotel. We will seek it out.

The weather today was warm and sunny; I imagine Vancouverites were pleased, however we will be happy to see it cool down a bit. We spent our day wandering around Kitislano. It seemed a cross between West Hollywood and Byron Bay to anyone who has been to both. We enjoyed ourselves. I got a kick out of all the craftsman style houses and again came away wondering how anyone can afford the real estate in Vancouver.

We did the typical tourist thing and lunched at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe recommended in the Michelin guide. I enjoyed the decor -- the coke bottles separating the naugahyde booths and the walls filled with an eclectic mix of stuff, from Queen Elizabeth memorabilla to a golden oval framed 17th century lady with dog, and of course all the coca cola advertisements. We had the veggie nut burgers ($9.95); my husband opted for the more sensible side of salad, whereas I went for the decadent fries. Very good! We had no room for the seven inch apple pie. We were there around 1:30pm, but noticed most people were still ordering breakfasts.It is great that there are so many healthy options to choose from here. There were a lot of tourists, but then, hey that's what we are, too. We wandered around Kits for 5 hours, could not believe it was seven thirty, and then went back to our house for a light meal. We finally did some light cooking, or I should give credit to my husband, he did it, and we relaxed afterwards with some wine. A very nice day.

I can't help remarking how clean Vancouver is, hardly any trash to be seen on the streets and absolutely hardly any grafitti. Vancouver cannot compete with LA in either category! We win hands down! Also, the city is filled with tourists, we are not alone. Everywhere we go, we see people with cameras or very often when we need confirmation that we are headed in the right direction, we get the response that "we are visitors."
We are still up in the air re tomorrow's adventures. Maybe someone will suggest something before tomorrow morning. . .

to be continued. . .

Carmanah

For Canada Day (Tuesday), I highly recommend heading down to Richmond again, but not to the malls, but down to the south-west corner of Richmond: Steveston. It's a historic fishing village at the mouth of the Fraser River. Still home to the largest fleet of fishing boats in Canada. There are some fantastic heritage sites on the water (old canneries, boardwalks, old boatyards, heritage farms, national historic sites, etc), plus public wharves selling fresh seafood off the boats, as well as several famous fish & chip shops.

The best part yet is the Steveston Salmon Festival happening that day, the annual Canada Day event. It's a community tradition there... very small town country fair type of event, but one the entire community partakes in. There's a little parade that starts off the festivities. There's a salmon bake... a food fair, a garden/flower show, a Japanese cultural exhibit (as Steveston had a strong Japanese community with strong ties to its identity)... it's a great time to be there, especially in this weather.

Of course, if you wanted to avoid the Canada Day festivities, you could visit there tomorrow instead. It's easy to get to. Get back on that 98 B-line to Richmond Centre, and at Richmond Centre, take the 402 (No 2 Road bus) or the 410 (Railway) bus. Both take you into Steveston.

Places I'd put on your must-do list:
Commercial Drive (just for a different neighbourhood with more of a bohemian flair) and Lynn Canyon in North Vancouver (for a nature walk).

You could also easily spend the entire day at UBC exploring the Museum of Anthropology, Or if you like gardens, though Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island are the most famous, Van Dusen Gardens on Oak/33rd are the local Vancouver's secret.

traveller69

Hi again Annetti

Carmanah has given you some great suggestions. Just to add to that she mentioned Van Dusen Gardens. They are actually at 37th and Oak but Queen Elizabeth Park entrance is at 33rd and the gardens there are beautiful as well. Here is the website for the Vancouver Parks board that tells you about VanDusen, Queen Elizabeth among other parks including directions on getting there http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/index.htm

I have another place to recommend to you but I want to figure out the bus route to get you there first. Glad you are really seeing Vancouver. When I was first married a million years ago we rented a little one bedroom suite in one of those delightful Kitsilano homes (third floor all stairs). It was such a great area to walk around. I do miss that.

Carmanah

Thanks traveller69, you're right, it's at 37th.

AndrewDavid

anneti, next door to vij's , not sure what they call it serves similar food and for some reason less of a wait; but original is also worth the wait.

coming over to vancouver island is a treat as the ferry passage through the gulf islands is stunning; last summer they had a naturalist/ historian on board. as a foot passenger u won't have a problem getting on and i believe it is pacific coach lines that takes u from downtown vancouver to downtown victoria.
please feel free to contact me for assistance if u need help

cheers AndrewDavid ( victoria)

we too enjoyed Bs As and argentina last winter on our honeymoon

Carmanah

AndrewDavid, I think you're thinking of Rangoli, which is also owned/operated by Vij's. It's a casual Indian cafe/take-out. I made the foolish decision of eating some samosas at Rangoli as I waited for my Vij's table. I was so full from those samosas, I hardly had the appetite to truly appreciate Vij's!

annetti

I cannot believe all the wonderful suggestions I am receiving. Thank you again, Traveller 69 and Carmanah.

AndrewDavid, I remember you very well from the Latin American board. I followed your commentary and questions. I'm glad you had a good time in AR and congratulations on your marriage from someone who thinks that at this point you are still in the congratulatory stage. (We have been married 37 years.) BA was quite special. My husband wanted very badly to return this summer, but I questioned an August trip again because of the very cold weather last year and he reluctantly agreed with me, because he remembered he had gotten a whooper of a cold there right before we left for home and it took him several weeks to get over it.
We are really loving our time here in Vancouver and we both agreed it was the right choice for this summer. The only problem with this place so far, is that we like it too much, and we might get a bit of withdrawal when we return home, not to mention a little envy for the people who actually live here.

I had to lay low the last day or two, had a 24 hour stomach flu (?) or something, so I wasn't in to looking for restaurants and doing much. My husband wanted to further explore Kitsilano with the reationale that we were a short bus ride away. So to Kits, we did return, wandering the streets, checking out restaurants, and doing an enormous amount of walking again. We finally stopped after 5 hours or so, except for one coffee break and found another sushi place to try. My husband is thrilled that he can get brown rice sushi so easily here. (He feels better about eating carbs when they are not white!) At home, the only place that I know that has brown rice sushi available is Whole Foods. I was comfortable eating miso soup with noodles today, but my husband went for the sushi and I sampled one of his. The sushi is so good here and so reasonable that it will be hard to give it up when we return home.

Anyway, for those who are actually following this narrative, you can see that we don't mind (and actually enjoy) returning to places several times. We are still not sure about tomorrow's plans. My husband wants to avoid heavy crowds and fireworks.

I will go over some of the Fodorites'suggestions with him. I was intrigued by Carmanah's suggestion of Steveston for tomorrow, but he is wary of the crowds.

Thanks again, everyone.

annetti

Willtravel: By the way, I had forgotten to mention that we tried Solly's bagels in Kits the other day. We had gotten into quite a discussion with a former Montrealer in Kerrisdale, the first day we were here when talking/asking about bagels. He claimed Siegel's were the best (they were Montreal-style according to him), that Solly's tasted too much like regular rolls. I, however don't agree. We really liked Solly's, well enough to be be disappointed today that it was closed. I like a city where people can get into their bagels.

klam_chowder

Sorry to hear of your stomach flu, annetti. I guess that's the beauty of your extended visit...a day or two down doesn't ruin your vacation since things aren't jam packed together.

When you've recovered your strength and want a day trip, consider heading to the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge in North Vancouver. It's free and very natural (i.e., non-touristy, unlike the Capilano suspension bridge). There's lots of trails, etc to wander around. A wonderful way to spend a day, IMHO.

If you go, catch a bus downtown and take the Seabus (at the end of the Skytrain) across the harbor to Lonsdale Quay. It's an mkt (similar to Granville Island but I think a bit more upscale). The public mkt has great food choices and you can pick up some good stuff for a picnic in Lynn Canyon. I used to always get the mini-pumpkin pie tarts...yum!

At LQ is also a major bus temerinal so you can just hop on one to the LCSB. The Seabus ride back to Vancouver is great too as you get a pretty view of the downtown skyline.

Great to hear you are enjoying Vancouver!

Enjoy-la!

llamalady

Here's a sketchy idea for a nice day
on the North Shore - sorry, I'm really bad at bus routes!

Take a bus from Dunbar downtown and
then catch the West Vancouver Bus
from the corner of Granville and
Dunsmuir (the south side of Hudson's
Bay store). Get off at Park Royal
and walk along the West Vancouver
Seawall to Dundarave. Have lunch
in the little village at the Dundarave Fish Market then catch
the bus back - or walk - to Park
Royal and over to the city then
Dunbar. The Fish Market makes
lovely lunches and is a cute place.

Another nice day in this weather
is to take the seabus to North
Van. and catch the bus to Deep
Cove and walk along the foreshore
- or even get on the Baden-Powell
trail up the mountainside! You
can get a great lunch in that
village - Honey's Donuts make
great sandwiches. Never had the
doughnuts!

dar

Take a bus to 4th Ave, then transfer west to go to Jericho Beach. A fantastic walk along the waterfront pathway. At the end of the path is the Jericho sailing club, they have a patio restaurant for cheap eats and beer. You could take a bus back to 4th, just past Alma is a greek restaurant called Kerki's - it is great!!! Across the street from Kerki's is Banyon Books, the best book store in town (you have to wander through to understand, a real locals fave).
Don't forget to visit Las Margaritas, but be warned, go early (by 5pm ish) or there will be a line-up.
Also, take the ferry from Granville Island to Yaletown and wander there. Lots of restaurants and shops.

AndrewDavid

carmanah
thanks for the proper name of vij's junior. the menu is quite extensive there and we were stuffed. i've waited art vij's as well and enjoyed it

annetti, u should try both!!!!
i am actually thginking of a return to Bs As this january where the weather in victoria to say nothing of vancouver ids less salubrious than today. we r so happy to have good weather for the long weekend

cheers
andre

annetti

Dar: We took your suggestion and went to Jericho Beach to spend the day, first stopping off around 1:30pm to try Kerki's for lunch, see Banyon Bookstore and then take a long walk on the pathway by the beach. Unfortunately Kerki's was closed as was another recommendation, Approdite (across the street from Banyon); we spent a pleasant 30-45 minutes browsing the books. What a nice bookstore. I came across some very interesting titles.A clerk at Banyon recommended Jermiah's, a pub a half block down the street from Banyon, and we had a very nice lunch there.

Afterwards, we took the bus to Jericho Beach,walked for a bit and got a bit confused when the path bisected, but a couple set us straight and we walked and talked with them for about an hour. They are ex-pats from Brooklyn and Illinois and surprise -- they love it here and feel fortunate that a year's teaching stint ended up as permanent residence. The walk along the seafront was very pleasant, very low keyed, and pretty. Fairly quiet, too with no loud boom boxes going. I saw a sign regarding boom box restrictions. Great idea! I enjoyed watching all the dogs running on the beach, chasing balls, and driftwood. They looked so happy to be out and about. Their faces appeared to be smiling and their tails were going 50 beats to a minute.

We walked further up the hill and away from the beach to UBC, and saw a bit of the campus. For a campus over 100 years old, I was surprised to see so many modern buildings. We will return again to visit MOA (waiting for a rainy day to do that!) so perhaps we will get another perspective on the campus.

Andre: We are thinking BA, too in late March/early April with possibly a stop over in Chile.

Klam, I heard about the other suspension bridge. Thanks for the reminder. That is definitely part of our plans.

llamalady; Thanks for your suggestions, too. It looks like we will have no problem keeping ourselves occupied with all these ideas pouring in.

Annetti

annetti

Carmanah: Where is the Commercial Drive Area that you suggested? Please give me a cross street or a popular spot, that is, a restaurant or park in the area that we can use as a starting spot for our exploring. Thanks. Annetti

annetti

Today's adventure took us back to Kits for lunch and then a bus ride to Chinatown. We can now use our monthly pass and are enjoying the ease of getting on and off buses without time limits or searching for coins. A real pleasure. We had a very nice lunch at the Approdite on 4th across the street from Banyen Books. The soups were good, quesadillas were freshly made, and we shared a great piece of apple blueberry pie, also the staff was very friendly. A nice inexpensive lunch. We, then took the bus and skylink to Chinatown, perhaps if we had eaten there, we may have enjoyed our few hours there more. Also, we probably should have combined our visit there with Gastown last week.

We arrived just as the tour was beginning for Dr. Sun Yat-sen Classical Garden ($20 for 2), although we missed the first few minutes of the lecture, and sometime that feels a bit disorienting, I didn't feel the earnest young man contributed much. There were about 10-12 people respectfully listening, but we were not given too much time on our own to just wander. Probably better to go on one's own. It's a pretty little place, but the huge skyscrapers in sight beyond the garden distracted me. Afterwards, we wandered around Chinatown for a bit, stepped in one store, and after dutifully wandering up a few streets, we left and
returned to Kerrisdale to try a sushi place (Aijsai) recommended by a Fodorite. (Sorry, I can't give credit to the nice person who suggested it.) We enjoyed it very much; others apparently did, too, since every table was filled. The only odd thing about the place is that we were carrying on a spirited conversation with the people at the next table, and because we were finished eating, the waitress asked us politely to leave so other people could be seated. We had just paid our bill within the last few moments when she came over. This was a first for us anywhere. She was not in the least rude, but it did make us feel a bit uncomfortable. I rationalized it to myself that it was a small place and we were keeping the table occupied when they could be making money and serving two more people, but just the same. . .

It continues to amaze and please us how friendly Vancouverites are, so willing to start a conversation and keep it going when you only asked a quick question and had no intention of interrupting their conversations.
This happened to us at dinner today when I asked a question about the sushi. It was very nice to get such a full explanation and by the time we left the restaurant, we discovered a nice place to hear music and shared some favorite Seinfield jokes.

to be continued. . .

Carmanah

annetti, the area I'm referring to is Commercial Drive between Venables and Broadway.

The 99 B-line bus will take you all the way to "Broadway Station", which is a major Skytrain station (2 stops east after the Stadium/Chinatown station) at the corner of Broadway and Commercial.
Just follow Commercial north of there (towards the mountains) and you're set.

http://www.thedrive.ca/abouthistory.shtm is their official community website.

Carmanah

Oops, I suppose technically the area spans from E 13th Avenue all the way to Venables (according to their brochure: http://www.thedrive.ca/map_brochure_LR.pdf)

Hope that helps!

April

I've never been asked to leave a restaurant to make room for others. Odd! I would not return to such a place.