annetti

We were out of the house in record time today, even with watering our home exchangers' lawn. We decided that we must visit the Vancouver Art Gallery, even though the weather continues to be fabulous.

So our day included a direct bus (no mishaps) to the museum with a stop on Denman beforhand for sushi. We went to a small place called Akira's, our second visit, and it is always crowded. We do not have a sophisticated palate when it comes to sushi, but we enjoyed our meal, and my husband is slowly learning to develop a taste for it. A stop for gelato (and an interesting conversation with the ice-cream guy who compared Toronto to Vancouver, he feel Vancouver is more "wide open," regarding business opportunities and a few other thoughts regarding living in Ottawa), we then took a short bus ride to the Vancouver Art Gallery. It is a beautiful building; I understand it was Vancouver's former courthouse. Disappointingly for us, most of the Emily Carr paintings are on tour, so we only saw a very small sample. There was an exhibition of several other Canadian Women artists mixed in with Emily Carr's work. I, particularly liked Henrietta Mabel May's Autumn in the Laurentians. You needed to stand back from it to get a good perspective. I thought it would go nicely over my fire place at home! I, also liked Kathleen Morris' Market Scene and the Gossips by Betty Goodwin was interesting, but a little too mean spirited and stereotypical to suit me. But, it was a nice collection of work.

We decided to have an early dinner at home and use up some of the food we have bought, rather than see it rot. So we stopped off at a wine store and bought a bottle of BC wine to enjoy with our very unchic dinner of veggie burgers again.

We are thinking of revisiting Commercial Drive again tomorrow.. .

Pippy1

If you get a chance and you like Celtic music you should check out the Wolf & Hound Pub at 3617 WEst Broadway. The food is great and each night there is usually an adhoc group of musicians that get together and make music. Tonight there were 10-12 guitarists,fiddlers, drummers and singers. It was great fun.
For sushi, you really must check out a local haunt, the Eatery at 3431 W. Broadway www.theeatery.ca
The sushi is unique and delicious. Get there early to avoid the young crowd or order ahead and take out. Enjoy!

barbiej

Annetti--thanks for your response. It was very helpful. My husband and I will be coming to Vancouver at the end of September. We live in St. Louis. I have read quite a lot about Vancouver and the things you mentioned are definites on my list--Stanley Park, Granville Island. I use to work in NYC when I was much younger and just recently visited there and while there went to Chinatown--I'm not too impressed with NY's Chinatown. There are too many vendors trying to get you to buy things--especially along Canal street. It was fun to revisit though. I just love walking the streets of cities were I visit, so I will enjoy just doing that in Vancouver also. We plan to take a day trip to Whistler--are you going to do that. We will be leaving after our three days and taking the ferry to Vancouver Island to see Butchart Gardens and Victoria. Enjoy your time in Vancouver--can't wait to visit--I've never been.

annetti

Barbiej: I can't imagine you not having a wonderful time here. It is a beautiful city and people are so friendly and helpful. Coming here has been a great decision on our part. We are very leisurely travelers; generally we get started late, the beauty of home exchange, and never feel rushed to do a great deal. We have the luxury of not craming too many activites in one day, however, we do plan a few days in Victoria, so we will probably be on a tighter schedule. I say, just walk and enjoy the city and have a great time sampling all the wonderful restaurants and hope for good weather. Have a wonderul time.
Annetti PS No, Whistler is not on our schedule, though we have been told numerous times by locals that it is beautiful and a "must see."

llamalady

To most people Victoria means the
Parliment Bldgs, the Provincial
Museum, the Inner Harbour, etc.
But I go there to eat at Rebar in
Bastian Square. It's sorta like
a cafe you'd find in Orange City.

It's a fun, funky, mostly-veggie
restaurant - high energy and usually
packed. Try lunch there but arrive
before noon to get a seat. If your
DH is a healthy food lover he should
be very happy here.

After lunch you can carry on and
visit the 'usual suspects'....

annetti

Thank you again, llamalady. Someone else mentioned Rebar a while back on another thread. Perhaps, it was you? I have it written down to try, but I'm glad to have the reminder. My husband is still feeling guilty over all the high cholestrol food he has enjoyed here, so everytime we eat "healthily" and still enjoy it, is a bonus!

By the way, if you don't mind the question, how did you get your on screen name?

annetti

Queenmandy85: We made it to Lawrence books yesterday. We finally hit on a time when it was opened. It is a great used book store; we've noticed that there are lots of used book stores in this city, for that matter, there are a lot of bookstores, period. Another vote in favor of Vancouver. I came across a first edition of an author I like and was tempted, but someone had written their name in it and it was "not a deal." Lawrence reminds me of Acres of Books in Long Beach, California, an icon of a store,(although smaller) that is sadly closing its doors because of redevelopment next year, although there is talk of it relocating. It always saddens me to see a bookstore closing.

llamalady

Have you found your way up to Lynn
Canyon yet? Nice easy hiking in the
woods with the added 'adventure' of
a (free) suspension bridge. Again,
not sure of the bus route but I know
there is one!

Burmese cat that may have a Buddhist
background hence the (l)lama and its
colouration is llama-like. I know,
sad.

annetti

llamalady: Another cat lover! Thank you for clearing up that mystery.

Lynn Canyon has been on our list for a while. I hope we get to it. I am coming down with a head cold, so in fairness to our Victoria hotel, we just cancelled. I hope we get to do all the things on our list. The Victoria hotel says they may be able to get us in later in the week, hopefully the cold won't drag on.

Today, we visited Commercial Drive as planned. We are pleased to report that we arrived without any mistakes or more than two questions to verify we were on the correct route.

My husband had read a glowing review in Vancouver City Guide for Marcello's restaurant, so knowing that pizza is one of my favorite foods, suggested we try it. The review reported that they make a fabulous thin crusted pizza. The service was pleasant and the menu offers you the choice of two different topings on your pizza, that is, you can have a vegetarian pizza on one half and in my case an anchovy pizza on the other side. A clever idea. I liked my side of the pizza, but then the high salt of the anchovies covers a lot of sins. My husband thought his "side" was tasteless -- I had to agree. Although not perfect pizza in any way, I did enjoy it. We later walked up the "Drive" and even stopped at a garage sale where I bought a book of French Canadian short stories. It was fun being in the area again; I love the Berkley-like 70s feel of the area.

Later, we went to Kits for some coffee and some shopping.

By the way,Pippy1, thanks for the suggestion about the Wolf and Hound. Does it matter which day of the week we go and what is the earliest time we can get there and hear music? My husband is really interested in doing this. Any chance there are violins occasionally? Thank you.

AndrewDavid

annetti, re Berkeley in the '70s: the friendliness and pace of life in Victoria today remind me of when i was in graduate school in Berkeley in the late 60's and early 70's. Granola is alo a favourite food group on Salt Spring Island ( a half hour ferry ride from here). Hope u r well enough to make it over to Victoria.
Luminara is saturday july 26th when beacon hill park is taken over at night by a fantasy of lanterns and music.
If u r here a different Saturday night, the fireworks at Butchart Gardens after dark ( 10pm last weekend) r truely amazing and the garden after dark is more attractive than during the day imho.
the ferry ride from Tsawassen to Sydney ( the port for victoria) is stunning esp the last 45 minutes or so through the Gulf island. its an easy transit downtown to downtown via Pacific Coach Line

if u need any info on Victoria feel free to give me a shout
cheers
AndrewDavid

ps thanks for greeeat report!

annetti

Thank you, Andrew David for your kind thoughts. I am not sure if we will make it to Victoria, I will have to see how this cold thing goes. My husband, fortunately, flows with the tide, and is not too disappointed, I am the one that will be upset if we can't include Victoria this year. Our time in Canada is running out.

Yesterday, we laid low, hung around our home away from home and relaxed. I finished a book and began another. I am always thankful for home exchange or at least a rented apartment when you feel less than perfect.

Today, we bussed up to Kerrisdale, planning to try Suvai for lunch. (One of the things, I did while hanging around the house was spend some time reading dinehere.com. Someone on this board a while back made the suggestion to check out this website. I wish I could remember and give proper credit, since it was great fun reading the reviews, especially when they agree with my assessments, as in the case of Marcello and Las Margaritas, neither of which impressed me.)

Unfortunately Suvai did not get their order of fish today, so we left planning to return another day. My husband remembered a highly rated review from dinehere.com for Sushi King on West Ave, also in Kerrisdale. Either, I am getting tired of Sushi (I doubt that!) or I just did not like the place. The waitress/cook was harried and her rushed attitude, though understandable is not good for first time customers. The food was just okay.

However, Van Dusen Gardens which followed our lunch was hardly ordinary. It is truly a special place and has to be one of the highlights of our trip. The gardens are lovely, beautifully maintained with lovely wild grasses, trees, ponds, and flowers. We spent three hours wandering the grounds, got lost for about 5 minutes in the maze and had a wonderful time. The park was practically empty. The majority of the time, we saw no other strollers, and we never had to wait for that annoying person (just kidding of course) to move on so we could take photos. It was a real bargain for $17.00 for the two of us. I'm sure Butchard in Victoria is larger and more impressive, and if we don't get to see it, this will be a worthy replacement. I was very happy today wandering around the garden. There is a pretty restaurant there, I have no idea how the food is, but the setting is lovely, and it would make a wonderful special date or anniversary meal.

I wish we had a park as pretty so close by at home. The only thing I can think of comparable is Huntington Gardens or Descanso Gardens, all about a 45 minute ride away in "good traffic!"

more later. . .

AndrewDavid

Dear annetti, hope u feel beter whether u make it to Victoria or not. I personally don't feel that any of the gardens at Butchart are particularly well done esp if one has seen gardens in england, japan and italy as i have been fortunate to see. however the whole gestalt of Butchart is quite amazing and the fireworks on Saturday evening will blow ur socks off!
Summer entertainment is good in the evening also and included in the price of admission. fyi, my husband is just finishing a run there of "Foever Plaid"!
take care
AndrewDavid

annetti

Thank you, Andrew David for the reassurance that the world will not denounce me if we miss Butchard Gardens and the sky will not fall in. Although, we have not been to Japan, I have never seen lovelier gardens than what one sees in England. They may not know how to cook (okay, okay, English cooking has greatly improved!! I hope my mild riposte, does not create undue fervor here), but their gardens are absolutely first rate. They certainly have the knack for making things grow and doing it beautifully. Again, thank you for the kind thoughts. I will survive a cold, but it does seem unfair to get one in the middle of the summer!

di2315

Hi annetti

I just happened upon your travels in Vancouver, and you have brought back many happy memories of our home exchange in Van a couple of years ago!

You don't seem to have mentioned a trip to Grouse Mountain - we were staying just below the mountain, and I know there was a bus service that came right up to the mountain base where the gondola leaves from.
We were up there in summer, and the views from the top were magnificent.

It's several hours worth of visit, if you include walking through the gigantic timber sculptures, and watching the timber-cutters 'show'. Plenty of eating opportunities also - we enjoyed just sitting there and watching the arrival of all the mad keen outdoor mountain climbers who subjected themselves to arriving on foot . . . definitely way too much effort!

Happy travels, Di

Carmanah

Hey annetti,

Butchart Gardens is actually the exact same size as VanDusen, and I personally feel that the two are fairly similar, except VanDusen's cheaper and less touristy. Of course, Butchart's more famous... and it's situated next to a harbour, but unless you're planning on more than a day trip to Victoria, you really aren't missing out. After all, if you've been to Queen Elizabeth Park, you've already experienced the sunken quarry garden.

Hope you feel well soon. I too just got over a strange 48 hour head cold. It's a bizarre time of year to get one, but a lot of people have it right now.

WillTravel

I haven't been here, but I was in this area recently and it seems like it would be fun. It's the Flying Beaver Bar and Grill, in Richmond near the south terminal of the airport, and you can see floatplanes taking off just a few feet away as you sit out on the terrace:
http://www.dinehere.ca/restaurant.asp?r=443

Which reminds me of another nice Vancouver spot, if you get a good view.
Cardero's
http://www.dinehere.ca/restaurant.asp?r=618

You seem to have such a positive attitude! It's fun to read your reports.

annetti

Di2315: No, we have not been to Grouse Mt, yet. We are trying to decide. I have problems with mountain roads (some call it motion sickness)and now with a cold, I am reluctant to push my luck. Though, we have been given several travel tips by locals that we would enjoy the excursion. It does sound lovely.
We are really enjoying our home exchange here -- we feel it has been a great exchange and hope that our guests in Southern California are enjoying themselves, too. My husband and I say at least once a day, isn't this great! We feel very fortunate to be able to spend almost 5 weeks in such a beautiful city.

annetti

Carmannah: Thanks for the reassurance that we will not be missing too much by not seeing Butchard Gardens. I really loved Van Dusen. It was so empty yesterday, perhaps, it is more crowded on weekends and holidays. It always amazes me that these meticulous. weedless, well-pruned gardens never have anyone working on them. We did not see one gardener during our visit.

I agree that it is a bizarre cold that only lasted three days; it is just about gone. Very strange, not that I want to have it hang around any longer!!

annetti

Willtravel: Perhaps, it was you that told us about Dinehere.com.? It is a very entertaining site as you suggested. We ran into a local today who also suggested Cadero's to us today.

annetti

Today was somewhat of a repeat of the earlier part of our trip. We had lunch at Suvai in Kerrisdale. We were seated at a nice little table that just fronted the open air patio without being directly in the sun. It was very pleasant to feel the cool breezes. We have been lucky to have such perfect weather over the last three weeks. We groan a little, that there has been no evening rain, because we have so much watering to keep our home exchangers' plants green and healthy, but it is a small price to pay for a rainless and beautiful summer. We hope our pleasure is not wreaking havoc on the agricultural system.

Our lunch was more upscale, you can always tell since the food is piled high like a tower with the vegetables coyly hidden under the salmon. It was good though, a little heavy on the black pepper. The service was pleasant,too.

We then took the bus to Stanley Park, to walk the sea wall. We had walked it in bits and pieces the first few days we were in Vancouver, but we wanted to return and enjoy the pleasure again. It is a pretty walk unencumbered with souvenir stands and ice cream/hotdog kiosks or Starbucks. (I wonder how that contagion has been avoided.) Once again we found the sea wall pleasantly empty, just a few people here and there. There were plenty of free benches if you tired. We took some of the photos we missed the first time round. The time of the day changes the colors of the water very nicely and makes for some pretty pictures. After walking for about three or so hours (and only sitting occasionally) we walked down to Davie Street. My husband wanted to return to Stepho's for dinner. It was about 5:30 or 6:00. There were about 10 people ahead of us. We were finally seated under a speaker, we asked to move, so we waited another 10 minutes and were seated on the other side of the room under the other speaker. At this point, we sat down, however the loud music, the general noise of the room, the tile floor, etc. made for a very active room. I kind of enjoyed it. There was a large family group of about 15 people trying to squeeze around a table for 8, but they were all so happy to be together, it was contagious. My husband ordered the chicken, liked it, and was glad that he ordered the small portion. I ordered the vegetarian plate, suffice it to say, I did not enjoy it very much, though the Greek salad that came with it was the best part of the meal.

My big coup today was finding a store that sold Maple Candy. The only place I had seen some was at the Granville Market which I though exorbitant for very small boxes, but today, I found it "on sale" for less than half the price of Granville. My only error was probably not buying more!! I, also will have to start shopping for some smoked salmon to take home. I can always tell when a trip is ending down, when I start thinking about gifts to bring home. . .