Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Two things about America that I forgot before I get to Canada... (1) Everything is a drive through! From San Francisco up through, there are these tiny buildings (chains and independent stores) that you drive around to get coffee. I think it must be claustrophobic inside the building! Caffeine (and Subway!) is taken very seriously (and speedily!) My favorite chain (by logo/color scheme) is Dutch Bros! (2) There are these funny traffic lights (thought I was seeing things in Portland) at the on ramps to some highway entrances, and they flash green for when you can go: "Only one car per green". To try to improve traffic flow?!?! I had never heard of this!

On to Canada! I arrived safely Monday night and noticed flashing green lights?!? And made it to my Airbnb on the bus after finding $2.75 in exact change, no small feat. It wasn't far but with my ever expanding bag, I was happy for the lift. 

I headed out running (by taking the bus! Where everyone thanks the bus driver on entering and exiting!) on Tuesday morning in Stanley Park. As I don't run with my phone, there are no photos but it was a gorgeous day and Stanley Park is very cool. Google it! I returned to do laundry (after my final "training" run) and get some groceries for a calm evening of cooking and sleep. 

Wednesday I headed out to Granville Island for some heavy touristing after visiting City Hall

 (Mr. Vancouver himself) and a very cute coffee shop in a historic building (saw many historic buildings with plaques on this walk, privately owned well maintained homes in gorgeous colors. The coffee shop used to be a house as well.) I headed down to the water (lots of waterfront paths in Vancouver!) to head toward the island (not really an island!) and found some pals:



and a cool sculpture!

  

All those clouds back there are covering mountains. Right there. I never got a good picture because there were always clouds covering them but they were very, very impressive. Closer than the mountains in Seattle! (All pretty though!) I wandered around in the market (good for lunch, though Pike Place Market is definitely better) Apparently this is the second most visited tourist attraction in Canada after Niagara Falls, and it showed, probably the most tourists I've seen in an enclosed space this whole trip. It was cool with lots of shops (brooms, glass, silk, chocolate, paper, and of course the food) but I'm not sure if it was totally worth all the hype. I did also tour the Granville Island Brewery and got somewhat of a beer education, which was cool.

Then took a ridiculously expensive boat ride over "False Creek" where they used to float logs, like in Seattle, to Yaletown/Downtown area.

 

I had intended to tour the downtown area more, but having spent my every last cent on the dumb boat ride, I could no longer afford the bus ride back to the Airbnb. All I could picture was my dinner and packing to do at my accommodation, so I headed back (which ended up being relatively close but I was tired and experiencing urban fatigue!) I packed last night and am currently bussing to (almost) Idaho! I was happy I chose to head to Vancouver, what a beautiful place and nice weather to enjoy! Have a good weekend everyone!