September 8, 2016

September 8, 2016

Thank you Vancouver!  What a day we had....relaxation....and then a little more relaxation.....and then still a little more of the same.

It all started with a leisurely morning at our B and B where Frieda served up some amazing pancakes that were so big they hung over the edges of the plate!  They were as delicious as they were massive!  There was an endless supply of coffee or tea, freshly baked bread with meats and cheeses as well as home made preserves and some great new friends in the form of the other four guests at Peter and Frieda's B & B.   All four of them (plus our two hosts) are from Germany so by the end of breakfast Darlene and I had shifted into fluent German.  LOL. Well....it might not have been quite fluent but we did understand when they said Stanley Park and Grouse Mountain so that's almost fluent right?!

Our first stop once we were out and about in the big city was Granville Island Market.  Dad was smiling down on us and so of course we had a perfect parking spot that also happened to be in a "free" area.  Yep....that parking spot set the tone for the rest of our day.  We wandered and listened to the musicians, we tasted samples of everything from chocolate and lemon squares to freshly baked sourdough bread and honey.  Yep....a girl could get used to it here!  After a little wandering we made our way to the water side seating where we looked out over False Creek sipping our lattes and listening to a variety of music that changed about every 20 minutes as the buskers "shift" was done.  We stayed there long enough to go back into the market to purchase some delicious beet salad for lunch and some almond croissants for dessert and then because we could....we topped it all off with iced salted Carmel frappes.  Yummy!!!  By the time this was all consumed we knew we'd better move or risk bodily harm from either the flock of rabid pigeons (well...maybe not rabid....just pesky) or the people who were waiting to sit down.

Next stop was Stanley Park where I travelled down memory lane as our horse drawn carriage toured us around this magnificent patch of nature.  I must digress here just a little to assure Lynda Green that this horse drawn buggy was different that the last one we rode in.  Where the last one in the Philippines had a horse the size of a large dog...this one had two Percherons that each weighed more than 2000 pounds so....no risk of me lifting them off the ground!  For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about...you'll have to go and read the blog lorrieinphilippines.blogspot.com and check out our time in the city of Vigan.

Now....back to today..... Our horses were named Matlock and Andy. Mat has been working this gig for more than 4 years and Andy is pretty new to the game.  Our driver was Matti (yes...same name as one of the horses) and she is originally from Chilliwack.  She did a great one hour tour and it was worth every penny of the admission.  The weather could not have been any more perfect nor the scenery any more beautiful.  The ride was right in line with our theme of relaxation and as I mentioned earlier....it was a ride down memory lane for me as I remember clearly the many times my family and I visited the park to see the animals in the zoo (yes...there was a zoo there then), ride the miniature train, and drive through the "tunnel" of trees that were the canopy for most of the way around Stanley Park Drive.  At one of our carriage stops Matti told the story about the statue of the woman (that people often think is a mermaid) who is out on the Rock she explained how the artist would come every year on the anniversary of the statue's creation to clean her from head to toe and to serve birthday cake to everyone who was there. Listening to the story, I had a vivid memory of the year that my family happened to visit the park that same day and were treated to a piece of that birthday cake....it was one of those moments of nostalgia that are even sweeter since they come as a complete surprise.
Another sweet surprise on that carriage ride was meeting a lady from Toronto who sat right behind me and who was visiting her son in Vancouver.  We had a really nice visit and I'm thinking she might be reading this blog right now as she has always had a visit to Japan on her "bucket list".  Unfortunately that isn't going to work out for her but I promised her she could join us virtually by way of this blog so....you know who you are....enjoy the adventure!

During our tour we also learned about the sulphur that comes into Burrard inlet to wait for the ships that will take it to Asia and other points on the far side of the world.  We learned that Western Red Cedar trees are used by the First Nations people in the carving of their totem poles and that they'll last for up to 100 years after they've been carved.  We learned that they're nicknamed umbrella trees because the branches keep the ground under the tree completely dry and we had evidence of this last night as we made our trek to dinner and part of our hike took us under a row of these umbrella trees.  This bit of info and seeing all the cedars in the park reminded me of another time and place.  That time and place was in Ireland where my brother Rob literally tripped over a fallen western red cedar that our great grandfather had planted in front of the old family farmhouse in Derrygooney, County Monaghan about 100 years earlier.  That same tree eventually became ill and died.  It was then cut down and lay out near the barn waiting to be turned into firewood but.....that tree was not destined for the fireplace....there was another plan for that old cedar.  When Rob tripped over the tree in Ireland and our cousin Eric explained that no one knew what type of tree it was as there was not another tree of the same type in the entire country as far as they could see, Rob explained that it was from BC and that it is the type of tree that he used for the chain saw carvings he used to do.  As seems to be a theme with the Forde family....lady luck was again smiling down on this scene and Eric had a couple of freshly sharpened saws Rob could use and so use them he did.  Over the next 3 days he worked almost round the clock....through rain and shine....and by the time he was done there was a new 10 foot carving of a tree with an eagle resting in it's branches.  The carving was moved to that same place our great grandfather had planted the seedling he'd brought home to the farm all those years ago and that is where it will stand in it's new form for another 100 years.   Again....this memory was prompted by the scenery in the park....bonus bonus bonus. :)

Speaking of scenery....how does one describe sunshine on water, old growth trees, children laughing as they splash in the waterpark, vast green fields for cricket matches, ancient totem poles peeking out from behind the forest, lapping waters along the shoreline, snowy white seagulls drifting on the breeze, and the scent of late summer hanging in the air.  .....just a few of the memories we'll carry away from this carriage ride.

When the time finally arrived to say good bye to Lord Stanley and all his pet geese (well....not sure if they were pets of his but there are a LOT of them in the park) we climbed back in the car to make one final loop around the park...it was too beautiful to leave just yet.  This time round there was an added bonus of a couple of gorgeous hunks of men on bikes riding beside our car for part of the way so the scenery was even richer.  (We might be old but we're not THAT old!  LOL)

Once we'd made our way out of the park we were off to Gastown and all the adventure that lies hidden in its alleyways and old buildings.  We found our way into Gaolers Mews where a cute little restaurant named Meet called out for us to sit down so we did.  It was an amazing place in that the food comes out of the kitchen faster than the drinks can come from the bar!  Actually...it was amazing on all fronts.  My margarita was delicious.  Darlenes basil infused cocktail was just as yummy.  The beer battered sweet and spicy cauliflower was unforgettable and the chili fries were none to shabby either.  Yep....dinner was delish!  From there we had to wander a little longer to wear off the margarita and burn up a little more time as we sure didn't want to not use some of the time that was on our meter in the parkade.  Well....I guess we did leave a little time on the meter in the end since it was good until 6:00 am and we were not about to stay out that late!  We knew it was time to head for the car when the steam clock whistled, when dusk had fallen, and when the streets started to look a little sketchy.  Given the fact that Darlene is carrying about a million yen in her purse we decided it was time to vacate the area!  Our timing was right on as en route back to the car we were accosted by no less than 5 "interesting" fellows looking for a little financial contribution.

Thanks to Google maps (dubbed as Ms Know It All by us for this journey) we managed to find our way back to Frieda's B & B in Richmond.  In keeping with our great day....there was our parking spot waiting for us right in front of Frieda's place again.  Yep....it's been a great day and there's more on the agenda for tomorrow as we don't have to be to the airport till evening.

Feeling very lucky right now....till next time,
Darlene and Lorrie