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Monday 29 August – part eight: what’s that in your salad?

We took the elevator back down to ground level and it was fascinating to see the landscape change as we descended, although Joy wasn’t looking, as that sort of thing messes with her head.



Once back on street level, we walked back to the hotel, decidedly dragging by now.



We said goodbye once there, with Joy heading off to get a cab back to her hotel. It had been such a fun day with her and it was way too long since we last saw her. We must make sure not to leave it that long again.

We headed back to the room for some downtime and, around 6:20pm, we rang Barb and Bob and arranged to meet downstairs in the lobby for dinner. We had talked about going to the food court, but in the end, the hotel restaurant, the Cafe Pacifica won out, as the prices weren’t that bad. We left a message with front desk, so that Sue and Steve would know where we were.

Once I saw the menu, I decided to go for two appetisers, rather than one entree, as they all looked a bit heavy with pasta or potato for accompaniments. I went for the seafood chowder, which was very nice, but exceptionally creamy, so that would’ve been no good for Mark. :

Before the entrees arrived, I headed outside to go and get some photos of the cruise terminal and the area. It was beautiful out there, although starting to get a bit cold.

I loved the water feature that they had, which illustrated the Pacific ocean and the countries that border them. It was very neat.



For entree, I went for the Vancouver Island Dungeness crab and avocado, which was lovely, although the exotic fruit gazpacho really didn’t go too well together with it.



Mark had the linguini with the grilled prawns and chorizo sausage and really enjoyed it.



It was Barb who had the drama with her entree. She ordered the Cobb salad, which turned up with an added extra that you don’t normally get – thank goodness. It was a fruit fly, so they took it back to get another one made up for her, saying that the whole table could have desserts on them. Now that’s what I call service!

I wasn’t planning on having a dessert, but as it was free, we both went for it. I had a selection of ice cream, as none of the desserts really grabbed me, while Mark had this... I do not remember for the life of me what it was.



Cafe Pacifica

Appetiser 8 N/A
Entree 7½ 8½
Dessert 8 8
Service 8 8
Atmosphere 8½ 8½
Value for money N/A N/A

Average score: 8.11

We can’t tell you what the value for money rating was, as Barb and Bob very kindly paid for us, so we have no idea on that front. very much guys – it was a really great night.

All the while, we had done our best to keep an eye out for Sue and Steve and, as the time ticked on, we started to get more and more worried about where they were. Surely they should be here by now?

By the time we finished a very leisurely dinner, it was almost 9:00pm and I asked at reception and was told that they had checked in about half an hour earlier. We debated calling them, but decided that we should, as they had no way of contacting us, as none of our cell phones were on (we weren’t getting a signal with Tracfone and it was stupid money for Barb and Bob). We called up and they had indeed made it safe and sound, although it sounded like they’d had a heck of a day. Despite an invitation to come up and see their room on the 18th floor (how did they get that, while we both got the 9th? :whistle), we declined, figuring an early night was probably best for all of us.

We went and had a look at Barb and Bob’s room and their night-time harbour view, although oddly, there wasn’t much to see in the dark...

Then they had a look at ours, before we retired. As we’d only just finished eating, we sat up for a while and I caught up online, before we finally hit the sack. It had been a wonderful day with great friends in Vancouver and tomorrow, we would be off cruising.

The weather today was cloudy and overcast to begin with, but sunny later, with temperatures in the low 70s.
The best thing today was seeing the views in and from Stanley Park.
The worst thing today was the walk up to Prospect Point.
The funniest thing today was Mark racing round to get into the various group shots.
Today we tried taking the trolley tour around Vancouver
And the result was it worked out really well for us.
The most magical moment today was seeing all the fruit and vegetables at the Granville Island public market.

Next: where’s the Wonder?