North to Alaska on the Wonder--August 9-16 About This Page:

[Shadowfax]

Trolley Blue Loop

Again we got up and dressed and headed out, walking down to Canada Place and getting some breakfast. We got a big breakfast today. Dave got a ham and cheese omelet and I got scrambled eggs and bacon. Then we walked out, and with perfect timing, caught the trolley for the Blue Loop. The red loop takes you around the western part of the city. The blue loop took us out to the eastern part of the city. The two stops that we wanted to do on this were the Granville Island Market and the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden. We rode past Granville Island and got off at the Chinese Garden, which, as you might expect is in Chinatown (the second largest Chinatown in North America...the first is in San Francisco).

The Dr. Sun-Yat Sen garden is the first of it’s kind built outside of China, and it is beautiful. Peaceful, tranquil and tucked in amongst bustling Chinatown with the very modern city of Vancouver as it’s backdrop. We spent about an hour there, looking at the enormous koi in the pond, wandering the paths and taking lots of pictures.

The Classical Garden juxtaposed with Modern Vancouver


Meg in the Classical Garden

When we had entered the garden, we were told about a festival taking place in Chinatown that day, so we checked that out for a bit, and got to see some dragon dancers. Then we got back on the trolley and rode around to the Granville Island Public Market.

After the tranquility of the garden, this place was a sensory overload! It was bustling with people and full of fantastic looking fruits, veggies, fish, meats, cheeses and baked goods. After being overwhelmed by the sights and sounds, we decided to get a bit of a picnic lunch, so we got some fruit, bread. baked goods and water and grabbed a table. Our pick up meal was delicious and the cherries that I got were some of the best that I had ever tasted. For dessert, Dave had a blueberry tart and I had a mini Black forest cake. I wish I could have bought another one to bring back to the hotel with me...it was that good. Granville Island is also has lots of little shops, so while we there there, I bought a new hat, which I really needed. I had not expected Vancouver to be so sunny, but it was!


Look at that fruit! I've never tasted cherries that good!

As we were walking out of the market, we heard bagpipes, so we went and watched the bagpiper for a bit and then caught the trolley. We got off at Gastown to see the stream clock and look in the trinket shops and then we walked to Canada Place where we caught the red trolley back to our hotel!


(My heritage is partly Scots...I am a sucker for bagpipes!)

Dave was done by then, but I was getting hungry, so I walked across the street to Subway (I know, but I wanted something quick, simple and cheap...it’s better than McDonald’s, right?) and I brought that back to the room. Then I took a shower and it was lights out, end to another busy day in Vancouver.

[chezp]

You've covered everything I want to see in Vancouver - except we'll only have a day to do it! The plan is Stanley Park, then Granville Island, followed by the Chinese garden and I'm so glad they're all on my must-do list, seeing your photos.

[Shadowfax]

You can do it in a day, Chez! We didn't as we had more time, and Dave moves a little slower with his cane, but you can definitely do your top three in one day. (I've read your trip reports! I know what you can get accomplished in a limited amount of time!)

Bear in mind that the Trolley starts at around 9 am and last run is about 5 pm. If you wanted to spend more time, say at Granville Island, you might want to get a cab.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great day in Vancouver!

[DrDolphin]

Thanks for all the details on the trolley! We disembark at 8am... and our train to Seattle doesn't leave till 5pm...so even if we head to the train station at 4pm - we have 8 full hours to kill - and you've just given me lots of info (and photos!) Thanks.

[Shadowfax]

My pleasure! I'm glad the information is helpful!

[Shadowfax]

Day 4--Vancouver Lookout

Today, we decided to sleep in a little bit, since we were pretty tired from our two previous days. After we both got up, we walked over to Blenz Coffee to get breakfast and use the WiFi internet access there. I got online, updated the blog, checked Facebook and email and looked up the weather for our upcoming cruise. I also checked my credit card and bank accounts.

We walked back over to the hotel and put the computer back in the room and then we walked downtown to the Vancouver Lookout. The Lookout is 450 feet high and circular, so it gives you a 360 degree view of Vancouver. (It’s very much like the Prudential Center in Boston, if you’ve ever been up in that).



The views were just spectacular and we spent almost 2 hours up in the Lookout. After that, we descended and walked to The Elephant and Castle Pub, one of the places that I had really wanted to eat while in Vancouver. We had an excellent meal of authentic British pub grub (fish and chips for me and steak and kidney pie for Dave) and then headed back out to walk off our lunch.

We strolled down to the harbor to see the Olympic cauldron and a statue called Digital Orca. We also were able to walk up onto the Living Roof of the convention center. It is a roof with grass, strawberries and native plants growing on it. It acts as an insulator in the winter and reduces the need for cooling in the summer. They even have a full-time bee-keeper there!





Then we walked back to the hotel, stopping in several little shops. We also went to the drug store to get some more water and some snacks. On our way, we passed a female contortionist busking in the street, so we stopped to look at her act which was very cool.

Then we walked back to the hotel and relaxed a bit, looking over the photos from the day. I took a shower and wrote up this entry, while Dave went to sleep. We are up early tomorrow for our last full day in Vancouver. We are heading to the Aquarium to see Beluga whales!

PS: Notice the amount of walking! Vancouver is a very walkable city and we are doing a lot of it!

[chezp]

Whereabouts is the Olympic cauldron in the harbour? I don't recall seeing that in any of my guidebooks....

[Shadowfax]

As you are looking at Canada Place, the cauldron and orca statue are to the left of the convention center. Don't worry...if you are doing the Trolley, they will go right by it. You can't miss it.

[B.M.]

Great start! Wow, to the small plane; we had a 50 seater and I thought that was small.....
Looks like you got in a lot of sights in Vancouver!

[lexiemom]

Great start! I am really enjoying your TR. I am glad your luggage finally arrived so you didn't have to worry too much about it! Vancouver looks like a beautiful city.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Shadowfax

As you are looking at Canada Place, the cauldron and orca statue are to the left of the convention center. Don't worry...if you are doing the Trolley, they will go right by it. You can't miss it.

Cool!

[Shadowfax]

Day 5: Vancouver Aquarium



We decided that going to the aquarium would be an excellent transition to the “sea” portion of our vacation, which starts August 9. I got up and got ready, then took my computer over to Blenz to use the internet while I had breakfast. I had a blueberry scone and a cup of coffee and enjoyed feeling like J.K. Rowling, writing in a coffee shop. (If only I had her talent!)

When I returned to the room, Dave was waking up and we got ready to go out for the day to the aquarium. We took a cab over to Stanley Park (where the aquarium is housed) and then, after a little wait, we got our tickets and headed inside to see the exhibits.

We started by looking at the sea otters, who were bigger than I had pictured them from seeing them on television. They were just as adorable, though, and seemed to be having a good time grooming themselves and floating in the water. They moved too quickly for me to get a good shot of them (this seemed to happen quite a bit this vacation, despite my advanced sports setting on my camera).

Then we went to see the beluga whales! These were very small whales and so cute! There was even a relative youngster, only three years old, who was born at the aquarium. She was in the exhibit with her mother and her grandmother.



We walked over to see the Pacific white-sided dolphin training session and then back to see the beluga whale show. Then we decided to have lunch. I had a hot dog and fries and Dave had a Thai chicken salad. He said it was very good.

We then tried to see the dolphin show but it was too crowded. We watched part of it from the underground viewing area. We then got in line for the Birds of Prey show and stuck around for the next dolphin show. All the shows were quite good, but only about 15 minutes long. That seemed to be the standard training time.











We were fascinated by one dolphin who was either bored or had a touch of OCD. She kept one of her fish that she got as a reward during the show and then kept tossing it up in the air and catching it again in her mouth. Her trainer said she would do that for hours until the next show.





After that, we walked through the Amazon rainforest exhibit. By this time, it was getting quite crowded. Dave even made a joke that it was an aquarium AND a zoo! It was so crowded that I could not even enjoy shopping in the gift store (now *that* is crowded!).

We left the aquarium and got a bottle of water, then walked to the information booth to find out where to catch the bus. Wouldn’t you know it, we had to walk back to where we had just come from! However, on our way back, we stopped and looked at the rose gardens and enjoyed walking through the park on our last day in Vancouver.







We caught the bus back to Burrard Street and then walked to our hotel from the park. As a side note, public transportation was really easy to use, but make sure to have exact change for the bus. We also tried to use a credit card to ride the SkyTrain, but were unable to purchase a ticket that way so we had to use Canadian money (the machines took bills and change.) Be prepared and have some Canadian money on hand.

We had a light snack in our room, and then I set about charging all the electronics and getting everything ready for our transition to the Disney Wonder cruise ship! We would be heading down to Canada Place to embark the ship in the morning.

[Colexis Mom]

Great time at the aquarium!

[chezp]

Wonderful photos from the aquarium!