Simon's trip to Vancouver

Monday, April, 24th

I awoke the next morning to a beautiful day. It seemed a little chilly, but it was gorgeous out. By the time Simon arrived in Vancouver, and I had to go pick him up it was pouring. My feet were soaked by the time I walked down to the bus stop and back, and so I gave in. I finally bought some water-proof shoes. At this point with rain everyday, and another six days in Vancouver to go, I knew I didn't have much of a choice. I paid ten dollars for the whitest shoes ever. They are really ugly, and I will probably never wear them again after this trip. 

Simon and I wanted to do something, but it was pouring… He had plans to meet up with his friend Doug, but that fell through.

We ended up going to three different bars, having dinner and drinks. In one of these bars hung these black and white pictures of city scapes from Toronto. I thought it a bit strange to be in Vancouver, staring at pictures of Toronto. One is on Elm St. and Yonge St. I've been past the other one before, and I NEED to figure out where exactly it is before it drives me mad!!

THe first bar we went to had shitty food, but good cheap drinks. The last bar we went to had terrible drinks. I'm sure my wine had been sitting for Days! YUK! The middle bar was just right.

We stayed up late into the night drinking our booze in the hotel. At one point when Simon was in the bathroom, I climbed under my covers (still sitting up). He came out and plopped down on his bed, "You can't go to sleep, we are in the middle of a heart-to-heart here." I laughed so hard (no affence Simon!). Just the way he delivered the line, and the fact it was coming from Simon was hilarious. He usually says, I don't really want to talk about it, when the conversation sways to far in one direction.

We stayed up chatting for quite a while.

Tuesday, April, 25th

Simon woke me up, for what he said was the second time around 10:30. We grabbed breakfast sandwiches at a nearby coffee shop/ deli place. After that we decided to head down to Stanley Park. Simon wanted to see it, and I felt like even though I had walked a great majority of it, that there was still probably more to see.

We approached it through the West side (I came from the East the time before) of the park. We walked along the boardwalk passing many joggers, rollerbladers, and bicyclists. 

Simon kept talking about ice cream, and convinced me to get some. We stopped in a kid's park to sing some Our Lady Peace, and Nine Inch Nails, while swinging on the swings.

We continued on past a watermark that was closed for the season. I think we both wanted to climb the fence and chill in the empty pools. Then we made theories on how we would have an empty pool party.

We stopped for a bit of a break on the beach to enjoy the beautiful weather, and the stellar view.

We followed along the outer skirts of Stanley Park. The beach turned into rocks, and eventually into giant cliffs, that rose like Gods beside us. There was this Seagull just sitting by the shore, it wasn't until I took this picture did I realize what it had in it's mouth. I wondered if this was something it had found dead, or something it had caught himself. I'm almost positive it's a starfish.

Near the time when we were heading out of the park it had started to rain. We didn't mind too much in the beginning, until it started to pour. Eventually the pounding rain turned into hail, and we seeked out refuge under a bridge. While we were there we sang Under the Bridge by Red hot Chilli Peppers. It was a fond moment of mine :)

Then we grabbed a bus back to the downtown, and grabbed some coffee and crepes. 

We then high-tailed it over to the Art Gallery where I was supposed to meet Rudy for 4:30pm. Only by 5:10 I realized that maybe he wasn't going to show up. We headed back to the hotel and I called him, only to discover that he had been waiting at another entrance. We decided we would be in touch, and figure out another time to meet up.

Simon and I watched some baseball (daily ritual of ours), and some sitcoms then headed out to grab some dinner. I had been singing about Steak all day, and we both knew it was going to be a deliciously epic meal. We headed over to the Keg, sat at the bar and had some great food. I had some great wine, with perfectly cooked steak. I even got to have some port with my dessert. I was in heaven with the quality of the meal, in comparison to the crap I had eaten the night before. I remember a large portion of the dinner conversation circled around baseball. It's nice to have someone to talk to about it. We are definitely a hockey country.

We left feeling full and a bit buzzed. We both had the intention of heading out to other pubs, it just never happened. We ended up chilling in my hotel room, playing drinking songs for one another. The best that came up was Spirit of the West, although we did have a great sing along to Mary Mac, and fuck you I'm drunk!

We kept the shine on the bar, from the sleeves of our coats.

You'll have to excuse me, I'm not at my best

I've been gone for a month, I've been drunk since I left

These so called vacations will soon be my death

I'm so sick from the drink, take me home for a rest

Take me home