Fun in Vancouver

I took the mid-day ferry from Victoria to Vancouver. Once again it was raining and I couldn't see much from the ship. It was also pretty foggy, and I was staring at the fog collecting and gathering on the nearby islands and mountains. It seemed almost like the rain was creating the fog because the mountains were too hot. Seemed like stream or something.

Vancouver felt also like it whirled by. This time there wasn't as much booze and bar hopping, as much as so many things to do and never enough time.  I got there late in the evening and checked in. I went out a grabbed a quick sandwich, and pretty much turned in for the night. I was exhausted! 

This was the first time I didn't feel like a princess in my hotel room. All the hotels I stayed in up until this point were great. The best and biggest one was in Jasper. They gave me so many towels, extra bedding, and all organically made soaps and shampoos. The bedroom there was in the entrance, and it had a separate living room. It was my little luxury palace while I stayed in the mountains.

The hotel in Vancouver was much less expensive, and I could feel it. I had (for the first time since I was ten a single bed. Which was a step up from the couch I had been sleeping on at Simon's. There was just enough room to walk around the single bed, and that was about it. The television was about the size of my computer screen. At first, these things really bothered me. But I got used to them for the couple days I was there. Then Simon gave a get-out-of-jail-free card, and I was "forced" to upgrade my room. He decided to come and chill with me for a couple days in Vancouver. I got a double bed, and the room had a lot more space. At this point, I no longer cared as much as I did when I first arrived there.

My first day in Vancouver I did what I have grown to quite enjoy in a new town. I just wandered. I was staying right in the heart of the shopping downtown. I was surrounded by brand name chain stores, and they were all open late. I was disgustingly happy with this discovery. I also knew, I would probably end up buying a bunch of stuff I would have to figure out a way to get home.

I wandered around downtown checking out different shops. I loved the Chapters, and probably spent about two hours in there. I saw this really cool Sweeny Todd barber type chair in this trendy vintage store.

On my way back to my hotel I stopped by SteamRollers on the recommendation of a friend. He told me to get the Wet burrito, and after reading about the yogurt, and guacamole they put in it, I was sold. I expected this little burrito, and was going to grab dinner a couple hours later. Little, the burrito was NOT. It triple the size of a regular burrito and drenched with these and other delicious sauces on top. It was so mouth-watering I couldn't stop eating. Suffice it to say, I did not grab dinner that evening. I was FULL!

SUNDAY, APRIL 23rd, 2010

Once I had gotten back to Vancouver I sent an e-mail to William asking him if he wanted to hang out, and he did :)

We met up and I took him on a long walk to Gastown. I forgot how cute it looked with it's brick and cobblestone streets. We weren't impressed by the stream clock like all the other tourists were. It's one of Gastown's landmarks, and runs completely on steam. It was interesting the way the steam billowed out of the top. 

We stopped in a cafe and each had a hot chocolate. I love he way William says it, it's a mix between chocolate and the french chocolat. It's like "hot shaw-co-lit". 

We then decided to go to Stanley Park, but walk around the shore to get there. On the way we saw this giant cruise ship.William spoke hopefully about one day going on a cruise and seeing the whole world. He took a lot of pictures of the ship.

We looked across the harbour at how green and beautiful North Vancouver seemed to be. This walk was about two hours or so. We spoke of many things, and saw many interesting things. 

There was this cute water-airport full of planes taking off and landing. We stayed watching the planes for a while, both secretly wishing we could be on them, going to some exotic location. There was also a water-gas station?!! I was so impressed, but yet the questions still looms… how do they get the gas there? I'm sure it's boated over, but it was funny at the time to think of all the silly scenarios.  

The walk was pretty and we encountered many interesting things along the way, like this house on stilts. William took many pictures along the way constantly changing the settings on his camera to better suit the situation.

We also took a break to play leap-frog with some monks. I think Spongy won. 

Then slowly before we realized it… we were in the park. There was a tonne of wildlife and everything was so green and beautiful. We walked through the centre and around Bear lake. We headed over to Ferguson point for the sunset.After the sun had gone we headed back into the city, and back downtown. As we did so, we heard lots of car horns blaring, people singing and screaming. We realized the Canuck's had just won the series. Now they have a series with the Black Hawks for the cup. The streets were such an overwhelming cheer and excitement. William and I couldn't hear one another, and adopted the contagious smiles from the crowd. We grabbed some dinner, and said goodnight around eleven thirty and I walked the happy streets back to my hotel.

Next Stop Victoria

Leaving Jasper, I felt this sadness. Not only to be leaving the new friend I had made, but leaving my beautiful luxury hotel room , and the beauty of the landscape. I was sad knowing I would be forced upon a train for about 14 hours, and not have the freedom to climb up the side of a mountain anytime I chose to.

I took one of the few seats left available, settled myself and began to write.

I wrote a little… but wasn't quite in the mood. I put my laptop away, and headed up to the dome car to say goodbye to the mountains as we drove out of them.

As we were passing through such beauty, and it was such a clear day out, the dome car was packed. I grabbed the only empty two-seater and like everyone else, pressed my nose against the window. 

We passed through the mass mountains encompassing us on either side like giant fortresses. 

Lots of people say that Mount. Robson is a sight to be seen. I wasn't quite sure I would understand that. how could it be any different from the mass structures I was already staring in awe at. When I saw it, I knew! It was larger than all the others, and we practically drove right beneath it. The dome car has glass ceilings, and as I peered directly up, I felt as though I was at the base of the CN tower. The mountain is so high, that it usually creates it's own weather, and is only visible between 9 - 14 days a year. I was lucky, it was one of those remarkable days.

I stayed in the dome car for a couple hours as we slowly headed out of the mountains. There was a polite Spanish exchange student in the dome car running from side to side, with his fancy camera taking pictures of the beauty. When the car was full he asked if he could sit next to me and we started chatting. We chatted for about an hour or so, while some very misbehaved children ran around the car screaming and playing. 

His name is William, and he grew up in Spain. He decided to fly to Toronto and take the train to Vancouver, where he would be going to school to study English. He eventually went to have dinner, and I stayed in the dome car for a while.

I had dinner a little later in the dinning car. I sat across from these very friendly looking people, and as I talked to them more and more, I felt like they were the parents I never had. They owned a huge house and property where their children came to visit them a lot. They were brother and sister and lived together to take care of each other. They seemed quite informative, and told me lots to do to keep busy in Victoria (which happened to be where they were headed). We chatted a lot about Ontario, and Victoria. I told them I keep my eyes out for them on the ferry, and I did.

After dinner I got back to writing. I was at in for about an hour or so when William appeared. He just happened to be occupying the seat in front of mine. He sat with me and showed me his pictures of his trip so far. He had over two-thousand pictures. We chatted a bit and headed back to the dome car. We ended up hanging out there for a couple hours and what William referred to it as, painting.

Essentially, he was setting his camera's shutter speed to be extremely slow. So the camera would be more light sensitive. We started playing with lights and what-not… here's the best of what we came up with.

After painting I met some of the other people William had been hanging out with on the train. There was a wicked lady, a trucker, with an awesome personality. She was snappy, and witty, liked to drink, smoke and have a good time. She was in her late 30s, and travelling across Canada to pick up a truck and drive it back. 

There was Hugh, a 19-year-old Montreal born frenchman. He had a "Gangster" (his words , not mine) attitude, attire, and demeanour. His english wasn't very good, and he didn't try as hard as William to understand. He had decided to walk across Canada. He was starting in Vancouver, and walking back to Montreal. Seemed like a crazy trip, but even for his age, I could tell he was mentally prepared for it.

There were Jeff and Will, brothers travelling with their mom for a vacation and to visit some family. They were mildly attractive, and maybe a year older than me.

We all stepped off the train in Kamloops so they could have a couple smokes. 

Once the train started up again we all headed to the luxury class's dome car.  We all drank a lot, chatted and laughed as the train twisted and turned through countless tunnels. Hugh's was playing some old classic dance hits, and at one point Jeff, Will and myself were dancing to daft punk's around the world in the aisle of the dome car. It's not as easy as you think it might be as the train speeds along.

The brother's popped some mushrooms, and we kept joking about riding on a snake. Which I understood by looking out towards the front of the train, and seeing the whole thing wrapping around the mountains, and disappearing again into another tunnel.

I got back to my seat around 4. WIlliam was sleeping, and even though I said I would wake him, I didn't.

I slept for a couple hours, and heard the last call for breakfast. If it was last call, then we were pretty close to Vancouver.

Hugh, William and I sat in the dome car together chatting. There was a nervous feeling of uncertainty and excitement in the air. We joked and laughed, as we made our way to pick up our baggage. He saw Jeff and Will and say bye. I waved goodbye to the nice brother and sister I had dinner with the night before.

I said goodbye to Hugh and wished him the best of luck. It seemed pretty crazy what he was doing. However 19 was the prime male age to do so, and I know he will arrive home a different man, from the boy who started out. Or maybe he'll be like Nate, find somewhere he loves, and decide not to leave.

William and I were left. We picked up our luggage and I said goodbye. He gave me his e-mail, and I told him when I came back into Vancouver, I would let him know and we could go take pictures somewhere in the city.

I turned away and headed to my bus. Next stop Victoria.