Five Countries Four Marlboroughs: Exploring the City!

I woke up this morning at 7am and then I realised - I was in Vancouver! Everyone was still asleep so I quietly got up, made a coffee and did a quick clean of our apartment. We are staying at the Times Square Suites and Tripadvisor was right once again - our two bedroom apartment has everything we need and is in the best location. My challenge over the next 5 weeks is knowing where everything is in our many suitcases and bags – if this is my biggest challenge - bliss! Waiting, waiting when will my family wake up? They must have been exhausted for everyone slept until 9:30am – over 13 hours!

Terry and I walked up to Hertz and picked up our car that will drive us to the Rockies in a few days time. We have an all leather interior Dodge.

We came back to the apartment, and all four of us made our way back to Stanley Park which is our closet pick up point for the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus for a tour of the city. The loop takes 2.5 hours . We ‘hopped’ off at a ferry stop for a quick ride over to the Granville Markets. Well being the market queen, I know my markets. Whilst they weren’t as big as I expected, they didn’t disappoint with a fantastic selection of fresh produce, arts, crafts and food court.

James was on a mission to find Gelato and had many, many stalls to choose from. Will was on the hunt for cherries - all of the berries were stacked in little castles. Terry spied the Bratwurst as soon as we walked in and showed great self-control not to buy one straight away! I chose a salad taco. We chilled out on the wharf in the sun and listened to a busker whilst dodging some of the biggest seagulls we had ever seen. We stayed around 3 hours and James said his legs were tired – I think Terry paid him to say this. The truth is, the boys and Terry get sick of going to markets whilst I could stay all day! With a three to one vote - the boys win - we then found the bus stop and finished the loop of the city.

The weather is sunny, around 22 degrees. We have been lucky - the week prior Vancouver had extreme rainfall and the rain is due to set in again the day after we leave.

By the time we ‘hopped’ off the bus again it was nearly time for dinner so I went on the hunt for pizza for the kids. The street we are staying on has many, many restaurants right on our doorstep. The kids happily scoffed their pizza in the apartment whilst Terry and I decided to go out for a nice dinner. Just across the road from our apartment I had spied a French Restaurant, Left Bank. It had great reviews on Tripadvisor so we decided to check it out. The food was incredible, the highlight the short braised ribs. We getting used to tipping again too.

After dinner, we went back for the kids and we all went for a stroll around the streets. It was Friday night and the streets were packed. A lot of the restaurants have long lines spilling onto the streets and there is all different types of cuisine on offer.

Terry and I have decided Vancouver is like Nelson Bay on steroids with a bustling seaport. The city is amazing however is living up to its name as one of the most expensive cities in the world!