It was a long flight from Orlando to Vancouver, with stops in Miami and Dallas. Those extra frequent flier miles keep adding up.
Vancouver is a very modern city, with many glass high rises like the one pictured above. We were surprised at how large the city was.
The next morning we rented bikes and toured Stanley Park. After an hour and fifteen minutes, the clouds opened up and we were drenched. There was no rain in the forecast and our rain gear was back in the hotel, of course.
Here's a view during our ride around Stanley Park.
Vancouver, like most cities in the northwest, have hundreds of beautiful hanging baskets. The weather was nice and cool, a big change from our hot humid Florida weather.
The following day we took a seabus (ferry) to N. Vancouver. There was a nice indoor market, but not much else to do there. It was mainly a residential community. There was a gondola to the top of a mountain, but we're saving that for Banff.
Here's a view of Vancouver on our seabus ride back.
Next stop was Granville Island, a tourist community under the Granville Bridge. Many people were renting kayaks - seen with a reflection above.
Here's another mystery photo. As usual, the person who guesses what this is wins a prize. The last contest was won by Julie Mackinson - who almost guessed the correct answer. She also was the only one to submit an entry.
Another beautiful arrangement on Granville Island.
A view of False Creek.
The food, as usual, is one of the highlights of our trip.
Fresh produce at the Granville Market.
Our restaurant was directly under the Granville Bridge. While we were eating I saw something fall from the bridge. It turned out to be a person jumping off. Luckily he survived and was rescued by the police. That was very bizarre.
What to do with your bike when you no longer go riding.
Our final stop in Vancouver was Chinatown. What a disappointment! We went for dinner, and the two best restaurants were closed for private parties. We strayed one block to the left and were accosted by derelicts - not a great neighborhood. We finally found a restaurant and then went to the small night market - nothing like the ones in Asia.Tomorrow afternoon we will wander the rest of the city, and then board the train for our ride through the Canadian Rockies on our way to Jasper.
