I jumped at the opportunity to go to Vancouver when my husband asked a few weeks ago. He was going for training/conference and wanted me to join him. I've wanted to visit Vancouver for a long time so this was awesome!!
We boarded our packed plane and headed west. 4+ hours later we landed in Vancouver. I wore compression socks during the flight and my calves and feet were achy almost the entire time. After we landed I took them off, but my legs were still stupid achy. I won't be wearing them for the return trip.
The first thing we ate were hotdogs from the famous "Japa dog."
I had a cheese smokey terimayo dog. It was unbelievably good.
We were super excited to eat here.
This place lived up to all the hype from L as well as the celebrities that have made TV shows which highlighted this place. (Like Anthony Bourdain)
After lunch, we walked over to the Running room to get my bib and shirt for the race.
Then we walked along the waterfront back to our hotel and took loads of photos. I thought it was super interesting how diverse Vancouver is. I rarely heard English being spoken by folks walking near us. Most people were speaking Chinese/Japanese/Korean, some were speaking Portuguese and Spanish, and then a few were speaking french!
And more photos.
And more and more photos.
I also saw that "spring has sprung" in Vancouver. I hope Chicago follows quickly!
Vancouver is a super clean beautiful city. It also seems much more quiet than Chicago.
We met our friends for dinner and had ramen at "Ramen Koika." It was delicious.
Then we walked more by the water front and ended up taking a cab to "Revel Room" Where we had delicious basil/grape vodka mojito type drinks.
Then we walked to the "Irish Heather" and had good whiskey and whiskey based cocktails. I really enjoyed my "Ginger lady" as well as finishing off the night with a Canada Club 100% Rye whiskey neat.
DAY 2:
Saturday morning I woke up early and ran the
St Patrick's 5k
After I got cleaned up, I met L for lunch at "One Saigon" and had wonton soup. It was delicious and warm and hit the spot after a run in the rain and cold.
L really enjoyed their Pho.
Later on we met our friends and went to "Earl's test kitchen" and had really good food like these tuna tostadas.
I also had my favorite Canadian beer to date: N2 Milk stout by Parallel 49.
We finished the night with more cocktails and great conversation at another bar. I am so happy we know friends pretty much everywhere we visit. :)
--Xa'ar
I love your travel posts, so when I actually go to the city you wrote about, I can just print it out and go to all of the same places you did! Must get to Vancouver soon...
ReplyDeleteAww thanks :) I honestly think you'd love Vancouver especially if you like Boston- it's a super clean city with delicious food (especially sea food + asian foods!) plus, the running routes are so incredibly beautiful!!!
Deletewhat a great time
ReplyDeleteIt's an amazing city!
DeleteVancouver is such an amazing city!!! I have family that live out there and as a child it was always a treat to visit them out there. Isn't it amazing how international it is? So much good food, and you can never get enough of the mountains and the ocean.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I'm strongly thinking of running RnR Vancouver this October. Let me know if you might be up for running it too!!!
I had no idea how diverse it was until I got off the plane friday!! Oh my goodness I love Vancouver so much!! The food, everything is so amazing- I can imagine it was such a nice treat to come out there and visit you're family!
DeleteI was thinking about the RnR, but I always feel like crap post longer flights. :( are there a lot of hills on the course??
How do you know your friends that you saw there? It's such a blessing to have friends all over the place!!! So many reasons to travel! :)
ReplyDeleteI love that you guys always try the neatest food places! The hot dog stand sounds interesting. I wonder if they had a vegan dog!
Also interesting that there were so many languages spoken! Did you practice your Portuguese at all? :)
Friends of L from the security community :) they made a special trip to the city to see us which was so nice. It really is amazing knowing folks in most of the cities we go to. Especially ones that like good foods and drinks!!Also randomly, L ran into a Brasilian friend on Monday. Unfortunately no vegan dogs at Japadog. :( but there seemed to be plenty of vegan places in Vancouver. (I notice these things a lot more now!) no portuguese either. Which reminds me I need to practice portuguese and french...,,,.
DeleteThis was my second time attending an event at this place, and was my first business event here (the other event was a charity show). Everything was perfect at NY events, the drinks and food was amazing. Even the coffee was wonderful.
ReplyDelete