Well after a nice long sleep in while it was raining this morning we emerged from our hotel about 11am for a walk to explore a bit more of the harbour.
(yes I can’t stop taking pics of all these beautiful pots!)
We skirted around the edge of Chinatown, just a couple of blocks from where we are staying.
In the carpark behind the stadium, there was a weekend market on, consisting mostly of food trucks. Heaps of them, all selling very different types of foods. This is just a small sample of them –
Theres a canoli van – smell from here was lovely!
The yellow one was a mac & cheese van.
There was a bookshop in a truck, filled with shelves of books and there were people inside buying when we looked in.
This truck had Caribbean food.
The Rolling Cashew sells plant based gourmet street food & desserts
… and this little truck was selling clam chowder, crabs and seafood.
I’ve never seen a place with so much healthy food as Vancouver. There are so many great food places here, really healthy take-aways and cafes. No greasy take-aways here, just good food even if it comes from a truck.
After the markets we walked further around the harbour and caught the ferry. It was overcast, but the rain had stopped. We saw lots of joggers out and about. There are cycleways and running tracks all round the water. I get the feeling Canadians are all active and fit -prepared to break into a jog at any moment!
We asked our ferry driver where we should go and he told us to visit Granville Island. Its Vancouver’s second most popular destination after Grouse Mountain and its filled with artisans, craftsmen, performers and good food – so we took the ferry there and it was really good!
There are sculptures and art displays all over the place. Heaps of shops selling handcrafted goods.
These silos in the cement works were all painted to look like people.
Chairs and bins were decorated…
We spent hour or so looking through the shops and bought a few things. Then we went into the food market – it was huge!
Filled with all kinds of fresh foods….
… baked goodies…
… this is just a small sample of the fresh pasta section where they were making fresh pasta for sale…
There were berries everywhere, tiny little blueberries, huge strawberries and fresh fruit of all different kinds.
Hand made chocolates and sweets – Tony bought some of that fudge there on the bottom shelf.
Then we went into the hot food section – all kinds of different food there and the fresh fish was definitely the most popular with a very long line of people waiting. We ate outside and there were buskers about playing music – was a great atmosphere.
After lunch we walked around a bit more.
Then we caught the ferry back. There were plenty of people out on the harbour – these guys were lining themselves up and racing each other short distances.
… lots of people on paddle boards -some standing, some kneeling..
So we had a really nice afternoon out and spent a few hours walking. Feels like we have unwound from work and are now in holiday mode!
Back at the hotel now and have packed our bags ready for tomorrow. We are able to board the ship in the morning much earlier than we usually do so we’re looking forward to getting unpacked and settled in for our cruise tomorrow and seeing the sights of Alaska.
I should have internet tomorrow but how often I can post once we set sail depends on how good the connection is.