Another nice sunny day!! Bart always says I always bring the sunshine and good weather when we go on a holiday! They can be calling for rain, and then it changes!! We are lucky to have a gorgeous day as we are heading into Vancouver to cycle Stanley Park. Janet will be joining the 4 of us.
We packed up a lunch and some cold ones, as we will stop in the park to have a picnic. Janet and Hank and Debbie drove to bring Meghan and her dog Daisy back to Meghan’s. Ian dropped Bart and I off at the Sky Train station, where we will take the train to the waterfront (about a 30 minute travel). Well…….this didn’t start so great.
Yep…..I tripped over a 1 foot curb and had a tumble. Quite a big fall actually – Bart was ready to call 911. But all good! It could have been so much worse. Nothing was broken. I had a bad bleeding scrape on my chin (thankfully I had bandaids and kleenex with me), and a very small scrape on my hand and knee. But I know I will be sore tomorrow! I had shared our location with Janet, Debbie and Hank, and they were wondering what was taking us so long to get to downtown, but when they saw us…..they knew.
We got off the Sky Train at Canada Place. Canada Place was built in 1986 for the World’s Fair EXPO. This is also where all the cruise ships take off from, many going on Alaska cruises. They also leave here for Hawaii. We found parking near Joe-E bike rental where we were renting our e-bikes. By 12:15 we were on our bikes and heading to Stanley Park. This bike shop is very close to the park, which is great that we don’t have to cycle too far in the downtown. I was surprised by how many bike shops are in the area – way more than last time I was here about 6 years ago. Now I know why when I called the shop, they said no need to reserve a bike.
It is fairly busy in the park today as it is a cruise ship day. There was a huge crew ship in port, which would bring 1,000’s of people into the downtown. We were hoping to meet up with our friends Steve and Andrea tomorrow who are leaving on an Alaska cruise from Vancouver, but it didn’t work out as today was a better day for us to come into the City.
The trail around Stanley Park’s Seawall is approx. 10 km. You get great views all around. It takes about an hour to cycle, although we stopped lots to take pictures and then we stopped to have a picnic lunch. Thank you to sister Margaret from Alberta. When she was visiting Janet last month, she left a care pack for us – what a great idea! It had everything from a deck of cards and cribbage board, to tablecloth & clips, to candies, rain ponchos, wipes, corkscrew, phone charger, and lots more!
The Spring flowers here are so full in bloom and colorful. They have a beautiful Azaleas and Rhododenrons. If you are in Vancouver, 100% you need to go into Stanley Park. It is a great place to walk, but if you want to get a glimpse of all of it, cycling the perimeter is the best choice! We had the bikes for 2 1/2 hours.
We then stopped at Granville Island…..a magical escape within the City….and more than a way to fill your day! They have an awesome public market that has been there for almost 47 years, and then so many shops and shopping. Over the years this has grown. If you are in Vancouver, Granville Island is a must! The first time I was here was about 35 years ago, and we actually stopped by on boat when we were out touring the harbour with my sisters and friends. I have been back a few times after and always enjoy strolling through the market and shops. They have lots of events throughout the year. We stopped at the Granville Brewery for beer tastings. Fun time!
So many yummy things at the market!!
We drove back to Janet’s – no more Sky Train for me and curbs that jump out at you!! lol. Always a great day in Vancouver!
We made home made hamburgers and frenchfries and enjoyed drinks and dinner on the patio.
Janet has a very nice neighbour, who opened up her upstairs to us for 3 days – Debbie and Hank are sleeping quite comfortablly there, and Bart and I are very comfy upstairs at Janet and Ian’s.
Cheers to a great day! You got to love vacation!
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