Stanley Park and Goodbye

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Grace Lessageing

Our second and last day in Vancouver happens to be a bank holiday, although most stores and cafes seem to be operating normally, which is lucky- as I need to buy a raincoat. Once again we’ve woken at an indecent time, but on this second day we find a beautiful patisserie serving coffee and pastries, which sets us up for the day. I get the perfect coat, however the sun is out and the temperature balmy, so I am not convinced I need it [except that I will, later].

We’ve checked in for our next leg of the trip and the plan for this day is to walk to Stanley Park, a large area of parkland fringing the bay, around it and back. It’s heralded as a ‘must-see’ in Vancouver.

We need to be packed and ready to vacate our room early next day, to which end we return to hotel and do some preparing before we set off- as well as lunch, from the supermarket deli as before.

Leaving the centre of downtown Vancouver, the streets become leafy, the homes affluent and grand. The maple trees are shedding their leaves, producing a magenta carpet on the ground. We’re walking parallel to the waterfront, eventually arriving at the entrance to the park. There’s a wide lane next to the water, shared by walkers, cyclists, skaters etc. We turn left, taking care to avoid the pedestrian and cycle traffic. It’s busy! Near the entrance there are horse and carriage rides, as well as a cafe.

It’s a pleasant, green space for the residents of Vancouver. A few minutes in are the iconic totem poles, common in brochures of the city. Though they’re not authentic, First Nations’ totem poles they are fun and colourful.

There’s a lot more park, and it’s attractive enough, although there’s little else of great note. It has become very warm by now and we stop at a central cafe for a drink. We give the mini zoo a miss and turn towards home, as it’s quite a distance, this time sticking to the waterside until we reach the cruise terminal near our hotel, the Fairmont.

With an early start looming we opt to eat at the local pub, just along the road, then it’s back to the hotel bar for a drink and to bed.

I’m awake before the alarm, of course, which was set for 6am. We’ve to be down in the lobby for 7am, which we are- although not as early as everyone else, as the lobbly is full to bursting with luggage, luggage trolleys, hotel guests and porters. It looks like chaos, except that the guys mustering us appear to know what they are doing. We’ve only to show our boarding passes and our cases our whisked away. Will we see them again? I wonder…We join a queue for a coach, many of which are lined up outside the doors, then we’re allocated to one and clamber on. I’m relieved we’ve managed to be ready in time.

The coach moves on out into the city streets. Where is it heading? Ahh….that would be telling… [next week!]…

Grace is the alter ego of novelist and short story writer, Jane Deans. To date I have two published novels to my name: The Conways at Earthsend [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conways-at-Earthsend-Jane-Deans-ebook/dp/B08VNQT5YC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2ZHXO7687MYXE&keywords=the+conways+at+earthsend&qid=1673350649&sprefix=the+conways+at+earthsend%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-1 and The Year of Familiar Strangers [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Year-Familiar-Strangers-Jane-Deans-ebook/dp/B00EWNXIFA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2EQHJGCF8DSSL&keywords=The+year+of+familiar+strangers&qid=1673350789&sprefix=the+year+of+familiar+strangers%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-1 Visit my writer Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=jane%20deans%2C%20novellist%2C%20short%20fiction%20and%20blog or my website: https://www.janedeans.com/

Vancouver on Foot

Posted on October 1, 2023 by Grace Lessageing

At Vancouver’s waterfront, seaplanes are taking off and coming in, giving short aerial tours of the bay. Strengthened with MacDonalds coffee and a pastry, we’ve opted to step out and wander in spite of the indecently early start brought on by change of time zone. The day started cool but as the sun gathers strength it feels warm and balmy. I realise I’ve one urgent task before we leave, which is to buy a raincoat, having foolishly left mine hanging in our hallway as I rushed out to the taxi to go to the station. But we’ll leave it until tomorrow, as I’ve no need of one yet.

The principal use of the quayside here is for cruise ships- mainly taking passengers to Alaska, as many of our fellow guests at the Fairmont are doing. Having looked at the terminal and front we turn along towards ‘Gastown’, an area not unlike Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, with characterful older buildings and quirky streets. Canada’s relaxed laws on cannabis use are much in evidence here, in the appearance of cannabis stores and in the aromas drifting as we walk!

It’s not far to the iconic gas clock, which blows a steamy whistle on the hour. The street architecture is older, the shops eclectic but with many cannabis outlets.

Buses here have racks on the front for bikes, which is a fine idea, and there are trolley buses, too, a sight I haven’t seen since my childhood in the UK.

We traipse around for a couple of hours. It seems a long morning, but of course it is, since we were up ultra early. As lunch time approaches we head for a supermarket we’d spotted on our first evening- just up from our hotel. It yields a wonderful deli which provides lunch. When we get back to our room I’m pleased to spot a fridge, so the guy at reception has been true to his word and provided one for my medication. Better still- we can store lunch items and beers in it!

Restored by lunch, we set off again, this time in the opposite direction and waterfront. Vancouver centre is almost an island. On the way from the airport, Pearl, our driver, had shown us Granville Island, accessed by bridge or a dinky pedestrian ferry, where food stalls cover a large area. Most of the tables, however are outside and the weather has turned gloomy and drizzly so we settle for a drink instead and decide to eat nearer home. The walk back is mostly uphill!

Later, we head back to Gas Town to find a resataurant and stumble upon an Italian bistro down some steps by the water. It’s cavernous and atmospheric and the food is delicious.

Vancouver- so far so good! We’ll see what tomorrow brings!

The Flight and the Fairmont

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Grace Lessageing

So, readers, it’s time to come clean. While you’ve been kind enough to visit Anecdotage and even, perhaps peruse the prose, Husband and I have been on far distant shores, in western Canada, touring part of the Canadian Rockies. This ambitious plan was hatched last year when we were thinking of big birthday [both] and wedding anniversary treats.

It’s a big trip. And I’m to discover that everything about this trip is big, including the Canadians themselves. This is first evident during our flight from Heathrow, when once we’ve boarded the Canada Airways flight to Vancouver [which is full] large bodies are squeezed into airline seats all over the place, not least next to myself. Husband and I are opposite each other with the aisle between- not a bad location for getting out etc. It so happens that the man next to me is, in fact British [from Devon] and very pleasant- even though he spills into my space. I’m glad of the aisle.

The cabin staff go through the motions on the 9+ hour flight but it’s clear they are air-weary, throwing out meals and drinks [drinks after the meal?] as fast as possible, unsmiling and bored. The food is terrible- some of the worst airline food I’ve ever encountered, but still…

At Vancouver the digital immigration is fast and efficient, the luggage not too long and soon we’re out in the arrivals hall where a smiling woman taxi-driver displays our name. Hooray! So far so good.

It’s a relief to step outside and sink into a taxi seat to be driven through Vancouver. The driver, Pearl is a fount of info as well as charming and chatty, sharing how much she enjoys British TV shows alongside points of interest. After the flight, and given that my home bedtime is approaching, it’s a lot to take in and I do my best to respond whilst also calculating the time!

The Vancouver suburbs, bathed in sunshine look leafy and well-to-do; streets lined with red maples, their leaves beginning to fall. Pearl tells us there’ll be some nice colour in the Rockies by now.

It’s about 45 mins in the heavy traffic but the tall towers of central Vancouver appear, shiny and reflective and contrasting with our hotel- the grand old Fairmont, an enormous brown edifice, then we’re plunging through a gap to an entrance [there are several] and stumbling out on to the pavement, grabbing cases, saying our goodbyes.

It’s all swish inside the lobby, with giant chandeliers and pristine marble floors. We stand in line to do all the form-filling stuff and at last we’re on our way to the room- up and up in the lift, along a corridor, along another corridor. The room is big and almost a suite- with a bathroom down a passageway. It’s furnished in huge, dark pieces and has a ‘fireplace’ of sorts. My first job is to stow my medication in the mini-bar, which, I discover is full of items and has not a cm to spare. OK. I remove a can from the door. Yikes! What have I done? The mini-bar has sensors inside indicating when items are removed! But it’s too late now. I insert my bottle and resolve to explain the dilemma at reception.

By now, though it’s still light and only mid afternoon in Vancover, it’s getting to the small hours in British time and we’re tired. Do we dare to get an hour or so’s nap? All advice is against doing such a thing, but we decide to clamber into the vast bed anyway and I’m soon asleep, to be woken by Husband after an hour. That’s all we’ve allowed ourselves. We shower and go out along our street, where it’s now twilight. It’s busy with traffic and pedestrians and there are bars and restaurants open, bustling with customers on this balmy Friday evening. A block or so along there’s a pub. Neither of us is hungry [even after ditching the filthy airline meal] but we go in, get a beer and people-watch a bit, staying as late as we’re able.

Of course, although I drop asleep straight away I’m awake at 2am and unable to drift back. We’ve both had enough by about 6am. We make tea [after a fashion, using tea bags from home and a water bottle for a teapot] and gradually greet the day. Outside it’s cool and we’re looking for a coffee shop nearby but MacDonald’s seems the only option- good enough coffee and a muffin thing.

We’re here for 3 nights and this is our first day- so best not to waste it sleeping!…

Anecdotage

Views from the Descent

Tag Archives: Fairmont

Stanley Park and Goodbye

Vancouver on Foot

The Flight and the Fairmont