Vancouver Weekend!

3 weeks in to a new city, getting a little too comfortable, time to leave! We found a great deal online for a weekend trip to Vancouver and couldn't pass it up. Train ticket there and back and 2 nights in a hotel for $150 for each person. 7 of the co-ops went and it was so much fun! That was my first time in Canada (eh) and I definitely plan to go back.

We left right after work on Friday and took the Amtrak straight from Seattle to Vancouver, about a 4 hour ride. I didn't even know they had Amtrak on the west coast, but it was almost exactly the same as Amtrak on the east coast.

Highlights:

Poutine

Straight from the beginning of the weekend, we got started with Canadian classics. The first one was poutine. I had seen it on food shows and was extremely confused by it. French fries covered in cheese curd and gravy does not sound or look appetizing at all. But Canadians are obsessed with it (they sell it in Seattle, too) so there must be something to it, right? Turns out it's actually really good.

Weather

Saturday was beautiful, sunny and warm. Vancouver's climate is just like Seattle's: constantly overcast with occasional really nice days; and we just got really lucky with timing. I walked approximately 10 miles that day and experienced sun for the first time in 3 weeks. Forgot how awesome it is.

Chinese Garden

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden in Chinatown is supposedly one of the 1000 things you have to see before you die. Everything in the garden is imported straight from China, so it's basically like being there. It was so peaceful and relaxing. The cool part is you could see the buildings and the rest of the city while being in this inner-city oasis. And you get free tea!

Top Shop

Top Shop is a European clothing store with locations all over the world, except the States. It's really trendy and cool...and expensive. But they had a huge sale section and I ended up getting a tank top & earrings for $10! Shopping win!

Coffee

Following the west coast trend of placing a high priority on coffee, Vancouver did not disappoint. Blenz Coffee and Tim Hortons are on every corner, so coffee was never missing. Tim Horton's the the Dunkin Donuts of Canada and going there was oddly comforting. Close enough to familiar. 

I also discovered the Americano at Starbucks, which is my new drink of choice. Literally just espresso and water, so it's not as heavy as a latte and not as bitter as their drip coffee. Favorite! 

Granville Island Public Market

Not really knowing how to get there, we took the obvious route on the map: over the bridge. Only problem is the bridge takes you to the middle of the island with no way off except to take the exit for cars (there was a sidewalk) which was way past where we wanted to go, adding about 30 minutes to our walk. That was miserable. I was starving. But the view from the bridge was gorgeous! 

The actual market is really cool. It's indoors and packed with people and food. It reminded me a lot of Pike Place Market. Big produce sections, bakeries, syrup stands, bread, doughnuts, popcorn, falafel, soap, scarves, chimes, wood carvings, etc. And free samples of all the food! This list goes on forever. There was a food court area where you could get actual meals. 

The area around the market has a lot of cool shops and stuff where they sell really pretty things like stationary and jewelry. There was a music store where we messed around for like 20 minutes making noise with all the instruments. What was kind of encouraging (and disappointing) is I didn't see a single souvenir shop in the entire city. What does that mean about Canada? That they don't prey on the wallets of tourists? But where was I supposed to go to get a magnet for my fridge? I guess my Vancouver trip will have to live on only in memories (and pictures). 

People

It's true: Canadians are nice. They offered to give us directions when we looked lost. They gave us restaurant advice. They held doors and tell you to go to a different store to get better deals. I love Canada. 

Coffee Crisp

Nestle product. Exclusively manufactured and sold in Canada. Coffee, chocolate, crunchy. Magical. Enough said. 

Lowlight:

#StuckOnTrain

4:40 pm: leave hotel

5:30 pm: get on train

5:45 pm: train leaves Vancouver

7:30 pm: cross border into Washington

7:40 pm: conductor announces that the freight train on the tracks in front of us has broken into 2 pieces and we have to wait for it to "put itself back together"
10:00 pm: put the train back together, tried to drive up a hill, broke into 3 pieces
                original planned time to pull into Seattle
10:15 pm: they turned the lights off in the car because "this could be a while"
12:00 am: crew on freight train goes home
1:00 am: people are angry, yelling at conductor
              new crew for freight train arrives
1:22 am: train in front of us makes it over the hill
1:30 am: we start moving again
4:00 am: pull into Seattle
4:30 am: get to apartment

How does Amtrak try to mediate the situation? By giving out free snacks: ghetto generic brand Goldfish. Thanks. Guppies make my 12 hour train ride so much better. 



So I went into work late after the worst night ever. I intentionally didn't take pictures on the train in order to avoid having a terrible experience overshadow an otherwise awesome weekend. My next trip to Vancouver will have to be on a different mode of transportation.