I’ve been in Vancouver for exactly seven hours and I love it already! I had been to Victoria on a previous trip, and to eastern British Columbia, but this is my first time in Vancouver. I can already tell that this is my type of city!
I was up at 3:30AM this morning to catch the 5:15 bus to Logan Airport. Once there, priority check-in with Air Canada was a breeze but the new bin system at the TSA checkpoint was not. After finally making it through security, I was off to the United Club to kill some time and have my first breakfast of the day before my flight. The lounge overlooks the airfield and is bright with plenty of seating and a decent spread of breakfast foods. I had some eggs, muesli, and a nondescript, but delicious, baked cinnamon round with fruit compote.
We boarded up the plane and they shut the door 10 minutes prior to our departure time, always a good sign. However, this was an instance of hurry up and wait as there was too much traffic on the ramp to actually back out and then runway work had us take a circuitous route to the end of the runway. We ended up taking off a full 45 minutes late. But it’s always a treat when our departure takes us up over the North Shore!
Having never flown Air Canada, I was eager to see how their business class cabin was for the 6 ½ hour flight to Vancouver and was pleasantly surprised. The flight attendants were amazing and though breakfast took a while to come out, that waffle was one of the best I’ve ever had and the flight attendant made a delicious cranberry mimosa. There were plenty of movies to choose from and I watched one of my favorites, “No Reservations”, before catching up on a few downloaded YouTube videos and even squeezing in a nap.
I took the Canada Line into Vancouver and walked the couple of blocks to my hotel. The Hilton Vancouver is perfectly situated in the center of the city, within walking distance to pretty much every place I’d want to go. I have a two-room suite and a balcony with views in three directions including BC Place and Grouse Mountain.
After relaxing for a little while, I set out on foot to explore the Vancouver waterfront. I stopped by the 2010 Olympic Cauldron and continued over to Coal Harbour. It felt like a completely different world and only a 20 minute walk from my hotel. Looking across Coal Harbour you can see Stanley Park with its popular seawall, the marina, the northern mountains, and a seemingly never ending string of seaplanes taking off and landing. It was a gorgeous day to admire the view and enjoy a scoop of salted caramel gelato.
I continued my walk around Canada Place and along the waterfront before ending up in Gastown, an historic area with lots of shops and restaurants and the famous Gastown Steam Clock. At the top of every hour, the clock emits steam while playing the Westminster Quarters. Fun to see once, but it probably won’t be a highlight of the trip.
Dinner was at Di Beppe, a little Italian eatery in Gastown where I enjoyed cacio e pepe with a local Greenhill cider.
After dinner, I was tired so I made my way back to my hotel. There is an IGA supermarket just around the corner where I picked up a couple of Coke Zeros to enjoy in my room before calling it an early night.
Traveling with Laura 