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| We arrived on a Tuesday afternoon, and after an hour line in customs, picked up our rental car (a blinding yellow Ford mustang convertible, which was the culmination of my whims and a little bit of hard sell from the agent-the whole week we were desperate to shove our suitcases in the tiny trunk) and headed the 8 miles into downtown Vancouver. It was a gorgeous sunny day, a trend that would continue for the four days we were in the city, growing increasingly hot (a good 20 degrees above their September average.) When we got to the Metropolitan Hotel, it was lovely and had a lot of personality, and they gave us a room near the top floor, with a balcony, so we were able to fall asleep with the sliding glass door open and the sounds of the city floating up. The room was extremely comfortable with a down comforter of perfect thickness and a gorgeous marble bathroom with immense counter space. I would definitely stay there again. |
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| We were hungry, so we headed out into the neighborhood, which was central downtown but close to the historic Gastown neighborhood you can see in the pictures. We found Tim Horton's, which we didn't realize at the time was a donut chain, and completely loved the soup and muffin we got there. In fact, we had breakfast at Tim Horton's a couple times during the trip because it was cheap and had a lot of variety. Fortified, we headed up the block to the convention center, with its sail design that vaguely resembles the Sydney Opera House, and a view across the bay where the cruise ships come in. We walked through Gastown, which had little shops and cafes on tree-lined cobblestone streets with funny little roundabouts that cars zoomed through like they were freeways. We ended up in a kind of run-down area at one point, but we never felt unsafe. |
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| After a little rest in the hotel room, we dressed up a bit for dinner at a place called The Crime Lab, and had a beautiful walk down Georgia St. past the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Empress Hotel, and lots of skyscrapers. It stays light in Vancouver until after 8:00 in early September, and we really benefited from evening walks with lovely lighting. We couldn't find The Crime Lab at first, and our travels took us up to Robson St. (David was annoyed that I pronounced it "Roeb-son," and after a few days I had to concede he was correct in saying "Rahb-son." :)) which is Vancouver's main shopping street. A hotel valet pointed us back down the hill and we found The Crime Lab, which was a funky little triangle-shaped building with different levels. Because it was during the week, we never had trouble getting tables, and with our travel bleariness increased by a couple of martinis with names like "The Formaldehyde" and "Crime Babe" we enjoyed a great dinner of small plates like tiny lamb chops, spinach salad, chicken teriyaki and vegetable tartlets. For dessert, we got really crazy and had the house fondue, which came with all kinds of fruit for dipping and was incredible. We enjoyed our walk back in the dark, admiring the buildings and feeling great about Vancouver. |
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