Day One - JunoFest

Day One

I enjoy starting a trip by boarding a train. The trip from neighboring Mount Vernon to Vancouver B.C. is almost too short. I sat next to a woman who herself was leaving Guemes Is. for a trip to Vancouver. She is studying in Oregon and lives in Singapore. We enjoyed an interesting and animated conservation for for the two hours. When we compared notes we saw that we were staying in hostels just across the street from one another. Zi was very happy to know we were both going in the same directions and I could help her find her hostel with a minimum of fuss. 

Canadian customs and immigrations was a breeze and the trip by Sky-Train and on foot to the hostels was fun and easy. Two of the high points of an urban adventure, for me, is learning my way around a new city and using (good) public transit. 

My hostel was very nice. My room was on the third floor (that would be the fourth in the U.S. (something to do with the exchange rate.) :-) The third floor is good because it is away from the street and adjacent pub noise. But I wear earplugs when I sleep and can sleep through a lot with them. 

Got settled in and ready to go by noonish and headed to the Yaletown waterfront en route to Granville Island via water taxi. The water taxis are fun, practical, and convenient. The ply their trade on the inaccurately named "False Creek" which cleaves deeply into the heart of the city. It is more accurately a sound then a creek. The water taxis seat 10 – 12 people, out of the weather, and everyone has a great view of the passing cityscape.

Granville Island is full of food, shops, theaters, and galleries. I sat and enjoyed a cup of coco then toured the public market. It was really nice, such an array of beautiful food. I ate a small fillet of smoked mackerel … soo good! Wandering the island I visited a paper shop, a book store, and bought postcards and postage. The Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts is at the isthmus that connects the island to the City. I checked out their dinning room and menu for future reference then got a private tour of the school. 

While returning to the AquaBus ferry dock, I passed a shop with art supplies in the window and as I have a weakness for art supplies I stopped in. The shop turned out to be a paint manufacture and seller. They actually grind their own pigments there! The proprietor, who normally minds the shop was on the phone in the back-room and the woman who is normally in the back room grinding pigment and painting swatch samples was filling in for him. Good luck for me, she was pleasant conversation with her French accent and good nature. I asked if she saw the movie "Girl With The Pearl Earring". She said "yes" and I asked "what colors do you see in the clouds?" She got it … she knew what I meant and laughed. Very cool!

Back in Yaletown I visited a bargain bookseller and bought a long awaited copy of the novel "Stanley Park". A few doors down was my dinner destination "Blue Water Cafe" where I ate good sushi and drank my first Absinthe (odd combination — I know). The sushi menu was limited but what they offered was carefully prepared, fresh, and delicious. The Absinthe was — sadly — wormwood free yet potent and compelling. He served it with the whole flaming sugar cube/water drip thingie. It was a short stager back to the hostel, stopping on the way to recon the nice local food market. 

As I approached the hostel, a man smoking in a darkened doorway stepped towards me and said "Hey mate", it was the roommate I met when I checked in — Dylan. We talked for a minute then retired to the pub he had spent the dinner hour in. We drank beers and visited for an hour or so. I really enjoyed this 22 year old Aussie, we were instantly "mates".

I joined in with Dylan and a group from the hostel for the first leg of a "pub crawl". At that first pub I met a gay couple from Ireland. Nice, 30 somethingish men just arrived in Canada. It was very interesting talking to them about Ireland and what the economic downturn is doing there. The pub crawlers moved on and I retired to a shower and my comfy bunk.