Posts Tagged ‘vancouver’

Oh, Canada

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

I quite miss Vancouver; it’s such a lovely place.  A bit chilly, yes, and sort of depressingly overcast at times… But it’s still pretty awesome in my book.

I tried to do all the touristy-ish things that I neglected to do while I was there last year, while also re-doing all my favourites things (which, honestly, basically consisted of the Wired Monk).  One of the highlights was definitely the Vancouver Aquarium.  A lot of things in Vancouver are really tourist-based-cheesy-type-things, so I was kind of expecting that from the aquarium as well.  It ended up being really cool, and I pretty much fell in love with the jellyfish exhibit.  It was pretty epic.

Also, adorable sea otters and a baby beluga whale (aweee).

I find the architecture and buildings in Vancouver really intriguing.  The library looks like a giant Roman coliseum, and there’s such an eclectic mix of styles throughout the city, it’s seriously fascinating.

Oh, and water.  Water is a big bonus.

And of course, friends.  Which was pretty much the main reason I went.  I stayed with Amy (my roommate from last year), so it was really nice to see her and go on adventures with other Vancouver-dwelling people.  (Invisible-Ukulele-Playing-Amy on the left, and Invisible-Book-Finding-Ione on the right.)

  

And Shannon, whom I somehow neglected to take a picture of.  Which is sort of sad, considering it was her birthday.  But, she’s equally awesome.  :)

Coffee in Seattle

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

I flew into Seattle on my way to Vancouver, and stayed there for a night.  During the day, instead of paying to go to a museum or for a boat ride, I thought it would be a swell idea to experience Seattle through it’s coffee shops.  What better city than Seattle for a coffee adventure, right? Additionally, November is National Novel Writing Month, which I told myself I was going to participate in, and I sort of slacked off, so I sort of used this as an excuse to work on that (hey, if by some fluke I ever get famous off of it, someone could start one of those tours where you stop by the place where the author wrote, ha).  Anyway, I set out with twenty bucks and the rule that I had to walk until I found a coffee shop, then get a drink, and stay and write until I finished my coffee.  …the cycle continues.

I made it to 3 before I started to feel a wee bit sick, so on the 4th I just got a bagel.  The first one was amazing (Caffe D’Arte), the second was okay (Online Coffee), and the third was actually pretty awful (Local Color).

Then I went and took fun pictures of unsuspecting people in the public market.

I caught an early train to Vancouver this morning, and determined that people in Seattle are sort of lazy.  Or maybe they just all like to sleep in.  I was walking to the station a bit after 7, and not a single store was open.  I passed at least 5 Starbucks and many other stores/coffee shops, and not a single one of them were open, which I found to be rather strange.  Anyway, the train ride was lovely.  It was mostly along the coast, which was pretty nice.