gavinshearer.com

« Off To Vancouver | Main | December 27 Confab »

December 27, 2005

Canadian Christmas

My Vancouver Christmas trip was a smashing success.

Elaine, Richard and I took off for Canada on Friday afternoon. Elaine's someone who knows people, so we scored a pretty astounding deal at the Four Seasons hotel, right downtown. It's an amazingly nice hotel, and it's even more amazing when you've got an executive suite on the 19th floor.

The weather wasn't terribly cooperative (rain, rain, rain), so we busied ourselves playing around in the underground mall, watching IMAX movies ("Magnificent Desolation" - thumbs up), and, of course, riding SkyTrain. (The photo you're seeing is Richard and Elaine buying SkyTrain tickets on the night of our arrival - I'm a huge transit dork, and they played along.)

Our friends Keith and Angela arrived on Saturday, and we had dinner at the Sequoia Grill in Stanley Park. A-frickin'-mazing food.

And Sunday night - Christmas Day - we spent with Elaine's extended family at a Chinese restaurant (that's a rented restaurant - the family's really extended), getting served course after course of interesting delicacies like jellyfish. Poor Richard got caught in the cultural crossfire - to most Chinese restaurants, "vegetarian" means "eats seafood" ... which is a somewhat more lax interpretation than Richard uses. They rushed some special, veggie-friendly dishes into production, and all was well.

(In the meantime, Richard had to console himself with Cabernet and chocolate. Poor fella.)

In-between our evening events, we walked the city (note to travelers: Vancouver panhandlers are aggressive), browsed in stores, laughed, and just hung out. It was easily one of the most unconventional - and memorable - holidays in recent memory.

I love Seattle, but I may start to love Vancouver more.

Posted by Gavin Shearer at December 27, 2005 11:39 AM. Posted to Travel.

Comments

Post a comment

« Off To Vancouver | Main | December 27 Confab »