Sept 28 – Vancouver: Hop on and hop-off

We are so lucky with the weather. Despite the forecast of clouds and rain we woke up to blue skies. Today we went on our Vancouver Trolley Tour. The tour follows a scheduled route leading to the most important places and attractions in the city. You can leave the bus at any stop and get back on one of the next buses as many times as you like. Tickets cost 35,- CAD per person, are valid for two days and also include a free Aquabus ride. We experienced three different driverguides (drivers that do provide commentary) and to be honest the information given is rather basic, focus seemed to be on entertainment. Nevertheless, the tour is really good if you want to get an overview of the city (approx. 1.5 – 2 hours if you stay on the bus the entire tour) and to save some energy when you’re tired of walking. Today we walked parts of the seawall and of Stanley Park in general. Vancouver is a great city to explore on foot. Apart from Stanley Park we hopped off at the Maritime Museum in Kitsilano. But since the weather was so nice, we decided to skip museums and walked along Kits beach (as the locals call it) and the neighborhood itself. Had a very late breakfast at the Café Zen, a cozy little café with checked table cloth and French bistro-style stools (but a lot more comfortable) – if you fancy Eggs Benedict you should definitely go there, especially since they feature organic ingredients. The word “organic” is similar to “bio” in Germany. At first we thought that everything here in BC was organic. The supermarkets feature large areas dedicated to organic products. But coming to think about it, Germany is not too different either. Products with “bio” in their description or name are popping up everywhere, too.
After this little fuel-up we strolled through Kitsilano’s shopping area which mostly comprises 4 West St.. Nice little boutiques and shops, a North Face outlet store as well as interesting pubs and restaurants (e.g. one had an open glass kitchen which is nothing unusual, but this one was facing the street; at another one you could see a woman making fresh pasta). At the outlet store we heard on the radio that a Cougar had been spotted on Granville Island that morning. The girl at the store told us that she had heard this two days ago already and was surprised it hadn’t been detected yet. What do you know. At a hanf store we shared our news with the girl behind the counter and Markus thinks she figured us being some stupid tourists – number one: a cougar on Granville Island of all places in the city and number two: not being detected after two days – impossible.
I was still determined to get some cowboy boots and we went back to OK Boots on Carrall Street in Gastown. As promised two weeks again, they had received a new shipment containing small boots. (Thanks to Wendy from Tourism Vancouver for this great suggestion and for your help with our passes.) After trying four pairs I finally decided on some black ones (feeling bad as we just spent 400,- CAD on the truck camper window) - and then my credit card didn’t get through. No idea why. I did use it in other shops afterwards (some souvenirs) and it worked. And I was still determined to go back tomorrow and get these boots. I’ll be back, Baby!