Vancouver

J- and I went to Vancouver for a long weekend! 

To maximize our time and energy, J- wanted to stay in our timezone, but it was important to me to get out of the country and to go somewhere neither of us had been before. I'd been wanting to visit Vancouver for a while, and it fit all of our criteria perfectly! 

Traveling to Vancouver didn't really feel like we were leaving the country, however, except for a random interrogation by a gate officer. "Why are you visiting? Do you have plans while you're here? When did you book this travel?" We were asked all of these questions when we were at the front of the line, so no little desk where they look at your passport and examine your face, and we didn't get a stamp on our passports. ? But, we had a great time! 

Here's the list! 

• Hotel BLU Vancouver
• Hotel BLU had complimentary bikes for guests! J- and I took full advantage of them, which was so fun and was such a great way to get around. They also had free afternoon smoothies, were located right next to the football stadium, and had a great gelato place nearby. :) We were able to walk or bike to every place we wanted to go in the city, and when we wanted to go to Grouse Mountain, we got a great recommendation for a free shuttle and discounted coupons for tickets to the attractions. The location, room, and customer service were all great and we really enjoyed our stay. :)
• Cafe Medina
• Yummy breakfast place. We loved the main dishes we ordered and it was a cute place, though the waffles they're known for were a bit underwhelming for us. Regardless, it was a very nice experience. 
• Granville Island
• Full of cute art galleries, sweet artists, street performances, performance venues, artisan shops, and a giant public market with so much of everything. It was right on the water and offered so much to explore. We bought art, talked to artists, enjoyed the views, and got Polish food for lunch at the Public Market. 
• Kissa Tanto
• This place was FANTASTIC! Excellent food, service, and experience all around, and it didn't break the bank! 
• Panada! 
• There was a place in Chinatown called Jack Chow Giant Panda Habitat: First & Only Animatronic Panda Family outside of Asia. It was "the narrowest building in Vancouver" (it was very narrow), and full of a bunch of stuffed and animatronic pandas. We nicknamed it "Panada" :) and were fascinated by it -- but, not fascinated enough for the $35 tour. 😜🐼
• Stanley Park and the Sea Wall 
• We rode our bikes from Granville Island right through the middle of Stanley Park to the view of what we called the "Green Golden Gate Bridge", and then we realized we needed to go back to the entrance of the park so we could ride the one way Sea Wall route. It was a long and beautiful ride and we saw so much. The ride along the Sea Wall was beautiful. :) 
• Robson St. 
• We walked down Robson to get to a ramen place J-'s uncle recommended. The walk led us all the way through the shopping district, so we stopped at MUJI and got J- a new fancy shirt. 😍
• Ramen Danbo Robson
• While we were in line, people kept walking by saying "this place is just ramen and it's a chain", but we liked it. 
• Jam Cafe 
• This was a breakfast place J- found that wasn't far from our hotel. It looked good, and had a nice long line to indicate it was worth it, but then it was kind of a gut buster and wasn't our favorite. 
• Grouse Mountain
• I think Grouse Mountain is a sky resort in the winter, but they have random activities on the top of the mountain in the summer including bird shows, a bear conservatory area, a lumber jack show, zip lining, etc. We weren't able to do everything, but we saw some bears and birds and rode the gondola and the ski lift. It was a beautiful day and it had great views. This is where I learned J- is actually afraid of heights... 😬
• Bao Bei
• We don't know who recommended this to us, but we were happy to get some Chinese food while we were in Vancouver, and this place was great! We did the tasting menu and enjoyed every dish, and we met some lovely fellow travelers while we were eating. :) 
• Guilt & Co. 
• It's described as an underground bar and local haunt for great music and drinks, but we found that the music and drinks weren't really our speed. It had a kind of moody, cool atmosphere though.  
• Gastown
• We walked near and through Gastown a few times. It was cute and old and full of shops and places to eat. 
• The Dirty Apron Cooking School
• This place was by Jam Cafe and we thought it'd be really good and cheap because it was a cooking school. I thought my dish was good. J- wasn't as impressed, but I would say it was a good option. 
• Queen Elizabeth Park
• I had this great idea that we could stop by this park on our way to the airport and that it would be a nice place to walk around and easy with our luggage. :) It was a nice little park, but not easy with our luggage. We found a restaurant in the park that was willing to hang on to our bags for us for a while, so we were able to walk for a bit. 
• Time Out Market Vancouver
• Time Out was our next stop on the way to the airport and turned out to be an incredible food court in the middle of a fancy mall. We didn't realize it was in a mall but it was very worth the stop, and it was easy to do with luggage. 😅 We ate at a place called Lunch Lady An Choi that was excellent, and we wanted to try so many other places! 
• FIFA! 
• Vancouver was buzzing with FIFA! The World Cup games were playing all over the place, and people were walking around with their country's flags wrapped around them. One street in Vancouver was closed down for the watch parties, so we walked through there a few times to catch games and hang out with the crowds. After Mexico lost, everyone was in the street chanting for Mexico and throwing people in the air, after they lost! :) Just before we left to come home, there was a game at the stadium by our hotel, so the street was alive with fans dancing, chanting, and doing social media interviews and things. It was fun to be immersed in World Cup culture for the weekend! 

Vancouver was easy and charming, and J- is an excellent travel buddy! I'm so grateful for the time and the experiences we had together on this trip!