Vancouver: Part 2

15 July 2008, 21:38 | ,

I wake up around 9:45. Breakfast is coming at 10:00, and I feel I should be ready. I have a quick shower, the bellhop rings as I’m putting on the super comfy robe I found in the bathroom.
This breakfast is awesome.

It literally is a complete breakfast, right from the cereal commercials, except for cereal not being there, of course. I eat knowing that some employee from the Canadian Health Board is smiling because of me and my breakfast containing my daily recommended intake of awesome.

I wanted to go to the Aquarium, which was within relative walking distance of the hotel. I map out my route and walk out the door. Downtown Vancouver is filled with large, impressive architecture.

I walk through downtown until I reach Stanley park, and the Vancouver Aquarium.


Aquariums are awesome (provided you aren’t an exhibit in them). I had never seen half of the specimens they had on display, and they had a tree frog exhibit on while I was there! It was actually alot of fun going from habitat to habitat trying to find the camouflage’s frogs. Jellyfish are another creature I find fascinating, because they are neither jelly nor fish. I stay at the aquarium until closing.

I walk outside. It’s started to rain. Turns out rain in Vancouver is a very different kind of rain we get in Winnipeg. In Winnipeg, it rains water that was evaporated from nearby lakes and rivers. There’s also nothing blocking the clouds from just moving on, so it’s not unusual to be able to drive through rainstorms when going to different parts of the city. In Vancouver, it rains the ocean on you. Forever. It doesn’t stop. Ever. It actually gets colder and then turns into slush. That you step into.
I’m standing in a large crowd looking out onto the large statue in front of the museum being rained on. I figure I should call for a taxi, I hear people around me talking about the same thing. I approach one of the groups. We all agree that calling a cab for a bunch of people will save time and money. We call the cab company. 40 Minutes, and you have to be waiting at a certain spot in the Aquarium parking lot: unsheltered.

After 45 Minutes of standing in the parking lot along with 20-30 other people, also waiting for cabs, we realize a couple things:

1. The rain hasn’t stopped
2. I’m not in a cab yet.
3. I’m wet, and cold. All over.
4. Being wet and cold all over is uncomfortable.
5. There are 20-30 other people here. No cab has come this entire time. No cabs are coming.

This epiphany causes my new found friends to opt for walking to the bus shelter that’s nearby. The bus comes in 20min’s. Turns out bus’s are just as uncomfortable in Vancouver as they are in Winnipeg, especially when they are cram packed with wet people.
I say goodbye to my friends and walk a couple blocks from the bus stop to my hotel. The doorman gives me a friendly hello as I pass. I get up to my hotel room and jump into the shower. I get out, grab some snacks from the minibar, set my alarm, and fall asleep on the bed while watching tv.

My alarm sounds. It’s 8:00pm. It’s bar night.

Share |

Commenting is closed for this article.