Venturing in Vancouver (pt. 2)

I completely forgot to update my blog with the second part of my Canadian adventures so here goes:

We walked to The Westin to take a free shuttle to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, a popular attraction in Vancouver that draws tourists from around the world. Saturday morning was clearly not the best time take the shuttle, because we had to wait for four of them to go through before we could board one to the park! It was pretty insane but the park made up for it. The place was full of nature with some wooden/totem pole creations. The bridge itself wobbled a ton when we walked on it. The park was huge with its man-made trails and a huge river flowing underneath. There was also a cliff walk where you could see down below, but it took forever to go through it due to the massive crowds! The park had ornament-like wire-lit balls dangling from trees, where were aesthetically pleasing.

For lunch, we went back to downtown Vancouver and found a North African cuisine. The decor was of Turkish influence but they served Algerian and Moroccan food. I had chicken tajine for the first time–a chicken stew served with basmati rice. The waitress made us feel welcome and even served u complimentary Turkish mint tea with orange blossom water on the house.

Gastown was next, famous for its restaurants and its old-timey steam clock! There were plenty of souvenir shops to keep us entertained. We took a breather back at our Best Western Plus Sands hotel (which I highly recommend!) and dined on Bulgarian food (also my first time). We ordered a baritzka, a spinach and feta pie. To end the busy day, we had drinks at the hotel’s Bayside Lounge right down the street.

On the next day, we needed a recommendation for places to visit and decided on the University of British Columbia to visit the Museum of Anthropology. Instead of the usual Tim Horton’s for breakfast on the go, we went to a small cafe called the Red Umbrella. I ordered a smoked salmon omelette with hashbrowns and it was definitely a great meal t start off the day with.

The museum of antrhopology was well worth the money and I was so glad we visited it. They had so many different historical artifacts from all over the world and all were so well-kept! My favorite exhibits were the ceramics gallery and the O’Brien gallery, which contained a collection of artifacts from Papua New Guinea and many drawers under each display case that visitors could open and admire with even more artifcats.The ceramics gallery was full of European items from the 15th-16th centuries. There was also a huge, intricately-designed ceramics stove from Germany used in the 16th century.

We had dinner at a popular tapas style Japanese restaurant that was poppin’ with customers. The food was delicious and they had $5 cocktails–a lychee and grapefruit drink I absolutely loved! At night, we strolled through Stanley park for a chance to ride the Halloween train. Unfortunately, the tickets were all sold out for the train, but we could still explore different parks of the park. The theme was the Day of the Dead–a celebration from Mexico.

Back at the hotel, I was ready to explore the sea by night, so I strolled along Sunset beach with good company and a slight breeze, admiring the serenity of the ocean.

Our last day was spent exploring Vancouver’s aquarium. Including Vancouver, I have visited aquariums in a few big cities such as Seattle, Chicago, and Valencia (Spain). Even though most of the marine life is very similar, the Vancouver aquarium had this really cool 4-D theater show featuring information on the prey-predator relationship in nature. The seats moved and squirted water according to the 15-minute movie. It was one of my favorite parts of the place, along with the beluga whales, seals and otters. They had so many different kinds of jellyfish too!

For our last meal, we found a delicious poutine place. I couldn’t believe it was our last day there but I know I’ll be back one day!