Day 3: My Trip to Vancouver B.C

My day began by chugging hot coffee and eating fresh cinnamon buns covered in white icing. Yummm! I had to be up before 6:30a.m because my choir group and I were going on a guided tour of Downtown Vancouver! Throughout my tour I learned so much about Vancouver city. Some of the many facts I learned are that the city has a population over 650,000 people, construction is the #1 industry (this is quite obvious considering the city is filled with skyscrapers), and another cool fact, False Creek consists of salt water. While driving downtown I also passed through Olympic Village where all of the athletes stayed during the 2010 Olympics. Fascinating enough, this hotspot is available to the public to live now too. I was also fortunate to pass by the original Lulu Lemon, too bad I didn’t get to shop inside!

Next we headed to Queen Elizabeth Park to take in the beautiful view of the mountains and explore the wonderful gardens. I do have a green thumb so I enjoyed this part of my day very much! I still can’t believe how green and gorgeous the vegetation in B.C is compared to Manitoba. Everything is brown and quite rough in my hometown, nowhere near as beautiful and organized as Vancouver. My tour guide also pointed out that B.C is filled with Windmill Palm trees which had me questioning if I was still in Canada… Palm trees seem more like a Californian thing. Nonetheless, seeing them naturally grow in Canada was a huge treat! My guide also showed us the Monkey Puzzle Trees. If you’ve never heard of them before, now is your chance to Google them. They look so cool and we began to count how many we saw during the trip. I think the total was over 15 for sure.

After our quick stop at the park, we boarded the bus once more and headed off to Kitsilano Beach. I was taking in the fresh salty smell when someone informed me that I was not only standing barefoot on the soft, comfy sand, but staring out at ocean waters. At that very moment I was completely shell-shocked (haha) and overjoyed. I have never met eyes with the ocean so I sprinted for the shoreline and then stepped upon the rocks and took a gazillion photos. Then I took another photo of a dead crab on the sand. Finally my friend gave me the brilliant idea to take my black converse shoes off and run into the ocean. So I peeled my jeans up, took my socks and shoes off, and then ran into the ocean for yet another photo of my arms spread wide, as if to hug the world. If it wasn’t obvious that I was a tourist before stepping on the beachy soil, it sure was by the time I left. Especially considering the fact that I stuffed both my jacket pockets with seashells. Do normal people do that?

Soon we ventured off to Gastown/ Chinatown again and this time staying clear of East Hastings Street… We ate in a food court and then got the chance to shop around. At the Convention Centre in Downtown Vancouver there were so many cruise ships along the waterfront. I also saw a giant Lego orca, the drop sculpture, and the Olympic Cauldron. This art piece was probably my favourite throughout my trip because it looked super cool and at the time, there were a couple of Canada geese perched in the fountain making it feel more like home.

After we ate lunch, there was an option to either go biking in Stanley Park or go to the Vancouver Aquarium. On our tour guide we had already seen Stanley Park through our window so I didn’t really care to bike through it and see the same features. I decided to go with the 8 other people who too wanted to tour the aquarium. Seeing the aquarium was actually on my bucket list so of course this was a higher priority for me. In the end it would have been great to explore both the aquarium and Stanley Park, but we had a limited time. Anyways, the B.C aquarium blew my mind away and was easily one of the highlights of my trip to Vancouver. They have a variety of animals and different rooms that feature similar animals. My top favourites were the penguins, beluga whale, stingrays (I was the only one in my group who touched them in the petting area), and the sea turtle.

To end the night, we all went on the Harbour Dinner Cruise and ate the most delicious buffet ever! My supper was composed of salad, rice, cooked carrots and zucchini, beans, a bun, potatoes, and different meat, etc. I spent most of my time on the ship standing at the bow staring out at the distant waves as well as the Lions Gate Bridge! There is something about being in the ocean that is just so relaxing. For most of the time I was alone given the fact that it was extremely cold and windy and everyone opted to stay inside the ship. However, to me it was very peaceful and gave me time to reflect on life. So many great things have happened in the past year and I am so appreciative for everything that I have endured thus far. Wow is all I can really say. I am so happy to be alive and I am truly thankful to have the opportunity to go to Vancouver to explore.

On top of it all, the entertainment for the night was truly significant. A middle-aged man who goes by the name of Mike performed acoustic songs and his soft voice filled my heart with joy. His band is called Acoustic Groove so be sure to check him out!

Funny note: as the ship was headed back to the dock there was this canon that sounds at 9p.m every night. Its purpose is to let the captains know the time I think!? Anyways, there I was standing at the bow with some friends and the chaperones and as this canon goes off, there was a bird flying by… I’ll allow you to be creative with the ending here.

Written by Tessa R. Adamski