This morning, I left the apartment around 10 am to explore a bit of Vancouver. I set my sights on Stanley Park and its surroundings. I walked along the seawall feeling incredibly light. No backpack to weigh me down and amazing weather. I crossed the paths of many tourists on rented bikes as well as families enjoying a day at the beach. I walked until the Hollow Tree, a great red cedar hollowed out, symbol of the luscious nature here in British Columbia.
I walked through the park to downtown to get some food for lunch. Inside the park, the vegetation is so dense that you wouldn’t think you are in Canada’s biggest coastal city. I finished my walk out of the park, around the lost lagoon and to a pizza place where I bought a day-old pepperoni pizza for $8 instead of $24. I ate only half and kept the second half for tonight. But now I had to keep that pizza box with me on my adventures.
I walked past the cruise ships ready to take thousands of people to Alaska or the Pacific. I suddenly wanted to go on a cruise and continue to explore the world. I walked along the different marinas full of yachts and I suddenly wanted to own a yacht and go to sea with some friends. I stopped daydreaming and arrived to the Totem Poles. They were beautiful. This was on the other side of Stanley Park and it seemed more and more like my “visit of Vancouver” would be contained to the park only.
I decided to go back to the apartment around 3pm, as I was getting tired of walking and wanted to put my pizza box (and recently bought bottle of diet coke) somewhere safe. I arrived at the apartment and took a nap. We hung out with my friend. I finished my pizza and went back out to the beach to find a good spot for the Celebration of Light. Yes, Vancouver was celebrating my arrival with fireworks! They started at 10 pm and lasted 20 minutes. Behind me came two teens who told me “Sir, we can’t see” after I’ve been standing in my spot, saving it for the past half hour. The fireworks were superb and I was lucky enough to capture some of them on my phone.
I came back to the apartment and went to couch around midnight, after writing another blog post. Tomorrow, I’m taking the ferry to Victoria, on Vancouver Island. I’m excited for this last portion of my trip.
-Martin
