Easter Sunday in Vancouver. Hubby and I decided to walk the opposite way on the island today. With the marina (its ok I was careful) on the left hand side we walked passed Coal Harbour, up towards the harbour air sea planes where we stopped in a lovely little bistro and chatted to a very polite young British waiter (who had actually gone to Leeds University in the UK).
Anyway, we then passed the new covention centre (Candaian Place), and made our way to Gastown which is the old town of Vancouver. It is very quaint with some lovely old buildings going back to the 1800's. There is a lovely old steam clock which has a steam whistle tune played every half an hour. Gastown has many souvenier shops selling the same old thing. Hubby decided to stay outside a few of them whilst I looked for gifts for my god sons and my great nephews (don't suppose my kids want a t-shirt with 'My parents went to Vancouver and look what they bought me' on it do they?).
On the way up to gastown we started to notice a few vagrants sitting on the streets and begging. One actually stopped us and asked us if we would buy him a meal, then another one asked for money. Although I always feel bad, we can't just stop and give every begger money, plus I always wonder where the money would go. But I always think of that song by Phil Collins (Another day in Paradise), which makes me feel even more guilty. Anyway, as we made our way from Gastown towards a place called Yaletown, my hubby noticed what he thought was a small market.
Needless to say, we like a good bargin and ventured forward only to find ourselves in what only can be described as vagrants ville. OMG I am not kidding you we stood out like a sore thumb (or nuns in a brothel as my hubby said). Every one and I mean everyone, looked like they needed a good bath. About a third had a disability of some kind, one third were smacked out of their tits (drugged up) and the other third were pushing supermarket trollies (god knows why). The goods on sale were mostly the contents of everyone's kitchen drawer with the odd machatte thrown in as a special bonus. I was (we were) a little nervous walking through the market tryiing to blend in which believe me was not easy. Once we saw the machette we almost ran out of there. I tell you, the coyote had nothing on these people.
When we arrived in Yaletown we stopped for a coffee at Starbucks. My god there are about as many Starbucks here as there are Chinese people. You see them everywhere. We then went into a shopping centre where I needed to go to the loo. But I turned around and came straight back out when I saw two very strange looking vagrant women hanging around (I know I'm a whimp). Then suddenly another vagrant asked hubby if he would buy him a meal, then proceeded to show him his official papers to say he'd just been released from juevanille prison (nice). Honestly, it was getting ridiculous and we felt really out of our comfort zone.
We eventually made our way down to Hornby Street :) and then to Robson Street which apparently is well known for shopping. But living in Dubai there is nothing really I haven't seen before (plus I don't want to buy things when I need to lose weight). So it was back to the hotel for a dip in the whirl pool and a nice glass of wine. Tomorrow, we're going to do more sightseeing at Capilano Suspension Park, will check in afterwards.
Anyway, we then passed the new covention centre (Candaian Place), and made our way to Gastown which is the old town of Vancouver. It is very quaint with some lovely old buildings going back to the 1800's. There is a lovely old steam clock which has a steam whistle tune played every half an hour. Gastown has many souvenier shops selling the same old thing. Hubby decided to stay outside a few of them whilst I looked for gifts for my god sons and my great nephews (don't suppose my kids want a t-shirt with 'My parents went to Vancouver and look what they bought me' on it do they?).
On the way up to gastown we started to notice a few vagrants sitting on the streets and begging. One actually stopped us and asked us if we would buy him a meal, then another one asked for money. Although I always feel bad, we can't just stop and give every begger money, plus I always wonder where the money would go. But I always think of that song by Phil Collins (Another day in Paradise), which makes me feel even more guilty. Anyway, as we made our way from Gastown towards a place called Yaletown, my hubby noticed what he thought was a small market.
Needless to say, we like a good bargin and ventured forward only to find ourselves in what only can be described as vagrants ville. OMG I am not kidding you we stood out like a sore thumb (or nuns in a brothel as my hubby said). Every one and I mean everyone, looked like they needed a good bath. About a third had a disability of some kind, one third were smacked out of their tits (drugged up) and the other third were pushing supermarket trollies (god knows why). The goods on sale were mostly the contents of everyone's kitchen drawer with the odd machatte thrown in as a special bonus. I was (we were) a little nervous walking through the market tryiing to blend in which believe me was not easy. Once we saw the machette we almost ran out of there. I tell you, the coyote had nothing on these people.
When we arrived in Yaletown we stopped for a coffee at Starbucks. My god there are about as many Starbucks here as there are Chinese people. You see them everywhere. We then went into a shopping centre where I needed to go to the loo. But I turned around and came straight back out when I saw two very strange looking vagrant women hanging around (I know I'm a whimp). Then suddenly another vagrant asked hubby if he would buy him a meal, then proceeded to show him his official papers to say he'd just been released from juevanille prison (nice). Honestly, it was getting ridiculous and we felt really out of our comfort zone.
We eventually made our way down to Hornby Street :) and then to Robson Street which apparently is well known for shopping. But living in Dubai there is nothing really I haven't seen before (plus I don't want to buy things when I need to lose weight). So it was back to the hotel for a dip in the whirl pool and a nice glass of wine. Tomorrow, we're going to do more sightseeing at Capilano Suspension Park, will check in afterwards.
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