Vancouver weekend

Vancouver 2011 – our 10 year anniversary trip.  There was so much goodness, indulgence and inspiration in one weekend. We saw the Surrealist exhibition at the gallery, walked through Stanley Park, walked a whole lot more all over the city to the point where our legs ached and ached. Shopped a little, slept in a lot. We did all the things we’ve been hankering for over the last year while living a slightly less urban life.

Some highlights for me:

A Bakers Dozen Antiques
3520 Main Street
For all your quirky antique needs. Require a small taxidermed fox’s head with a dolls arm in it’s mouth? Look no further!
But quite honestly, this place is fabulous and worth a trip to Mount Pleasant.

Paper-Ya
Granville Island
A place stacked full of little goodies – papers and stationary sets. Lovely, lovely things.

Miku – Japanese restaurant
#2 – 1055 West Hastings Street
(Guinness Tower)
Good (and interesting) Japanese food, accompanied by lots of loud, cheerful shouting from the expansive staff.

The Whip
209 East 6th Ave
A good place to have a late breakfast with a favourite nephew and his girlfriend. They drank caesars and ate burgers. I had a plate of perfect eggs, bacon and potatoes.

Anthropologie
2912 Granville Street
I walked around and around this place looking at all the things that are crazily overpriced but so pretty. I ended up buying two Nathalie Lete plates to add to my collection.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2
Of course it did not disappoint. But I got distracted by the sets – especially the beautiful Shell Cottage at the opening of the film. Built on the beach, untouched by tides and time (magic surely). It’s time to start pressing shells into  the plaster on all my walls.

Fine drinks
My new cocktail favourite was discovered in our hotel lobby. Because it was outrageously priced, I am reclaiming it for the people and have redubbed it the Vancouver Weekend: Peach vodka, Elderflower liqueur, ginger & lemon.

Coming home on a float plane
Flying across the Georgia Straight, across our little island – right past our house on the hill, landing with nary a worry in Ganges Harbour and home in time for tea and to tuck the little ones in to bed. It was nice to go away but even nicer to come home.