Time passes quickly when you are enjoying yourself and last 10 days or so have passed in a flash. The last Wednesday in April and my flight from Heathrow to Vancouver was the beginning of one of the best trips I have ever been lucky enough to travel on and I really don’t know where to start, so I guess the beginning is the best place – Vancouver.
The flight landed a little late and getting through Canadian immigration was not the best, or easiest, I have ever experienced but all that was forgotten as we began our journey to Vancouver Downtown in a fabulous , black old style coach with a wonderful friendly driver who explained everything we passed on our way to the Georgian Court Hotel, situated next to the BC Stadium where the was a football ( yes football) match taking place – they must have know us Brits were on our way ! Unable to pull up outside the hotel due to the traffic, our man quickly organised our group and ushered us over the road to the hotel reception. His friendly and welcoming attitude was to become so typical of everyone we met on our travels through this lovely country.
The Georgian Court is on of Rocky Mountaineer`s Silver Leaf Hotels, boutique in style, and really nice. The rooms were massive and the bed so comfortable, and much needed after a very long day. A little bit of exploration uncovered a lot!, even down to a pair of hair straighteners in the bathroom and a spare pare of tights in the wardrobe, along with a proper coffee machine this hotel was just what I needed for a good nights sleep.
The next day we set off to see a Gold Leaf property, the Sheraton Wall Centre which was also very good, as was the breakfast at the hotel with just about everything you could think of on the buffet, I was beginning to see that food was going to play a big part in this journey.
There is far more to Vancouver than hotels though and if you are ever considering visiting the city then I would say 3 nights, maybe even 4, would be about right to see everything on offer here.
Where to start? Well it was a beautiful sunny day as we headed out to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver`s oldest attraction, the bridge really is suspended about 170 meters above the Capilano river and is definitely not for anyone who doesn’t like heights – it moves a lot ! The river is surrounded by rainforest with plentiful wildlife, including a Salmon Hatchery, and amazing views of the river from the clifftops along the side.
On through Stanley Park, a green oasis with beaches, in the centre of Vancouver with a long seawalk good for cycling, walking and whatever else you fancy ! I think my favourite bit of the city was Granville Island with its amazing market, shops and restaurants. Visited by millions every year it is the place to come if you are a ” foodie” and I am, and the Foodie Tour was brilliant.
I have never met a more enthusiastic guide than Nadia who met us off our coach and began our tour of the best bits of Granville, starting of course with the market. It is an amazing place and we tasted I think it was 18 different types food and drinks, bread, meats, cheese, fruits, tea and the most amazing donuts I`ve ever tasted, no need for lunch after that! We ended up at a very popular restaurant called Edible Canada with a delicious salad and local wine making this a really good tour as it was not only good value but really interesting too.
Finally we visited Canada Place, home to 5 star hotels and the cruise terminal, nothing like Southampton though, this is almost like a seaside promenade lined with shop, restaurants and, at the end, Fly Over Canada which was one of the highlights of the trip – amazing! I`m not saying too much though except if you are in Vancouver try it!
It was a long day as we headed back to the Georgian Court for dinner in their lovely Italian Restaurant, excellent food, local wine and a loveky comfortable bed before our early ( 7am ) pick up to board the Rocky Mountaineer the next day.