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dolariDoing many things! At different times!
Two weeks ago, I took![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pazi_ashfeather on a trip to Vancouver to get a looksee at Upper Cascadia before she left for the Wilds of Minnesota. We took off in the early afternoon making a beeline for Vancouver.
It was a bright and clear affternoon - Mt Rainier saw us off and Mt Baker greeted us as we entered Canada. Got more than the usual grilling on entering the country, but we were let in by and by. A quick stop for some cash, and we made a bee line for Emily's, followed by a bee line for the Cypress Bowl overlook. Vancouver proper HATES freeways, so there's no quick way to get around town. By the time we got to Cypress Bowl, it was Sunset.
And, well, it was the perfect time. :)
Vancouver at Night (3072x1442, 2.83MB)
As the night fell, we took off tojessie_c's place for dinner and conversation (usually steered into talking about American Politics/History versus Canadian Politics/History (When Dad met Jean, Jessie's significant other, he made a new friend - the two had talked for HOURS about American politics over dinner)).
From there, we hit Tim Horton's for the sweet sweet nectar that is Tim Horton's Ice Capps. We went to bed that night with the threat of 10cm of snowfall looming over our heads.
The Truck meets her British Columbian cousin.
We didn't get the 10cm they were talking about on the radio, but more of a half inch or so of the white stuff (sorry, I still can't do much of metric/Imperial conversions on the fly). Easily navigable, as long as we headed downhill.
Our first stop was Frenchie's in Vancouver - of all my trips to Canada, Id' never had poutine, and Emily was going to make sure we both had some this time around. I'd also read something about Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwiches, so I grabbed one of those as well....
Montreal Smoked Meat Sammich, and a side of Poutine for three.
The Montreal Smoked Meat Sanwhich wasn't much to write home about - basically the same as a Bill Miller's Po'boy on sourdough instead of a bun (minus the BBQ sauce). Poutine however is a tasty little thing, that will take three years off your life. I'd had something similar at Baby's in State College, but that was just Gravy and Fries.
Something that occcured to me is how similar Pennsylvania and Canadian foods (well, from what I've seen of Canadiana in BC) seem to be alike, from the varied snacks, to the poutine/gravy fries and even the smoke meat sammiches. Maybe Pennsylvania is Canada Lite, and not Minnesota, like I keep saying. :D
From there, we took PAzi to Granville Island, for a quick tour around the grounds and market. I could really get into the Pike's Place/Granville Island public markets. It reminds me a lot fo what El Mercado used to be like in San Antonio when I was a kid (before it became tourist trap) or the Amish Markets in Pennsylvania.
We're always in such a rush when we visit, there wasn't much we stuck around for, except the glassblower. I'd only ever see glass shaped in Sesame Street shorts, to actually see glassblowers at work was just really really amazing. Glowing globs of glass being rolled and shaped and sawed. Beautiful.
With lunch settling down, Pazi told us about a place she'd gone to as a kid with 218 flavors of gelato. With Emily steering us through Vancouver (Including a stop at Little Sister's in Davie Villiage that I SWEAR didn't have a sexshop in it last time I visited), we found it mighty quickly: La Casa Legato.
And they weren't kidding.
They had your standard flavors - Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry...then they had your non standard flavors - Bailey's Irish Cream, Tiger Tail, Moce Sorrento. And then there was...everything else - wasabi...curry...Five Alive.
I was actually dissapointed they didn't have Mexican Chocolate. So to drown my sorrows...
...I had a two scoop bowl of Wasabi and Curry. :9
Wasabi was actually pretty darned tasty. Id' definately have it again. Curry, though...whoowee. It was good for a while, then the spice of it all kicked in and...well...wow. I might have it again, but maybe just a half scoop.
From there, we decided to wind down our evening. We headed up to Burnaby Mountain, and saw that there was still tons of snow on the ground up there, so we played around in the garden before getting a snapshot or two.
Vancouver through the Japanese Totems.
We finished up the evening with a grocery run. I'd needed groceries pretty badly, so instead of just getting snacks, I bought a bit more than just snacks and rarities:
There were the usual Five Alive drinks, and Funky Flavored Chips, but I also picked up some cereal and dinner sides (They might have these au-gratin Sidekicks statesside, but I've never seen them) and drinks. I didn't really buy much more than I thought I would, but it's importing stuff from across the border that kept me from getting more perishable foods.
We went back to Emily's and (After a bit of whining from both Pazi and I about not wanting to leave) said our goodbyes. We hit the border about 11, where the US guards pretty much waved us through. In fact he just scanned our documents, began to wave us through, then asked "Oh, you bringing anything in?" When I mentioned groceries and was about to say "Nothing perishable" he said "You're good" and waved us through.
You don't mess with a girl who just had Wasabi and Curry ice-cream.
Next post - Exploring Seattle with maps from 1962....
Two weeks ago, I took
pazi_ashfeather on a trip to Vancouver to get a looksee at Upper Cascadia before she left for the Wilds of Minnesota. We took off in the early afternoon making a beeline for Vancouver. It was a bright and clear affternoon - Mt Rainier saw us off and Mt Baker greeted us as we entered Canada. Got more than the usual grilling on entering the country, but we were let in by and by. A quick stop for some cash, and we made a bee line for Emily's, followed by a bee line for the Cypress Bowl overlook. Vancouver proper HATES freeways, so there's no quick way to get around town. By the time we got to Cypress Bowl, it was Sunset.
And, well, it was the perfect time. :)
Vancouver at Night (3072x1442, 2.83MB)
As the night fell, we took off to
jessie_c's place for dinner and conversation (usually steered into talking about American Politics/History versus Canadian Politics/History (When Dad met Jean, Jessie's significant other, he made a new friend - the two had talked for HOURS about American politics over dinner)). From there, we hit Tim Horton's for the sweet sweet nectar that is Tim Horton's Ice Capps. We went to bed that night with the threat of 10cm of snowfall looming over our heads.
The Truck meets her British Columbian cousin.
We didn't get the 10cm they were talking about on the radio, but more of a half inch or so of the white stuff (sorry, I still can't do much of metric/Imperial conversions on the fly). Easily navigable, as long as we headed downhill.
Our first stop was Frenchie's in Vancouver - of all my trips to Canada, Id' never had poutine, and Emily was going to make sure we both had some this time around. I'd also read something about Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwiches, so I grabbed one of those as well....
Montreal Smoked Meat Sammich, and a side of Poutine for three.
The Montreal Smoked Meat Sanwhich wasn't much to write home about - basically the same as a Bill Miller's Po'boy on sourdough instead of a bun (minus the BBQ sauce). Poutine however is a tasty little thing, that will take three years off your life. I'd had something similar at Baby's in State College, but that was just Gravy and Fries.
Something that occcured to me is how similar Pennsylvania and Canadian foods (well, from what I've seen of Canadiana in BC) seem to be alike, from the varied snacks, to the poutine/gravy fries and even the smoke meat sammiches. Maybe Pennsylvania is Canada Lite, and not Minnesota, like I keep saying. :D
From there, we took PAzi to Granville Island, for a quick tour around the grounds and market. I could really get into the Pike's Place/Granville Island public markets. It reminds me a lot fo what El Mercado used to be like in San Antonio when I was a kid (before it became tourist trap) or the Amish Markets in Pennsylvania.
We're always in such a rush when we visit, there wasn't much we stuck around for, except the glassblower. I'd only ever see glass shaped in Sesame Street shorts, to actually see glassblowers at work was just really really amazing. Glowing globs of glass being rolled and shaped and sawed. Beautiful.
With lunch settling down, Pazi told us about a place she'd gone to as a kid with 218 flavors of gelato. With Emily steering us through Vancouver (Including a stop at Little Sister's in Davie Villiage that I SWEAR didn't have a sexshop in it last time I visited), we found it mighty quickly: La Casa Legato.
And they weren't kidding.
They had your standard flavors - Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry...then they had your non standard flavors - Bailey's Irish Cream, Tiger Tail, Moce Sorrento. And then there was...everything else - wasabi...curry...Five Alive.
I was actually dissapointed they didn't have Mexican Chocolate. So to drown my sorrows...
...I had a two scoop bowl of Wasabi and Curry. :9
Wasabi was actually pretty darned tasty. Id' definately have it again. Curry, though...whoowee. It was good for a while, then the spice of it all kicked in and...well...wow. I might have it again, but maybe just a half scoop.
From there, we decided to wind down our evening. We headed up to Burnaby Mountain, and saw that there was still tons of snow on the ground up there, so we played around in the garden before getting a snapshot or two.
Vancouver through the Japanese Totems.
We finished up the evening with a grocery run. I'd needed groceries pretty badly, so instead of just getting snacks, I bought a bit more than just snacks and rarities:
There were the usual Five Alive drinks, and Funky Flavored Chips, but I also picked up some cereal and dinner sides (They might have these au-gratin Sidekicks statesside, but I've never seen them) and drinks. I didn't really buy much more than I thought I would, but it's importing stuff from across the border that kept me from getting more perishable foods.
We went back to Emily's and (After a bit of whining from both Pazi and I about not wanting to leave) said our goodbyes. We hit the border about 11, where the US guards pretty much waved us through. In fact he just scanned our documents, began to wave us through, then asked "Oh, you bringing anything in?" When I mentioned groceries and was about to say "Nothing perishable" he said "You're good" and waved us through.
You don't mess with a girl who just had Wasabi and Curry ice-cream.
Next post - Exploring Seattle with maps from 1962....
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no subject
Date: 2009-02-08 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-08 08:28 pm (UTC)And Vancouver people tend to whine when money is spent:
Oh noes, we can't have a new 10 lane bridge
The Presidents choice soda's tend to be a little unique, I've seen ginger beer in little bottles, but the large one in the photo is the cheapest you'll find it. Also there is a lychee soda, which isn't really Canadian (where would you find lychee in canada?,) it is the only time you'll see it.
If you want to aim for strictly BC made, the "sunrype" brands are produced in like Kelowna or Kamloops or something. It's a BC brand. A bit on the expensive side though. I prefer the Tropicana orange juice because it isn't a "from concentrate", though I know that's not a BC brand.
Ketchup chips is a typical Canadian flavour, though you should try different brands too, as each brand has a different take on some flavours. (BBQ for example is sweet as a Lays brand, but hot as a Old Dutch brand. Which Old Dutch apparently has the ketchup flavor in the US. Lays however does not.)
Poutine I think is a Quebec originated food. I never EVER heard of it till I moved to Victoria. You can actually buy it almost anywhere that sells french fries. Given it was Victoria and catered to tourism.
If you spend, I think it's 48 hours across the border, you can take back 400$ worth of merchandise duty free.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-08 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-09 01:04 am (UTC)