Two days of Vancouver sightseeing in one post

It's been a great week for sightseeing, and I've been showing Roby all the local stuff that people see when they're here. By the way, I don't know if I explained who Roby is, but I met him when I worked for Princess Cruises in 1998. We were on the Grand Princess together and I last saw him in May of 2000 when I was in Italy. So... 6 years later... he's here for a visit for a couple weeks. I don't get to see old ship people very often and it's great talking about all that stuff... and it's a good excuse to spend money and act like a tourist for a couple weeks.

So after aquarium day on Monday, we took a day off because Roby had a minor dental "issue" that needed to be looked at. Wednesday we did Gastown and Chinatown, and today we went to UBC and Wreck Beach. Aaaaaaand I took pictures. But not at Wreck Beach. They're not really that into cameras down there. But at least you don't have to worry about tan lines. Ok well on to the pictures...


This is Gastown, where it all started in Vancouver back in 1867... It was pretty much a mill and a saloon back then, but now it's all old buildings, souvineer shops, brick streets, and a really big steam powered clock (which is visible on the right side of this pic but you have to double click to really see it).


This is Captain John "Gassy Jack" Deighton, who opened the first saloon in the area (which was called Granville at the time) in 1867... yeah that was really his nickname.


The boot corral. I don't have a lot to say about this.


Next stop Chinatown. Yeah that's Roby standing there in front of the big Chinatown gate. Actually, we were on the Chinatown side of the gate so this is more a picture of the exit than the entrance. I don't know if that makes a difference.


Here's Roby getting his hand eaten by a statue outside the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Don't worry, he got it back in one piece.


Here's a shot of the Chinese gardens... and that building going up in the background only kills the mood a little bit.


And here's me with some bamboo inside the gardens.


Because Roby doesn't speak English, I pretty much have to translate everything. In this situation I was no help at all...


That's some good use of wall space. They had stuff in jars... like a bulk foods section where you can just pick the amount you want. Now I'm not sure what was actually in most of the jars, but there were some CRAZY prices on the front. Try 699 bucks a pound for some oval shaped green stuff. I don't know what could cost that much, but judging by the smell there couldn't have been something that tasted 699 dollars worth of good in there.

So that was Gastown and Chinatown... we did the whole thing in about 2 hours, then went to the Great Wall on Denman for some good Mongolian BBQ. After that we walked around English Bay a bit and then went home.

Today we went to UBC in the afternoon, mostly for the beach because it was nice and warm outside, but we decided to take a walk around part of the campus while we were there. Roby wanted to see where I have my classes so we went to...


The Curtis Law Building. Survival instinct kicked in at this point and my feet wouldn't move any closer to the building so I had to take the picture from here. Luckily the memory of severe pain usually fades by September so the survival instinct dissipates and I'm ready to start classes.


Here's Roby beside that garden by the Chan Centre...


I guess we should have just got someone to take one picture with both of us in it... it would probably be easier.


I know I've posted a picture of the old main library before but this will probably be the last picture I take of it. If you look close you can see trees through the main entrance. Those trees didn't used to be visible through the main doors because there was a whole building attached to the front. Now there's not. I don't know what they're doing exactly, but I think this building is on its way out.

Ok well after this we went to Wreck beach, where cameras aren't allowed so I don't have any pics. But it was great... really warm, no wind... it was fairly busy but there was a lot of beach space. I caught some sun and almost fell asleep... just like I'm doing right now. So on that note...