Vancouver: Granville Island (part 5)

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Wednesday 30th September)

After my refreshing Seawall bike ride, I was energised to take on the next part of the day.  I had read that a very nice place to visit if time allowed was a shopping district called ‘Granville Island’.  This was about a 30 minute bus ride from Downtown Vancouver and is located near the Granville Street bridge.

The Public Market is known as the jewel in the island’s crown.  It is an absolutely fantastic place to visit, away from the hustle and bustle of Downtown Vancouver, the buzz here is quite different, much more welcoming, a little more laid back and some of the people were the nicest people I have met. The variety and the assortment of different foods that you can choose from is mind-blowing in this place, even when you have eaten, you will salivate when you walk past the next place…it is actually that good, I hope that the photos below do justice to what I am saying here (be prepared if you have a sweet tooth like me).

Again, the weather was just amazing, so blissful, it was just like being in some Mediterranean country, which just made the whole experience even richer and more enjoyable.  The feel to this place was something quite special, so much so that when I close my eyes, I can actually feel the sun shining down on me, smell the aromatic fragrances from global foods everywhere I went and sense all the pleasure I did when I was physically there.

The variety of breads reminds me that I can never participate in a low carb diet, never mind a carb free diet!  The selection of fruit was great, I particularly liked the unusually shaped grapes.  I wonder if anyone can guess what the man is whisking in the bowl?  The cakes were very inviting, ample variety of vinaigrette’s, I had never seen so many in one place, the assortment of honey looked very sticky and tasty, the Granville Island Tea Company reminded me of the UK and the Eccles Cakes were an interesting take on the ones I had when I was younger.

The final photo is of a man who was so full of energy that he basically oozed positive energy,  he displayed so many skills by playing a selection of instruments while he performed.  I captured one video before I was on my way, I thought he and his assistant did a very good job of it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

http://granvilleisland.com/

 

http://granvilleisland.com/discover-island/visitors-guide

 

 


  






  
  
  

   

Downtown Vancouver, Seawall (part 4)

(My solo road trip of western Canada – Wednesday 30th September)

If you visit Vancouver, a really smart way of seeing a lot of sights in a short amount of time is to hire a bike and cycle around the Seawall.  It’s basically a stone wall that was constructed around the perimeter of the famous Stanley Park to prevent the erosion of the park’s foreshore.  It’s about 9km in length around Stanley Park and I believe is part of a much longer (28km) path, apparently, the worlds longest uninterrupted waterfront path.  The path is divided into two: one for joggers and walkers, and the other for cyclists and skaters.   At your own leisure, you can cycle and see some really wonderful parts of this buzzing city.  You can obviously also walk, jog or rollerblade too if you prefer.

I decided to rent a bike that had the electric feature and a really cool ‘boost’ sort of button when you need that extra speed as you buzz around the Seawall.  I was told that there are some places where you can actually rent a bike for free, however, I did not have the time to explore this option.

I managed to bike around the Seawall and see the following things in 59 minutes, I did my trip quickly because there was so much I wanted to see, the extra rates you pay after the hour are very reasonable and won’t break the bank, I would recommend to take a little more time if you have.

After the breakfast I had at Tree Organic, this was a welcome workout, I saw some very expensive boats, lovely accommodation, amazing colourful ‘changing’ trees, seaplanes, very cool horse carriages, hundreds of geese, more local talent, magnificent bridges, the famous Stanley Park, a woman who looked like a mermaid and a bird impersonating her, log formations on a beach, fantastic views of Downtown Vancouver and a laughing tree!  What else might I see during the rest of my day in Downtown Vancouver?

http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/seawall.aspx

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawall_(Vancouver)