Vancouver ONE

Been feeling pretty weird the past few days... turns out it hadn’t really hit me that we’ve moved to Canada (not like I had an extra 10 months to prepare or anything). But in between these bouts, I’m starting to think I really like it here. This is so far - 

I had hoped everything could go smoothly on our journey. But Manchester airport had to be awful. Queues outside the airport and a realisation that we couldn’t have the seats we’d paid for got me in a right flap (not as much as Stell). Thanks to the offering of an early Christmas present, we ended up with an upgrade. Fancy.

We got to Vancouver 11 hours later, after plenty of plane food and a quick look at Calgary. Vancouver airport is amazing- lots of First Nations art and an indoor waterfall at baggage claim! Getting our visas was wonderfully easy and we were quickly aboard the Skytrain to downtown Vancouver. We checked in at the hostel, sat on the bed, and started to freak out a bit. This was soon dispelled by our first beers in Davie Street’s best gay pub- the Fountainhead. We were warmly welcomed to our new ‘community’ by recommendations of the best ‘chick’s nights’ around. It’s not at all like the sometimes hostile queer scene at home. We will definitely be back here. We tried to power through the jet lag, but over 24 hours with no sleep and plenty of panicking, we crashed. 

The hostel has been a surprise. We have a private room with nice bedding, close to the clean ‘washrooms’ and it has a great atmosphere, cheap bar, and a bagel frenzy at breakfast. No more needed. We’ve even extended our stay. 

Yesterday was our first full day and we tried to explore as much as possible. Whilst we are trying to find more permanent accommodation we need to know what’s nice and what’s not. We stroll through Chinatown and visit the gardens and find a bakery serving the steamed pork dumplings Stell has been perving at in the guide books since before we even got here. The excitement of the huge steamers on the counter proves too much and we try two varieties. LUSH. We also find Commercial Drive (the drive), home to Vancouver’s lesbian community. This basically means a high street with plenty of organic produce, coffee shops brewing serious coffee, and pubs with regular poetry nights. We stop for coffee and mull over where to go next- South Main (Soma). Struggling through the outdoor outlets trying to find suitable waterproofs and footwear (it rains here all the time- not just in a British way, in a biblical way). After a while we soon realise we don’t belong among the hiking gear and ski equipment and head back to the hostel for naps before heading out to the aforementioned chick night. On our way we stop by the Little Sister’s Book Emporium, which is the hub of the LGBTQ community, looking for tips on the best bars. We also browsed the women’s fiction and Stell ogled over Sue Sylvester’s biography. Later we found ourselves at the weekly women’s night and had a really amazing evening. The atmosphere was inclusive, friendly, and we felt right at home. 

Today we hammered the house hunt and have a few viewings lined up for the next few days (Obviously as close to Commercial Drive as is possible!) We also took a visit to Stanley Park, the sun was out and we caught some of the best views of Vancouver over harbour- we took a short walk around the sea wall, dodging the cyclists and rollerbladers to find some of the totem poles dotted around the park that pay homage to the indigenous people.  We have plans to go to a diner later this evening to maybe sample some poutine and milkshakes. Just got to wake Stell, the jet lag lingers...