Vancouver, British Columbia

From Whistler, British Columbia (Canada), we drove to Vancouver with plans to stay at the Four Seasons Vancouver Hotel in downtown Vancouver.

The drive from Whistler to Vancouver was mostly uneventful, except for the congestion. We must have hit Friday's rush hour, as it took us an hour to go about 5 miles on Lions Gate Bridge Road (Highway 99) from North Vancouver to downtown, where the Four Seasons was located.

After checking into Four Seasons, we rested and decided to have dinner at Yew Restaurant in Four Seasons at 8:00 p.m.

Yew is a fancy-looking restaurant, and I noticed that people were more formally dressed than at Whistler.

Alex enjoyed a pizza but didn't think it was as good as the one at Pizza My Heart in Los Gatos.

Inna and I shared the "Yew Salad," which was fresh and delicious but nothing special.

Inna ordered the "Sablefish" dish.

I ordered the "Crab Shells," but they were slightly salty.

For dessert, we shared an Apple Tart. It was delicious.

As we were tired, we went back to our room.


Saturday, February 23, 2013

We had a full day planned for Saturday - it was Inna's Birthday! We decided to get some breakfast nearby. Four Seasons' staff recommended the Bellagio Cafe, and we strolled there.

Although the weather forecast called for rain, we did not experience any rain on Saturday!

We walked over to Bellagio Cafe and ordered some breakfast items. We liked the metal cups and teapots.

Bellagio Cafe was full of books and looked like an intriguing neighborhood eatery.
Alex ordered some French toast with Nutella for breakfast.

Inna and I ordered Neptune Benedicts for breakfast (Neptune implies Salmon).

After breakfast, Inna wanted to try local coffee at the Caffe Artigiano next door.

After breakfast, we decided to go for a stroll through downtown Vancouver. We followed the route recommended by our travel book:

• Start at Caffe Artigiano on 763 Hornby Street
• Walk south and turn right onto Robson St.
• Walk easterly on Robson St. (we stopped by the many shops)
• Turn left on Nicola Street, walking southerly
• Turn right on Barclay Street, walking easterly
• Turn left onto Denman Street, walking southerly (reaching English Bay)

On Robson Street, many fancy retail shops include Louis Vuitton, Zara, Lululemon, etc. (just like in any large city). A bit further, we saw some unique Canadian shops like Roots.

Alex wanted to look at the chocolate-covered apples at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. The apples looked delicious, but we were too satiated from breakfast to eat anything.

A few tall buildings and lots of pedestrian traffic were nearby, as in any big city.

We turned into a residential area, looking at the beautiful old-style homes.

Alex spotted a children's playground and did a few stunts near a school.

Once we turned onto Denman Street, we quickly reached English Bay. Nearby, we saw an exciting set of laughing statues. They were wearing blue scarves, but none of the locals knew why?

It was pretty windy and cold, and around lunchtime, we decided to have lunch at the Raincity Grill (where I originally intended to have dinner). Raincity Grill prepares locally grown food and is known for the quality of its cooking. However, it does not have much Children's menu (and Alex was hoping for pizza).
Instead, we ordered Fish and Chips for Alex, which he disliked. I tried them and thought that they were very well prepared.

Inna ordered a rabbit leg with mushrooms.

I ordered "Salt Spring Island Honey Mussels," which I enjoyed.

The food and service at Raincity Grill were good, and we were soon complete.

We decided to continue our stroll back to our Four Seasons hotel.

As we walked back, we stopped at another playground inside Nelson Park. While Inna rested on the bench, Alex climbed all the children's play structures.

We continued our walk back and saw a couple of attractive houses. The "Hobbit House" looked relatively small (and was especially relevant to me, as I was in the middle of listening to an audiobook of "The Hobbit" by Tolkien).

As we neared our hotel, we spotted the Robson Square Ice Rink. Canadians really love ice skating!

When we returned to our room at Four Seasons Vancouver, Inna got her Birthday Surprise!

Around 3:00 p.m., we decided to get our Dodge Journey SUV and head over to the Museum of Anthropology. This is a massive museum with lots of interesting artifacts. We needed more than two hours to explore and understand the beautiful cultural items on display.

Some of the pieces were incredibly fantastic:

We were sad to leave at 5:00 p.m. (when the Museum closed), as we had not yet examined so many beautiful items. We definitely need to return!

We drove back to our hotel and rested. Inna was not feeling well. I had made reservations to go to West - one of the best restaurants in Vancouver, but Inna was not feeling well enough to travel.

To warm her up, we decided to stop by Caffe Artigiano for cups of warm cappuccinos. The staff made some delicious and beautiful creations.

As Inna was not feeling well, I canceled the reservations at West Restaurant and decided to get some treats for her birthday at the nearby Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe.

I ordered a London Fog for Inna, real hot chocolate for Alex, and regular black Bergamot tea for myself. The cakes and pastries were delicious!


Sunday, February 24, 2013

We got up, packed our bags, and stopped by Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie for breakfast. It was one of the few shops with fresh pastries and cakes open early in the morning.

Alex especially liked the various flavored macaroons.

After our excellent breakfast, we checked out of Four Seasons and drove to Seattle, where we dropped off our Dodge SUV rental at Alamo and flew back to Oakland, California.

We had a grand time in Vancouver and hope to come back again.