O' Canada

Ten hours after arriving home from the Oregon coast, I was off and running to Vancouver Canada with my good friend Sara Bacon. We decided we would go just for fun for the holiday weekend and see what we can find there. I had been once before on a very short trip, this was Sara’s first time to Canada. We stayed in an area known Gas Town which was a young, hip, funky stylish are of Vancouver.

Our first day there we arrived with plenty of time to walk the city. We decided to exchange our money right when we get there, note to self: check first if the country you are going to celebrates the same holidays as you do. We went to Canada on Monday, which was Labor Day, not thinking anything of it, so when we attempted to exchange our money ALL the banks were closed. Not a fun situation to be in when you only brought cash with you. After that fiasco we started our exploration on the gorgeous waterfront in the perfect 75 degree weather with the sun glistening on our faces.

The waterfront was breathtakingly beautiful and full of people from all over the world. Everyone was enjoying the 360 degrees views of the peaceful water where you can see seaplanes take off and kayakers paddle about with monsterous mountains in the backdrop, then turn around and see the glassy blue skyline of the never ending skyscrapers.

After walking around for hours the sun was beginning to set, we decided we would freshen up and hit the town. We skipped down the main street full of lights and energy and couldn’t pick a place to go. To our surprise and excitement, Vancouver has a major night life. It was a Monday night and the clubs were popping and there were people everywhere. We settled on a fun little karaoke place and watched people makes fools of themselves as they attempted to sing their little hearts out to no avail.

The next day was started by our free muffin and tea from our hostel then off for more city exploring. We saw some very cool architecture all throughout the city and spectacular views. After resting for a short while we got ready and went back to our new fav Mexican place for the second time of the trip, it was that good. But this time we stepped it up a notch with a giant fishbowl sized margarita.

After dinner we went back to our fun little hostel, played some pool, went to a nearby club and did some dancing and foosball playing then went off to a another club where there was some live awkward music (they didn’t always know the words to the songs, weird) and more dancing. The next morning began with another free muffin and tea and off for even more exploring before leaving back home to Portland. To our excitement we found an alley way full of bright, vibrant graffiti. The walls were done by all sorts of artist's with all sorts of design aspects. It was spectacular.

Right before hitting the road we decided to go to this extremely rustic and chic little place called Meat & Bread. The place not only was decorated amazingly, I was obsessed with the ambiance. The food was spectacular as well, even down to the presentation. It was a great way to end a perfect trip to Canada.

It’s been real Canada, till next time ‘eh!