We love our neighbourhood and the fact that it is filled with other artists. So, we thought we should share our experience with visitors from around the world. Check out our website avantcrossingguard.com or go straight to tickets at our online store.
Our final day (too quick!) was all about food and art (mostly food!). We usually have breakfast at Central Bistro on our last day in Vancouver as it’s very good and very close to the hotel. Delicious! We had noticed a new shop on Denman while we were coming and going on the bus, so we walked a couple blocks to check it out: Ayoub’s Dried Fruit and Nuts. This is a gorgeous store run by a lovely woman. We picked up a few snacks for the ferry ride home and some Turkish delight for the cat sitter. After checking out from the hotel we headed up Robson Street, popping into a few shops. We encountered a very sweet blogger named Mel who snapped photos of me and GJ for her blog Culture Serf. We had a delightful chat about our favourite shopping places. Check out her blog; it’s really fun! Then met our friend Sandra for lunch at Nuba on Cambie at Hastings. We shared a snack plate and GJ was able to have Turkish coffee, which he loves. Next stop, a couple hours at The Vancouver Art Gallery, which is always wonderful. That left just enough time at the end of the day for a snack at Mink before skytrain/bus/ferry/bus to home and our little cat!
Our favourite new West End shop: Ayoub’s.
Amazing hot chocolate and snacks at Mink. And they have fondue!
Another gorgeous sky as we leave Vancouver.
Excitedly awoke to our full day in Vancouver with a dusting of snow on the ground! It was really pretty all the days we were there: lots of big, fluffy clouds; snow falling on the nearby mountains; breaks of sun; smell of snow in the air. We jumped on the bus/skytrain up to Main and 28th and walked east on 28th to St George where we enjoyed a lovely petit déjeuner at Le Marché St George. Our pastries were so delicious, I forgot to take a picture of them until they were almost gone! Along with pastries and light lunches, Le Marché has a few delicacy groceries and unique household goods for purchase. It was hard to take good pictures and not include the many patrons who came and went in the shots. Once we were done we walked back down Main Street to Broadway, stopping now and then to browse the many interesting shops we encountered, including Front, a cool shop of new and gently worn fashions, shoes and accessories. We wanted to check out Gravity Pope, a shoe store my sister recommended, so hopped on a bus heading west on Broadway, jumped off at Yew and walked over to West 4th for a bit of shopping. Luckily, at another shoe store, we found a new pair of boots for GJ as the only shoes he brought had sprung a leak in the slush first thing in the morning. Yummy lunch and celebrity sighting at Sofie’s Cosmic Cafe, then we headed down to the Kitsilano waterfront at the Maritime Museum and walked back to Granville Island to catch the ferry back over to the West End and back to the Hotel for a rest. The evening brought the main attraction of our trip: the world premier of Ignorance, a new production by The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, showing at the CULTCH. Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe the show!
A bit of snow outside our beautiful hotel, The Sylvia.
Yum! Croissant aux amandes, brioche, café et chocolat chaud.
Le Marché St George, St George at E28th, Vancouver BC.
Le Marché St George, detail.
Le Marché St George; small shop, lots to look at!
Looking up at the Maritime Museum and a gorgeous sky from the dock of historic boats just below the museum.
Looking over at the West End from Kitsilano.
A section of a kinetic ball sculpture in a window at Granville Island.
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