Vancouver

is a place I'd like to come back to. It might be too expensive to live there, but it is, especially once the dollar strengthens again, a mighty fine place to visit. I think our delight in the vacation largely stemmed from the perfection of our location. Our room had sky-high views of the entire West End (both coasts!!), our block had enough great food that we never needed to leave (gelato! sushi! sidewalk crepes! Chinese! bakery! izikaya! dim sum!), and we were close (as in, walking distance) to pretty much everything - Stanley Park, beaches, shopping, museums, public transportation, the works...

This was the vacation to eat all other vacations. I've never packed so much adventuring (both outdoors and gastronomic) in a trip! There was biking (around Stanley Park), hiking (groan, Nature's stairmaster indeed! 3000-foot ascent of pain!) , kayaking (wild seals! Playing with us! And a baby!!!!) ATVing (dusty, but fun. And we saw a brown bear!), mountains (I heart Whistler. I want to go back and go Hydrobroncing, among other things, and the views form the top...breathtaking), canyons (viewed from above over a suspension bridge! More exhilarating than I thought it would be, as crowded as it was), rock climbing (only for crazy, naughty boys), museums and galleries (a show on comics and video games can be surprisingly awesome! Especially with vintage games to play!), ziplining (wheeeeeeeeee!!!!! BONK! So fast, furious, and fun!), beaching (walking, glass-hunting, laying around and relaxing), walking in parks (Stanley again, on foot), art marketing (crafts, mostly), festivals (Fireworks to end all fireworks!!!, painting at the art show! Reveling at the Pride Parade! curiously watching the Hare Krishna walk), and flying (as in, parasailing, as in, flying though the air after you run off a cliff. NOTHING like it. I wanted to fly forever!!!! Especially since, that way, you could skip the landing, at which, surprise, surprise, I tumbled onto my a** and brought down both myself and my instructor). Whew! We got up early pretty much every morning (normal human early, not even *my* early, and some days painfully so - 5 AM is harsh in any time zone) and didn't get back until late - no wonder we collapsed nearly dead every night! We talked several times about going out at night but...exhaustion won every time!

Much, much picture-taking took place. Everywhere you looked was abundant natural or cultivated beauty. Much, much eating also took place. I did a LOT of reading beforehand on various food boards, and pretty much every where I spotted a must-eat place. Real ramen, abundant and delicious sushi, plate after plate of Japanese snacks, cone after cone of gelato, walking along with crepes in hand, eating Chinese and Malaysian, great seafood, fantastic fish and chips...I don't think I've ever had so much or such wonderful fish!!! The only disappointment was West, which a blow both to my wallet and in my confidence of food ratings and reviews. I still think we ordered incorrectly, but at that caliber of restaurant, we really should have had a better experience. The rest of the time, however, was more than enough to make up for one sad experience.

Loved, loved, loved the whole Vancouver package. The right location, great hotel, amazing experiences, beautiful scenery, easy traveling (ENGLISH!), wonderful food...next time the exchange rate tips in favor of the dollar (though we were saved a bit, as the dollar rallied late in the week, right when our bigger bills were being calculated), we're there!

Oh - also, yes, a very nice place to get engaged.

And - I like/love/crave vacation!!!!