From Sunday until the early afternoon today, I was back in the city that I love so much and have missed dearly! When I checked the forecast before I left Abbotsford, the weatherman called for rain (not unusual), so naturally I packed pants and a jacket or two. What I foolishly forgot is that the weather here can turn on a dime, and sure enough, when I got into town, the sun was shining brightly and I found myself dressed far too warmly. But enough about "misfortunes" with my wardrobe, and onto the adventures I squished into a mere 3.5 days!
By the way, every time I visit Van, I stay at my sister's place, which is empty for the time-being as she is in Calgary for work (: I got into Vancouver around 1:30pm on Sunday, and didn't have much to do until 5:00 when I was to go out for dinner with my aunt and cousin. In definite Tori fashion, I unpacked my few belongings and set up the futon (I never sleep in the bed for some reason). I took a grand snooze until I woke up to my cousin, Jill, calling me, saying they were outside to pick me up for dinner. We always go for Greek food - my aunt LOVES Greek - so for dinner we went to Candia Taverna on 10th and Sasamat. I like this restaurant because it's small and family-owned, so the people are always very nice and make eating there a relaxing experience. So, if you're around the Point Grey area and want a nice, quiet dinner, give this place a go! After dinner, I went to my cousin's place in Burnaby and waited for her to change into her soccer gear because she had a game that night, which I and another cousin (Justin) watched. The soccer game ran from 9:30 'til around 10:45, and I got home at about 11:00. And so ended the first day.
Monday morning, I woke up around 11 (I never wake up early, it's a bit of a bad habit) and ate my Greek leftovers for breakfast (actually lunch). at about 1:30, I left the house and walked down to 4th and Macdonald to meet my bestie, Kirk, to bus to Stanley Park because we were going to the aquarium! I haven't been to the aquarium in quite a while, so this was an exciting venture. We got to the park around 2:15 and walked around a bit while waiting for our friend Julia to get there. We finally got into the aquarium around 3:00 and proceeded to ooh and awe at every single exhibit in the place - jellyfish, octopi, stingrays, sea turtles, sharks, frogs...EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, we seemed to show up to every scheduled show late, so there were always crowds of people surrounding the beluga and dolphin tanks, and being as short as I am, it was difficult to see anything. But the glimpses I saw were wonderful! Also, the aquarium has acquired a new exhibit featuring South African Penguins. The exhibit consists of five penguins, all of which were bred in captivity at another aquarium. They were adorable! We got out of the aquarium at 6ish, exhausted and hungry, so we headed back to Granville for some dinner. We ended up at The Famous Warehouse, which I am quite fond of. Everything on the menu is $4.95, and the food is quite good, too! Since it was Monday, it was all-you-can-eat-pasta night for $6.95, and Kirk and I jumped at the opportunity - me, mostly because I had a small budget to work with for food, so why not?! Both of us went three bowls deep of Mac 'n Cheese, which had just enough spice to give it a kick - delicious! By the time I got home at 9:30ish, I was thoroughly exhausted from walking the whole day and eating a GIANT meal, and fell asleep the earliest I've gotten to sleep in a while - 10:30!
Tuesday wasn't all that interesting in terms of adventuring, but it was a swell time nonetheless. I met up with my friend Elias, who just got back to Vancouver after being in Korea for two months. We headed down to 4th because I needed to buy a GOOD pair of rainboots from a little shop called Gumdrops, but they were closed! I would link their website, but it's down at the moment :/ So, after that fail of a venture, we hopped on the bus and headed for downtown, because, why not? We ended up wandering around Robson, which is a lively place for shoppers, and no wonder - there were TONS of sales going on. It was hard to not go on a shopping spree, but I keep reminding myself that I'll be leaving for Europe in ONE week, and that I need to save that cash! I did end up buying a nice rucksack backpack from Zara for 60% off, though, but I feel like it was totally worth it. After wandering around for a good two or three hours, Elias wanted to stop somewhere for a drink, so we ended up in this restaurant (A Greek one, of all places), and ordered two Granville Island Honey Lagers (one of my personal favourites) and chilled for a while. Eventually, we made our way back to his new place before I went up to UBC to visit with another friend (Tanya) for coffee before I finally headed home around 11:00.
Well, that's the story of my past couple days! I really enjoyed my time back in the city and am super happy that I had the chance to get together with friends and catch up! Now, I'm back home, and work the next few days before jetting off for two weeks! More on that when the time comes (:
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