A note from Vancouver

From sightseeing, eating well and dancing up a storm in London, I flew to Vancouver - mostly to reacquaint myself with Cathryn and Mike and meet 2-and-a-half-month-old Heath, who just happens to be super cute at the moment.


Baby Buchkins

I wanted to give Cathryn a bit of a hand because when Mike is working, she has very little other support to call on - one of the hazards of moving half-way round the world, but a common theme for those of us who are geologically inclined. And since Vancouver issuch a lovely city in such a beautiful part of the world, it really wasn't hard to go back. And every girl needs a friend to look after her bundle of joy so she can go out and refresh herself with a facial or a haircut. I must say I was a bit nervous about looking after a very young baby, but once I gave Heath his bottle, he was quite happy and relaxed.


Sunset from the Beach Crescent apartment


Pleasure cruiser - Kisses .. - False Creek

So we didn't push ourselves too much, just went with Heath's agenda really and fitted in some eating and shopping where possible. Luckily, I had already had the pleasure of going to Storyeum - the all-singing all-dancing musical history of the settlement of Vancouver - when I visited back in 2005, because it has since shut down (what a complete and utter travesty I hear you say - well, indeed!)

I had an excellent time on the food front - I was visiting the woman who took my education in the area from amateur to total gourmande, after all. And of course I had to make sure I tried a truly local dish, so ...


I tried the hotdog with everything

but that was nothing in comparison to what I got when I chose the mole poblano the night we ordered Mexican take-out!


Yoikes

It's a complete chook chest! As you might imagine this dish, although billed as dinner for one, carried us all over for some time afterwards. Cathryn still managed to cook like a 5-star chef even while looking after Heath - Mike and I leant a hand wherever possible too.

We had a hilarious and also rather evil time with our take-out Thai and a noodle dish that was delicious, but super spicy (although not quite at the ear-wax melting stage), because even though we were all in some kind of severe physical discomfort, we all took just a little more. I think, however, that Cathryn and I would agree that the best meal we had was a late Japanese lunch on 4th in Kitslano the day Mike looked after Heath to give us some girlie time - incredibly fresh and delicate agadashi tofu with a spicy mushroom sauce, a surprisingly refreshing drunken rice noodle salad and very special gyoza - hmmmm....

And what about the shopping? Well, you are aware of my dull and drab Syama collection - Vancouver was a treasure trove of exciting footwear and fabulous clothing, and I had my own lucky charm and stylist with me so I did very well thankyou very much!


New shoes for Paris

And dancing? Well - the Vancouver salsa scene seems to have shrunk, completely. I tried my luck at the Mesa Luna, only to discover it had been shut for a year, so moved onto the next venue, the Howard Johnson Hotel, which looked rather dive-y and sports bar-ish, and not at all cuban salsa-worthy so Mike suggested that he would ask his work colleague who is a champion dancer where I should go. Armed with the info from Carly, I ran the gaunlet of Granville Street at tart-hour on a Friday night, only to discover that salsa at the Law Courts, 12 blocks from Cathryn and Mike's, had been shut for 4 months - and they'd moved to 395 Kingsway - aka the the Howard Johnson Hotel!

So salsa in North America was not to be - nevermind - I had the perfect time catching up with good friends and meeting their expanding family, in fact,


Come with me Heath - Paris is lovely in July ...