Day 14 | July 12

After being so productive yesterday I actually set myself up for kind of a light day today. I had coffee at Elysian Coffee which I’d heard good things about but which had no WiFi so I’ll obviously never be returning to that place!

Headed home and worked and worked out until around mid-afternoon and then set out for a quest to try “the best” burger in Vancouver. Had an unusually trying time rounding up some bikes and making my way across the bridge but eventually I made it to Romer’s Burger Bar. If this is the best burger in Vancouver I’m not sanguine about the city’s future. It was a fine burger but way overdone to be considered even average.

Having not really been out past 6pm in Vancouver yet I decided do reconnoiter among some some of the bars in town and hit Odd Society Spirits, which I’d been hearing about a lot from others. Resurrection Spirits Distillery, which was a real pleasant surprise and The Diamond which could actually be one of my favorite bars in the world now.

Day 13 | July 11

I’ve been trying to get more of my calories in the morning versus the evening so I ventured out in search of a big breakfast. However, walking to that I passed Forage which I’d been meaning to check out and didn’t realize was open for breakfast. I dipped in there and was extremely glad I did. Really good food in a nice setting. Don’t think it was very expensive either.

I had a fair amount of work to do today so then I headed to the nearby Breka Bakery & Café which is a very common chain around here. Great place to do some work owing to their giant pours of coffee and WiFi, elsewise it’s pretty standard.

Headed home and worked out and then continued to work for awhile before adjourning to nearby Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House for some happy hour. This place was packed, had great food, and great service. I’ll surely be returning.

I was a little worn out as a result of an extra early start today so I headed home and crashed after that.

Day 12 | July 10

I was quite hungry this morning so I resolved to get some more substantial breakfast over my usual wee cup of Greek yogurt. I went just up the block to 49th Parallel & Lucky’s Doughnuts. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been in a coffee shop this busy. The line was huge (but swift) most of the time. I had gone with the specific intent of having one of their pistachio croissants but even at… 6:50am those were already sold out. So I settled for a pistachio doughnut which was amazing and a breakfast sandwich which was also very above par.

I worked from that coffee shop all morning until I had to head back home for the daily workout.

I had lunch at the previously mentioned The Basil Box which is also becoming a staple destination of mine here in the neighbourhood.

Talked to my parents on the phone for a while. They’re at our ranch in Wyoming and had a very exciting day full of kayaking and moose encounters. Then I had what I believe was my first ever actual video chat with Tricia. That is to say my first video chat ever, not just the first with Tricia. I don’t know why we don’t do that more often! Anyway we talked forever and then I had to hustle off to Krav Maga. …where I actually sustained a fair number of injuries on this particular evening. Then it was home and to sleep.

Day 11 | July 9

Jeez, I get a day behind and I can barely remember what I did with myself.

Probably because today was also dedicated to productivity and thus rather uneventful. Worked all morning, then worked out. Went to Meat & Bread for lunch which I’d highly recommend. Although, it’s just a simple sandwich shop so I’m not sure it’s worth a special trip.

I was flagging a little in the evening and so to keep going I was looking for a nearby coffee shop and ended up at Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie which is a great little French pastry place. Very busy, a lot going on. I even relented and had an excellent savarin pastry as well. It reminded me a little of this place Amoud that I used to love in Rabat. Very likely that this becomes an evening staple for me.

Anyway, worked there for the evening and then home and to sleep.

Day 10 | July 8

I set today aside to be massively productive and that’s what I did. Shockingly I realized I spend about two hours every morning reading/answering emails and reading the news. Such a time sink.

Worked all day, worked out. Had lunch at The Basil Box which is the classic example of a concept I’ve discovered while traveling that I need to rip off and establish in Denver. It’s basically a Chipotle of Thai food. Fast and good.

Worked some more, then Krav Maga in the evening, then sleep. Pretty plain day.

Day 9 | July 7

Early start today because it was the World Cup finals, USA v. Netherlands. Vancouver did not seem interested in this in the least and finding a place to even potentially watch it was a real pain. I only succeeded because the lass who cut my hair the day prior mentioned a possibility, which I walked over to and asked about and they mentioned the place I ultimately landed as a possibility.

The good folks at Library Square Public House not only opened for the game but then opened extra early when they saw me loitering outside in the rain so I wouldn’t be stuck out there. All this despite the fact they couldn’t even serve alcohol. Vancouver liquor laws are bonkers. USA went on to win and there was even a beautiful shot from my future girlfriend Rose LaVelle so the day started off strong.

Didn’t have anything on the agenda after that so headed home for a while. For dinner I was thinking pizza. As I’m saving another destination for Clarke’s eventual arrival I walked over to The Parlour which had the highest rated pizza on FourSquare. It’s a nice space and the service was excellent, which I’ve actually found to be the case most places I’ve gone so far. Everyone is so friendly! But I didn’t think the pizza was overwhelmingly good. Interesting ingredient options and really good, unique dipping sauce but other than that pretty standard.

I was aiming to have high productivity the following day so after that I headed home and went to bed early.

Day 8 | July 6

I had scheduled a short kayaking outing for this morning. When I booked it the weather was looking to be great but the morning ended up being overcast and drizzly. I rode one of the Mobi bikes out to Kitsilano Beach which was our departure point. I was surprised at how much was going on over there even with the poor weather. There were two full volleyball tournaments taking place and some intrepid souls were even swimming despite the weather.

On the way I stopped at Siegel’s Bagels for breakfast. It was fine but didn’t live up to their online reviews. On top of which I think only about 1/3 of what I ordered actually made it to me correctly. But oh well, on to kayaking.

This was one of the more low-key kayak tours I’ve ever done. Just a couple hour paddle around False Creek and the harbor. Despite that it was the only kayak tour I’ve ever done where we actually lost people. Two couples had to turn back and one lady even managed to flip her kayak and go in on the placid waters. That being said, there was a group of us who actually knew what we were about and had a great time. Our guide, Vanessa was fabulous. I particularly enjoyed her lack of empathy for the people who couldn’t cut it… but that’s just me.

Rode another Mobi bike back to my place and resolved to get a haircut in . the afternoon. I booked an appointment at Barber & Co Financial District. Despite billing themselves as a high end barber shop I found it rather plain. My haircut was perfectly acceptable, though. So, I guess that’s all that matters.

I’ve had a headache since I’d turned up in Vancouver and I think it’s because I’ve had so much tension in my neck and shoulders. I resolved to get a massage to try and cope with this and went to Smile Thai Wellness which was the only place I could find outside of a five star hotel that didn’t seem like it would be raided by the police at any moment. I was pleasantly surprised with this place and the lass really seemed to know what she was doing. To the point that despite my insistence on the problem being my neck and shoulders she instead immediately pointed out one spot in the middle of my back and showed me that was actually the problem. Despite being extremely painful, I’d say it was worth it.

Needless to say I was pretty wiped out after that so I went home and went to sleep.

Day 7 | July 5

Having made the poor decision to stay up and binge watch all of the third season of Stranger Things the prior night this day got off to a slow start.

I struggled through work in the morning but then dozed off again for a while. After I got going again I spent some time finally updating this wee blog (uh oh I can sense an infinite loop error) and then got around to working out. I went over to Hubbub Sandwiches for lunch. According to the sign inside the restaurant arose out of two guys who were trying to open a sports bar but they had one sandwich that people loved so much they abandoned that idea and just went with the sandwich shop instead. My understanding was that it was the pulled pork sandwich so I tried that. Really big, really good, a good amount of spice but with a clean finish. Not like traditional pulled pork but really good.

After that I basically just killed some time until it was time for Krav Maga in the evening. Been a long time since I’ve done that but it was quite fun and the instructor is a really interesting guy who used to teach Krav to the French Foreign Legion etc.

Anyway, obviously quite tired after that and I had a kayaking excursion the following morning so afterwards I just headed home to bed.

Day 6 | July 4

Since today is American Independence Day and I had a light work day I signed up for a food tour of Granville Island. I’ve strolled through the market the last time I was here with Emilybeth but we just kind of wandered so I didn’t really know what I was about.

Food tours like this have become one of my go-to first activities when landing in a new city because, well who doesn’t love food? But it’s also a good way to meet other people passing through the city.

I woke up and got in a workout before snagging a Mobi bike and riding out to the island. We strolled through the market and covered a fair amount of ground.

Turns out most of the merchants in this market are totally local and their sole location is within the market. It’s also a market that locals still come to in order to do their weekly shopping. There was a passel of people from Seattle on my tour and they said they liked it much better than Seattle’s market because it wasn’t totally overrun by tourists like in Seattle. Our guide also said that in something like ten years of doing this she’d only seen three vendors ever leave the market and that there’s a wait list of like 300 trying to get in.

My thoughts on these places are all on FourSquare but we hit Granville Island Tea Company, Kaylin & Hobbs Pickles, Longliner Seafood, Benton Brothers Fine Cheese, ChocolaTas, and Edible Canada at the Market.

Really enjoyed the whole thing and it was really interesting to hear how many hoops the food and alcohol industry has to go through in Canada. Apparently, you can’t even get European cheese up here. More serious Vancouverites apparently drive down to The States to get groceries and alcohol because you can get more and it’s so much cheaper.

Even though it was a holiday I had to head home and do some work afterword. And, of course, had to call my wee mom and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Despite doing the food tour, or maybe because of it, I was unusually hungry so I went out again for dinner. I walked down to Rodney’s Oyster House which was excellent. Even at 4p on a Thursday this place was a party. I had to really push in at the bar but ended up hitting it off with everyone sitting around me. …shots may have ensued. But I still got home at an early hour.

…then I binged all of the new season of Stranger Things obviously, leaving me much too exhausted for the next day.

Day 5 | July 3

Another day of World Cup today. This time I avoided the mishaps. I woke up, got through my work and workout and then walked over to The Blarney Stone.

Missed the excitement but learned why my driver yesterday was questioning my destination when some random homeless guy started a tussle at the front of the place this go around. This was around noon mind you. Sadly Sweden was defeated by the Netherlands (WTF, mate?) so I left dispirited.

Due to some more problems owing to Canada’s obsession with regulation my evening plans fell apart so I randomly saw the new Spider Man on the spur of the moment. Freakin’ hilarious, highly recommend. The theater I was in had these seats that move according to what’s happening on screen. It seemed cool at first but actually experiencing it I just found it to be annoying as all hell. If faced with the choice in the future, pass on these.

Then it was home and to sleep.