Crid's 1999 Grand Tour of Canada

3 weeks travelling by train from Toronto to Vancouver

Day 21 (Friday) - Vancouver (Penny Farthing Inn B&B)

Had another huge breakfast, then set off to Granville Island.  A small island beneath one of the bridges across False Creek.

Most of the places were craft-related in some way.  One side of the island contains most of the shops.  The other half of the island contains the restaurants and a design institute.  Somewhere in the middle is a cement works.  A rather interesting mixture really.

I found a museum with model railways and model boats, and spent a while looking around there while I waited for the rain to stop.

Bought a few knick-knacks for family and friends, then headed off around the shoreline to the Maritime Museum where the St Roch is preserved.  (This ship twice passed through the Northern Strait between the east and west coasts).

There were other maritime exhibits, but the St Roch took centre stage.

Feeling hungry, I headed back towards the B&B and ended up in a Mexican café which I had looked at several times over the past few days (but each time decided I wasn't sure about).  It's called Jopanga Café, and I'm really glad I went in.  The decor was a bit basic, but the food was excellent and very reasonably priced too.  There was a large group of Japanese tourists there when I arrived, and they seemed to be enjoying the place too.

After stuffing myself with burrito and enchilada, I headed back to the B&B to finish packing and then sit in the lounge for a while.  Then I called a taxi (which arrived amazingly fast) and headed to the airport (hampered somewhat by the 5pm Friday traffic jams).  The taxi driver seemed to know a fair number of back roads, and we made pretty good time.

Vancouver airport isn't the most inspiring airport I've ever seen.  There were a few shops, but nothing like the shopping area at Gatwick.

What nobody tells you beforehand is that Vancouver Airport charge you a $15 "Airport Improvement Fee" before they will let you on the plane!  Most other airports add that to the price of your ticket instead of springing it on you when you head to the departure lounge.

We flew for a little under an hour to Calgary.  We stopped there for about an hour to refuel and take on a few more passengers.  Now we're on our way to Gatwick.

On the flight to Calgary I swapped seats with a lady so that she could sit next to her husband (she had been sat a few rows in front of him).  The seat I ended up with was very narrow, but I did at least get more legroom (since I was at the front of the Economy section).  In fact, my feet are travelling Club Class...

 

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