The continental breakfast is very continental so for those of us who need more than bread and bad coffee for breakfast, the in-room mini-kitchen is a plus. While checking out the continental offerings, I found Maria and a very dishevelled Steve in the lobby. It seems that after their commute up to Vancouver via ferry, they arrived to a room with 2 beds for 5 people. Unable (unwilling??) to accommodate the reservation for 5, the hotel gave them a key to the small room and basically said goodnight. I asked them why they didn't call our room, as we could've easily put another kid in with us. (Maria also had this idea...) Turns out that Steve slept on the floor. So tonight we will have an extra kid with us; Julia gets a big sister in Sarah for the next few days.
After the horrible experience with the car yesterday, I get on the phone to Thrifty Rental car to see what we can do about the slightly non-functioning brakes and the fully non-functioning A/C. After many phone calls back and forth, and many minutes on hold (on the cell phone! with roaming charges!) it's decided by Thrifty that the only option is for us to take the car to a local repair shop in Vancouver, as changing out the car would require us to wait for one to be driven up from Seattle. On the phone now to the repair shop, I find out that not only are they NOT just down the road (but 45 minutes away) they have no idea how long the repair will take. Not willing to take a day of his vacation to deal with the repair of this rental P.O.C., Brian makes the executive decision not to get it fixed. (I suspect that the car will be returned with some burned out rotors.) I'm a little concerned for the safety factor, but have decided to follow Brian's lead...
It's a beautiful day in Vancouver. The sun in shining and it's mildly warm. We hear from someone that it's the nicest weather all year. A perfect day for a bike ride. We are just over the bridge in North Vancouver from downtown. It's kind of like staying in Brooklyn - only cleaner. I still cannot understand the layout of this town. There are too many bridges. Is it an island? I never do find out...
Once at the bike shop (one of MANY) we inundate the foreign shop owners - the gal at the counter is German?Dutch?Swede? and the managers are Korean - and we get everyone outfitted with bikes. For numerous reasons, we decide on a tow-along bike for Edwin. He is EXTREMELY less. than. pleased. I'm not as convinced that the tow-along is necessary, but as I've been chastised/spoken to in the past for not backing my husband up, I keep uncharacteristically silent. This decision brings on many tears from Edwin (tears! I know! he's usually the happiest kid alive. I can think of only a few times that he's been reduced to tears). Part of the problem with the tow-along is that the handle bars are too low. We ask the shop to adjust them, and they flat out refuse to do it (I suspect that they don't know how). We take off toward Stanley Park (all 11 of us) and pass another - much bigger - bike shop on the way. I politely ask one of the bike guys if he had a wrench to adjust the handle bars. Sure! No Problem! he says and lickety split - handle bars are higher. All he asks is that we please not tell our shop that he adjusted them. Sure! No Problem!
Ed is still is tears. Brian is barking at him. And the 11 of us make quite a scene biking along the one-way path around Stanley Park. We follow the water's edge and stop many times for bathrooms, Kodak moments, etc. Ed is still crying. At the rate (that I now see) we are moving, I comment (too loudly) that Ed would have been just fine on his own bike. Whoops. Now there is a bit of a domestic between the husband and myself. Aidan moves in slyly for the rescue and offers to bike with Ed. Aidan and Ed take off and lead the pack. Ed loves it! That's all it took. Who knew? (Nana did because, "They're all good kids.")
As the sun is out for a record breaking third day, throngs of Canadians have come out to sunbathe at the various parks and beaches we pass on our bike ride. We stop at a beach and all the kids take off for the water. I shudder to think how the bike ride will end - if my boys wind up soaked and sandy, which, thank goodness, they don't (much in part to Maria, who took off after them to get pictures.) As it's lunchtime, we stop in a field overlooking the water and grab some hot dogs and hamburgers for an impromptu picnic. The picnic wraps up when the group behind us lights up and the smell of a Dave Matthews Band concert wafts over to us. Which led to an interesting discussion about Canadian drug laws. I notice (again) that while this city claims to be uber eco-friendly, the amount of cigarette (and other) smoke seems to directly contradict the green/granola/earth loving vibe.
Almost done with our 7 mile loop around the park, some of the more hearty bike-riders decide that they want to go around again - this time without stopping every 100 feet. We decide to break off boys vs. girls and go our separate ways: the girls go shopping; the boys bike again. After we girls return our bikes to the shop, we make our way to a Starbucks (for the bathroom) and then to Safeway for some refreshments. Happily, we can use our club card numbers to get extra savings! (which helps because Canada is expensive. Like $10 for a box of tampons expensive. And not the jumbo box either.) After buying some ketchup flavored potato chips (which I very much enjoy and everyone else thinks are disgusting: the same people who happily douse their french fries with ketchup for the Exact. Same. Taste.) we make our way down to the store that sells beer and wine to pick up some grown-up refreshments. We settle on a local wine at an appalling $9 and a 12 pack of Moosehead for $21.99. 12 Pack. Of Canadian beer. Made in Canada. Not imported.
While the men have the kids back in Safeway, Maria and I take the adult beverages back to the parking lot, but get a little lost trying to find it. I am carrying the 12 pack of Moosehead. She is carrying a bottle of wine and a small backpack. We make an interesting pair. Especially when we ask for some help from the local sanitation engineers working in the alley. They think we are a riot and are actually quite helpful in locating our parking lot for us. Adding the grand total of helpful Canadians to 4 at this point in the trip.
Back to the hotel for a tiny rest and quick change and then it's off again to the next activity. Soccer match! Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Columbus Crew. As we squeaked and crawled through horrible traffic to get there, we are amazed at the number of fans who have shown up for the game. We had no idea that soccer was this popular in Vancouver - but perhaps it's because it's only one of two local teams they have. And the other team didn't do so well recently. Against the Americans. Ahhhh.... now we might be getting somewhere on the chilly reception we've been noticing this trip.
We manage to get 11 tickets to this apparently sold out game - and most of the seats are together which is a small miracle. The purchase went rather (too) slowly and we missed the very beginning of the game - Maria was *not* pleased. Our seats are behind the goal at the top of the funky stadium ("Temporary Stadium, they're building a permanent one but it's not done" -Brian) and we have great views. We're surrounded by Whitecaps fans - with the exception of the row of Brits in front of us. Five minutes into the game, Sarah announces that these players and this game is awful. Maria concurs and comments that she's seen 16 year old girls play better soccer. The Brits- who we've befriended by the end of the game - also agree with this assessment and wonder if all MLS soccer is this bad. Maria assures them that it's not. Home Depot (Canada) has given away these accordion folded cardboard noisemakers to all the fans, and Ed goes to town making as much noise as possible. He's in heaven. Not in heaven? The Whitecaps and their fans, as they lose to the Columbus Crew. When the Columbus goalkeeper stopped a PK to deny the Whitecaps their only scoring opportunity - I was the sole cheerleader for the Americans. I was loudly obnoxious in my area of the stands and it felt great. At the end of the game, the Brits taught us all a "lovely" soccer cheer that involved showing off your (clothed) backside. I'm sure the 27 beers that they consumed helped make the cheer even that more fun for them. Ed thought it was a riot.
Back at the hotel - the big kids hung out in the Dulacs' room and the adults came back to our room where the beer was consumed and the chips were eaten. It was a fun and relaxing end to a great day. And a great end to my 40th year.
No comments:
Post a Comment