Not only did I visit Vancouver this weekend but I unmeaningly took a trip back in time to the 1980's as well. Yes, the above image can be found on the window of Fitness World on Howe Street. I love the headband-tights-leotard combination. The only thing missing is a pair of legwarmers and I know they're there - you just can't see them.

Vancouver was (as always) a great diversion from my daily life. Ridiculous amounts of Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese were purchased at Les Amis Du Fromage (and are currently being stockpiled in my freezer). My fellow cheese lovers from book group will soon experience a small sampling of this heaven. Lush was raided with much gusto and large quantities of soaps and potions were procured. Multiple martinis were ordered and consumed at the Brass Monkey on Denman. Sushi was eaten by the pound all about town. Vancouver probably has more sushi restaurants than Tokyo although I've never been to Tokyo so it's just a guess. A stroll through the Grandville Market was taken on a rainy Saturday and a hike through Pacific Spirit Park on a warm and balmy Sunday ended the weekend on a high note. Yes, pretty much the perfect lead up to my birthday this Wednesday.

I kept an eye out for Jetbot and Asteroidbelt but since I have only seen a picture of Mel's eyebrow, it was hard to locate her amongst the throngs of people about town. I thought perhaps I'd catch a glimpse of Tess' tattoos but no such luck. Something about Vancouver seems so much more city-like than Seattle. Several times throughout the trip I mentioned to Pete my great love of this place and how wonderful it would be to live there but alas, it's not realistic. I promised myself instead that I would not wait so long before my next trip north.

So besides not seeing any online journalers, I also missed out on spotting famous Canadian Jason Priestley. We had reservations at a very posh restaurant that a guidebook mentioned was one of his favorites. We did not find it nearly as impressive as the former 90210 star and left after our appetizers. Can you say stuffy and ridiculously overpriced? We did happen upon a great tapas place a few blocks down the road that more than made up for the experience though.

As for uniquely Canadian experiences, we sat behind a table of guys with mullets who were discussing hockey one morning at a greasy breakfast joint. We also heard the Bare Naked Ladies on the radio while cruising about town and then there was this:

Talk about perpetuating a stereotype.

8:06 p.m. - 2003-01-27

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