2023 -1- Go West Old Gal 6.0 Vancouver

It’s about time I finished logging the last trip. I am about to leave again, but just for a week.  It’s a business meeting at sea and I won’t be reporting it, well, maybe the before and after.  We’ll see. 

On Saturday, August 5, we disembarked in Vancouver and Pat Harrold picked me up right in the Cruise Terminal’s parking lot.  Pat and Paul have made the downtown condo move, too, like me, the Laskers, et al.  Last stop before the Home, or, if you’re me, between Homes.  Vancouver has an up-and-coming new area called Yaletown.  It’s , downtown, right by the water.  That is to say, very near the cruise port.  They are on the 12th floor, just like me, only their view is a lot better, and mine isn’t shabby.  Check this sunset from my Vancouver bedroom at their place:

Pat and I took a walk around the neighborhood and we all caught up.  Pat and Paul live in an owner-occupied building, which is certainly the way to go, if you can find one.  Things get fixed there before they even notice them.  This is not true of all their neighboring buildings, some of which are the famous Vancouver leaky buildings.  They went up too fast, had problems and now the occupants have to live with the likes of this, while the problems are fixed, also taken from my bedroom.  It wouldn’t look so nice from behind that blue curtain.

In the evening Vicki Hansford met us for dinner at a local Thai Restaurant.  We ate outside and the food was delicious.  The company was even better.  Pat and Paul and Vicki and Helen found ever so much to talk about, and the subjects ranged all over the world. 

The next day, August 7, was Sunday and Vancouver was hosting its Pride parade.  It’s a big one.  Everybody, but everybody wants to get into the act now, the banks, insurance companies, Air Canada, Durex (!), charities, everybody.  Pat and I walked about two minutes to our vantage point and spent about two hours enjoying the parade.  We finally left because my ankle was killing me and there’s only so much you can see before it gets repetitious. 

Interesting and colorful, though.  It was a lot of fun and good to see. 

That night we had dinner at Shanghai Lu.  Vancouver has a great Chinatown and a lot of wonderful Chinese restaurants.  This is one of Sam Wong’s favorites, so he set it up.  I love mixing up my friends from all over the world, whom I meet all over the world.  Some of you might recognize some of these people:

Jan Magnolo, Gerard Darnel, Glen Reid, moi, Pat Harrold, Sam Wong, Pam Ip, Vicki Hansford.  We had the Beijing duck and all and we left stuffed and happy.  Pat is the oldest friend there, from IBM days in Montreal, Pam was my first employee in Hong Kong, Sam is her husband, and the rest are cruise buddies, from as far back as 2012. It’s so worth keeping in touch.  You get to have wonderful times, like this.

Monday was a holiday, so Sam was free to drive Pam and I out to Squamish, to see what’s happening there.  Well, it’s turning into a tourist town in the mountains.  The scenery going and coming was magnificent and the ice cream treats divine.  The vegan chocolate milk shake was something else.

We went back to Pam and Sam’s house, for a glass of wine on the back balcony, and out for dinner with her whole family at Shaughnessy Golf Club.  It’s a gorgeous place, a waterfront golf club.  Unfortunately for its members, it’s sitting on indigenous land that was only leased and has to be given back in ten years or so.  It will likely be turned into an estate of high rise condominiums.  It’s monumentally sad, but the indigenous people are entitled to the profits from their land.  I hope the money gets spread around fairly.  Check this out for a fabulous place to enjoy dinner on a summer’s evening.

That’s Pam, moi, Leith, Kingston (Pam’s brother) Jacqui (my McGill student friend), Maggie and Kelly Ip (Pam’s parents).  What a wonderful way to end a great stay in Vancouver. 

I’ll be back there the day after tomorrow and again in September 2024, when I am hosting a SilverSea cruise from Vancouver to Tokyo.  I would love for more of you to come along with me.  Find it at Cruise from Vancouver to Tokyo – SN240912018 | Silversea.  I’d be happy to tee up an extension in Tokyo, if anyone signs up and wants it. 

And let’s not forget Cunard’s 2024 World Cruise on the Queen Mary II, with me.  If the whole world is a bit much, there are some very interesting segments.  Talk to me!   NYC to NYC 123 nights – Full World Voyage – January 2024 – Cunard