We arrived in Vancouver before 11:00, two flights in advance of the departure of the ship, as advised by the travel agent to avoid problems if WestJet cancelled or delayed our flight. No problems. The taxi took us through downtown Vancouver to Canada Place, which is where the cruise ships dock. (I asked about the new Central Library, and caught a glimpse of it. More anon.)
The cruise ship area was a marvel of efficiency. A porter whisked away our heavy luggage with its special luggage tags. The taxi driver pointed out how to get back up to the street. After a pause for reflection and to put our hand luggage in order, we walked a long hallway to the adjacent hotel and up onto the street. Setting off across a small plaza adorned with a spectacular planting of petunias, we spotted a pub. Hunger and our motto to drink a beer in every port drove us there, rather than in the direction of a food court. The temperature was just warm enough to let us sit outside at a sheltered table. Grey clouds and earlier rain were dissipating.
we saw some great old buildings, which certainly interested me. One building had beautiful carvings of waves and orcas and birds. A modern adaptation for tenant blended excellently into this fauna theme.
Decorated orcas also dragged us from one corner to another. These were the same device used by other cities to raise money for charities and bring recognition for the arts, like Calgarys and Edmontons cattle and Torontos moose. Elvis Orca was hilarious, decorated in outrageous sequins and sunglasses. However, the best was the first one we saw down on the waterfront. It had a recycle theme, using old license plates, bottle caps and fuses to decorate the orca, topped by a water faucet
After a lot of wandering and a bit of resting, we were almost ready to turn back, when I spied the new Central Library . (The taxi driver had offered to drive us by, but she had no idea it was so close to Canada Place.) We walked around the building; it was huge. Distracted by a bookcase orca of trompe doeil and books), we took pictures and headed into the library itself. Actually, the library was the
circular section that looked like the Roman forum, and the tall adjacent tower space. An internal courtyard carefully kept the small cafs and businesses on the private sector side. The library was seven stories high. As by an information clerk, we took the elevator up to the top to see the views, which were quite mundane. Maybe on a sunnier day, the mountains were visible. We walked rather quickly around the top floor and looked into the central atrium. The building design didnt appear particularly effective for the library functions, but it was impressive.
We started back to the waterfront, and Ruth confessed a need for which informed our choices of direction. We enjoyed the of a Saturday afternoon in the shopping district. The shops were full of clothes and accessories we didnt want to buy – fortunately – except for the On one block that proved to be the university, various causes related to animals had set up displays. We returned to Canada Place through a series of streets, softened by trees and lovely flowers.
After a quick effort to see more of Canada Place (closed, no conventions) and a brief photo stop to shoot the sails of the building and to click their camera for some Japanese tourists, we paused to reorganize again in the cruise ship reception area. There were many more people but seemingly for a different ship. We flew through our and the cursory check by US immigration and customs. Suddenly, we were on board, waiting a few moments for the elevator to the tenth floor, Caribe deck.
The ships dcor was beautiful - light woods and polished brass. Our cabin was correctly set up with two beds. We immediately opened the sliding glass doors to the balcony and all we could see was the ship.
