Category: Vancouver

The Place for Comfort Chocolate in Vancouver

Pretend that you wake up and have a person who’s having a tough day, or it’s a rainy day, and you need a good proper hot chocolate to cheer yourself up. Chocolate Arts is for you. Located near Granville Island (1620 West 3rd Avenue) they make their chocolate treats in the back and serve them up front. In addition to chocolates by the piece, they have creative chocolate gifts. But of course, you wonder about the hot chocolate. This Rocky Road one pictured below is extremely tasty. The one thing with children however, is that it may be too rich […]

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Stanley Park Hallowe’en Ghost Train 2016

The annual Stanley Park Hallowe’en Ghost Train and Attractions in is one of my favourite places because I like the spooky feel of Stanley Park in the Fall, especially when the Park does its spooky presentations. For me I’m not into the freaky scary stuff with chainsaws and gory zombies jumping out at you. The Stanley Park presentation is family friendly. It’s just eerie enough to thrill the elementary school aged children without parents dealing with sobbing wrecks. This year was a Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) theme, which is much more cheerful, believe it or not, […]

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Best Vancouver Christmas Markets

Love Christmas Markets? Vancouver has two amazing events you should know about. One of the best and most well known Christmas Markets is the Circle Craft Market. It’s the 43rd annual market this year, and like those before, it’s bound to be amazing. It runs November 9th through to the 13th with over 300 artisans coming from all over Canada. Like always, the Circle Craft Market is located in the Vancouver Convention Centre West, 1055 Canada Place. This market is known for fantastic wood crafts and carvings,made by talented artists across Canada. Check out the many amazing stalls featuring glass […]

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Victoria Chinese Restaurant

Dim Sum is not something I have a chance to enjoy very often, but I recently had a chance to organize a lunch for 12 at Victoria Chinese Restaurant. It’s located in the Royal Centre on the Melville Street side near West Georgia and Burrard in downtown Vancouver. It’s been in that location for a number of years but there was a fire a while back and it was out of commission for over a year. But it’s back and in my opinion a great place for Dim Sum. However, if you were expecting delivery via trolleys, they don’t do […]

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Kitsilano

On September 24, 2016 the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (a.k.a. Will and Kate) visited the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station in Vancouver. This small station can be found at the end of Whyte Ave. The road passes the Vancouver Museum, the Vancouver Academy of Music, the Vancouver Archives and (because it was still running) Bard on the Beach. Our family decided, because it’s insanely close to where we live, to try to see what the hullaballo about the Prince and Princess was. Our expectations of seeing much of them were low and our lower expectations were met. Below is a […]

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A Ride Around Stanley Park on the Last Day of Summer

I had to check, but the change over from summer to autumn is September 22, 2016 at 10:21 A.M. EDT. Today I rode around Stanley Park. I did this same ride back in August. (See Stanley Park to Kits Beach.) However this time there was a sense of urgency. Who knew when I’d next have my schedule and the weather cooperate in this way? There was no mistaking that crisp taste of Fall in the air. Despite worrying about potentially not being able to enjoy the ride like this for months, Autumn was somehow inviting me to slow it down […]

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Toby’s North Shore – Pub & Grill

It’s not often that I’m on the North Shore at brunch time, especially on my own. But an odd set of circumstances allowed me a solo brunch and I was not willing to put up with Tim Hortons (found in the same plaza.) On the stretch of Main Street North Vancouver that heads to the Second Narrows Bridge on the north side is a mall with Canadian Tire and other shops, but Toby’s was the only restaurant/pub in the plaza. It was quiet on a Saturday at 11:30. It’s a family oriented (a child’s birthday party with adults was on) […]

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Planet Lazer Richmond

On the last day before school started up again, my friends and I decided that to get out all of our nervous energy we were going to go play laser tag. Now, all of us live in Vancouver and the closest place is in Richmond, it’s called Planet Lazer. To get there we collectively took transit which took a bus, a sky train and then two other buses. Now, the place in Richmond is a large plot of land with several big recreation activity buildings you can try. They have swimming, trampolines, a movie theater and of course, laser tag. […]

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Kits Beach in September

Just because it’s September, don’t give up on Kits Beach in Vancouver. I took the photos below two nights ago. Yes, it’s cooler but the views are to die for. Plus all the restaurants on Yew Street are open for business. Including the gelato shop! When the sun goes down, make sure to have a sweater!

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The Merry Wives of Windsor … Ontario?

An annual treat for visitors and Vancouverites alike is Bard on the Beach, which for 27 seasons has brought Shakespeare’s works to life. This year included The Merry Wives of Windsor, Romeo and Juliet, Pericles and Othello. “Bard,” as it’s known locally, is set up in Vanocuver‘s Vanier Park with some very large tents that, according to the program, takes 10,000 hours of labour to set up. You are well protected from the elements in the tents but you still have that outdoors feeling with sounds from the ocean. But, what about the show? We enjoyed the Merry Wives of […]

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