Travelogue Portland and Vancouver 2005
Travelogue
Last update 7/18/2005
Itinerary:
7/13-7/15:
7/15-7/18:
Tuesday 7/13/05
Fly to
Took taxi to B&B, US$30 with tip.
Staying at the White House of
Consider: Stay at the Kennedy School B&B next time. Much cheaper and potentially more fun.
Hooked up with Albert. Dinner at E-San Thai
restaurant. Not Isaan food. Good but
ordinary
Attended odd but interesting talk by a woman named Caroline Casey that does Magic Activism (www.visionaryactivism.com).
Wednesday 7/14/05
Great breakfast at B&B. They were able to accommodate my lo-carb diet.
Hitched a ride with another guest over the
river to the old part of town.
Walked to
Walked to the
Took bus to (22nd?) st. Had lunch at a
Walked to
Took bus back to B&B.
Dinner with Albert at Acadia Restaurant. Excellent. Gumbo was excellent but with a strong shellfish undertone. Etouffee was good, but very light in color.
Afterwards we met up with a friend of Albert’s, then headed out to check out the very cool
Thursday 7/14/05
Up early to get to airport in time for flight. Flight delayed a bit.
Arrived in Vancouver, no issues. Took taxi to B&B. CA$25 with tip. Staying at the Alma Beach B&B, on
The proprietor was not there when I arrived! Had to wait around for ˝ hour to be able to get in! Ugh.
Very hungry by the time I got out of there. Took taxi to
Took the water taxi to the
Headed back to the B&B.
Dinner at Lumiere (wow.) Insanely expensive. About CN$175 with tip and one drink. Opening with 4 gougeres, then Amuse Bouche of deep fried foie gras. Appetizer was a “lobster and shrimp salsa”, which is a weird name since it was really chopped lobster and shrimp formed into a ring mold surrounded by a little chopped olive. The main was a venison chop, there was a consomme course, mint soup, something with olive sorbet (!) on top. Desert was chocolate (French word for base), followed by a terrific assortment of migniardise. The whole dinner took about 2 hours. I decided to walk home to take the air and walk off some of the dinner.
Friday 7/15/05
Up early for an excellent breakfast at the B&B. Unfortunately it was nasty, cool, overcast and drizzling. I farted around to see if it would get better, but in fact the weather worsened. Eventually I headed out, taking the bus downtown to stop off at the HSBC building at (street x street), where they have the amazing 100’ fall pendulum swinging silently through the huge atrium.
Since it was now actively raining, I took another bus to
I took the bus to Gastown, which
continues to be amazingly uninteresting while still managing to attract throngs
of tourists. I wanted to go to
The bus was packed with more terrifying masses. It made every stop, getting hotter and more humid as more and more people packed on. Several times I considered running off and taking a subsequent bus, but I figured it would probably be awful too.
I got back to the B&B, changed my clothes, got together my stuff, and headed over to the folk festival in a light drizzle. Ugh.
The first night performers were uniformly boring. The weather was miserable. It was a definite downer.
Saturday 7/16/05
Got up late, had another excellent breakfast, and dragged myself (late) to the festival. It was cold, sunless, and occasionally raining. The festival grounds were damp. I set my blanket in a spot in front of the main stage, then headed off to see some music. Within a couple of hours I finally started finding some great acts. Then the sun broke through. It was like someone flicked on a light switch. Everyone’s mood improved, the performances got better, the sun was wonderful. The whole day was magic.
Sunday 7/17/05
Another day at the festival, but this day dawned sunny and hot. The performances were good, but not as good as the day before. A lot of times I chose the stage I wanted to see based on the amount of shade more than the style of music.
Monday 7/18/05
I’d planned to pack up and head over to UBC to see the arboretum, but when I was packing I couldn’t find my passport! I spent a couple panicked hours searching and calling the airport and the embassy to find out what to do. At the last minute I found my passport in a pocket of my carry-on which I never use. Whew.
The flight was delayed 1.5 hours. On this trip I was 3 for 3 on delayed flights. Hi Ho.