David woke up early Saturday and wandered the streets of Vancouver before the heat of day set in. It was scorching on Friday, and Saturday was looking like the same kind of weather by the time I finally roused myself. By that time David had sauntered down Davie and Granville streets, working up blisters so big he'd popped them and started to go barefoot (!). Me, I hadn't even taken a shower yet!
The first order of the day -- for me, at least, after a shower -- was food. Eliza booked a table for us at Kirin in City Square, a place we used to frequent with some regularity, but it had been a while. We like to go for dim sum, which is predictably busy on the weekends, but it's worth the crowds for the quality of food and service. It isn't the average roll-out-the-cart fare, it's high-end table service with steaming cloths and men in suits pouring water every 10 minutes. I showed David a part of the menu that lists a soup for $600... yes, that's right, $600! I think it was called 'Dragon's Nest' or some such thing. Why 600 bucks? Does it have eggs from rare birds flown in from the deep jungle by helicopter??
I decided before the weekend that we'd NOT rent a car since David drives all the time, and the only place we'd be going that was out of the public transit area was Allan and Cheryl's place. Consequently, we spent a lot of time on the Skytrain going back and forth between Surrey and Vancouver, and the rest of the time bussing about or walking. Vancouver is very walkable, and we were in no hurry.
After dim sum, we found a shoe repair kiosk near the entrance of City Square and David was good to go for a while longer. We crossed over to City Hall and north on Cambie Street over the bridge to the downtown peninsula, stopping for pics over False Creek.
David's feet still registered OK after the minor shoe mods, so we headed further west and stopped for a drink before going back to the apartment. We were supposed to go to my dad's place for the evening, but they were still picnicking at Peace Arch park, so we had time for dinner at La Bodega before going east again. La Bodega was my favourite tapas and sangria local before I moved, a place where everything's been the same for years (a rarity in Vancouver) and the food consistently good. And, like in Spain, they're open late and the atmosphere is always a nice hum of conversation or a full-on buzz. We had calamari AGAIN! Our third in 24 hours! Greek, Chinese, then Spanish. We're on a roll! No stone left unturned, no squid left uneaten!
