Christmas in Vancouver, BC
December 2003
Vancouver, BC, is a great city within easy reach of Seattle, but somehow the fact that it's across the border means we often forget to consider it as a travel destination. For our first Christmas with two kids, though, it hits us that it would be fun to spend the holiday in Vancouver. We've got Jan's family coming to the Northwest—Chris, Skye, and Skye's fiance Jared, plus Jan's mom Lyn (who's just moved to Seattle)—but nowhere to put everyone up. So, if everyone's going to stay in a hotel, maybe we should too, so why not go somewhere?
Vancouver has the rare distinction of being a North American city we can easily travel to by train. Liya's turned out to be a particularly challenging car passenger, so the train sounds perfect.
Not much to look at from the front, but the inside's nice enough
The train is, in fact, a perfect way to travel with our girls: Anya loves it, and we can bounce Liya up and down as we pace up and down the train.
Downtown Vancouver
Our first full day in Vancouver we go to Granville Island, an industrial area that's been remade into a tourist destination with several markets and lots of shops.
Granville's easily accessible from our hotel via a quick walk to an
Aquabus water taxi
Anya loves the water taxi. "Aquabus! AQUABUS!!!" she shouts.
Excited to arrive on Granville Island. Anya has painted a blue dot on
her nose with a marker.
Tons of pigeons to amuse the tourists
Granville Island has a big produce market, so we decide to buy stuff to cook back at the hotel for dinner.
Skye and fiance Jared shopping for dinner