Vancouver

In the predawn hours—after a bit of excitement trying to get to the off-site airport parking (and ending up in the airport long term parking)—we made it through security and to our gate at Austin airport. In what I think is a rare turn of events in air travel these days, our flight and connecting flight in San Francisco were both on time and we along with all of our luggage made it to Vancouver (despite a fairly short lay over). I greatly appreciated the United Airlines text alerts as to the ongoing locations of our bags.

Luggage in tow, we trudged through customs out to the train terminal and took the train through the city to the waterfront. The train was what I hoped—a chance to see a bit of Vancouver before the tracks descended underground. It ended at the waterfront and near our hotel, the Fairmont Waterfront. 

The hotel was lovely and conveniently located across from the Vancouver cruise terminal. To our delight, they provided the concierge service of picking up our bags from our rooms in the morning and delivering them to the ship where they’d be taken to our cabins.

We spent the evening walking the pier and scoping out places for dinner. We settled on Lions Pub, a British pub a block or two away. And we started what was to become my tour of chowders on our trip. We split their seafood chowder made with a medley of seafood, clam nectar, vegetables, and cream, along with their Butter Chicken: tender chicken in creamy curry base, with cumin basmati rice, tomato chutney, grilled naan, and cilantro. The service was great, the atmosphere comfortable, and the food was good. Definitely a recommend if you’re cruising out of Vancouver and staying on the waterfront.

There’s also the Waterfront Centre next to the hotel—a small, below-street mall—providing several fast food restaurants and Rexall, a well stocked pharmacy, for any items forgotten or needed.

Vancouver looks like a beautiful city. Sadly, we didn’t have time to visit Stanley Park—about a 30 minute walk from our hotel—a beautiful urban park with beaches, gardens, walking trails, a scenic seawall, and a fun train to ride.

I think I need to add Vancouver to my list of places to visit and explore.