So, last day in Vancouver – we’re finally heading Downtown!! And like I always do – I know, I’m the world’s greatest vacation planner, ever! – I was looking up things-to-do with my little friend Wikitravel, and oh, here’s something I wasn’t expecting – Theatre under the Stars at Stanley Park, and the show was ‘Beauty and the Beast’. So, totally on an impulse here – tickets to the show, little more than $100, surprise and delight on Manasi’s face, priceless!! That old MasterCard tagline never gets old, does it!!

It was almost brunch time by the time we left our hotel, and when in Vancouver, find a great Indian restaurant, right? I’m so ready to get my tikka on – but hit an unexpected road-block – our concierge had no idea where “Little India” was!! What??!! They pointed us in a vague direction, and we thought we knew the general area – so there we were driving along these charming little streets – and although we never made it to Punjabi street, our GPS brought us to a great Greek place!! Tabouleh and falafel just like my dear friend SR makes!!

Then – what’s the best way to see Vancouver? Drive around, of course!! And drive we did! Would have loved to walk along the waterfront, but there was some kind of convention or something, and unbelievably, we just could not catch a break with the parking – oh wait, we did find that one spot on the street, but we had no Canadian coins to put in the meter!! That’s right, we didn’t exchange any money – so we had to give up the spot, and keep driving! Looked pretty cool, though – especially, the public library shaped like the Colosseum, and the Olympic Cauldron that looked a bit like the Sydney Opera House!! Great views of the skyline from Stanley Park!!

We had to get back to the hotel to get dinner and coats – the day got cold pretty quickly! Funny story, most hotels we’ve stayed at – when you ask for extra duvets, you get those scratchy yellow blankets – horribly uncomfortable, but would be perfect to take to an outdoor theatre. So, called housekeeping, asked for extra blankets – and guess what, we got 2 fat, squishy, white comforters!! No way I’m lugging these to a park!! Theatre under the Stars wasn’t quite what I was expecting – well, for one thing, the seats were plastic chairs – and there was a booth to rent cushions. I say, for $40, throw in the cushion!! The show was really good – great performances, great effects, and great singing!! It did get quite cold, hot beverages were available – but again, no cash, not even to buy a cup of hot chocolate!!

And there it was, just like that – our stay in Vancouver was done – not before a quick breakfast at Tim Hortons – well, not really quick. Our GPS got muddled up, and we drove for miles to this Tim Hortons which was way off our route – but how can you go to Canada and skip Tim Hortons. It was surprisingly good – kind of a classy cross between McDonalds, Krispy Kreme and Starbucks!! Best hash browns in Canada, for sure!!

Oh Canada, hope we can come back soon!! If we make it back to the US, that is….