What a day! We started by catching the SkyTrain to Central Vancouver for a spot of brunch, courtesy of Two Parrots a Cafe… great service, and just as importantly great coffee and food! Erin went for a Chorizo and Mushroom omelette, and Claire tucked into a Two Parrots Breakfast. I opted for a Salt Beef Brisket benny.
Once we were done, we headed down towards Gastown and Downtown areas. Here you see a real contrast between different people in the city. Addiction is a rising problem, apparently, and we saw evidence of addiction first hand. Drug use (we saw Heroin and Crystal Meth consumed relatively openly, and a lot of needle caps close to Rogers Stadium) is clearly hitting new highs, so to speak, and it seems to me likely an impact of Vancouver now being a major gateway to the USA. It saddens me that drugs have managed to take a hold of people’s lives, but what almost saddens me more is the “approved” addiction to gambling. We sat in a cafe for a quick drink, and watched panhandlers coming and going buying instants as if it were their “fix”. Anyway, back to holiday…
We took a slight detour to see Rogers Stadium and the Olympic Park stadium, then a short ride on the SkyTrain and a hop on the bus, and we found ourselves at the PNE for The Fair. We had picked up on this from the local news, and it looked like something pretty special. We just missed out on the “get in cheap if you wear red” special, but grabbed some wrist bands and in we went. It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves, and Erin and I even got in a few rides.
We chilled out listening to music into the early evening before dining on Chicken and Waffles (Erin opted for pizza – and was not impressed by the deep fried chickens feet), before heading back to plan our next day.
