Sightseeing & Shopping

Friday we also spent a little time sightseeing & shopping, after we did laundry! For the first time, we took a bus from Main Street, near our rental, all the way downtown. I'm pretty sure we won't be doing that again soon. The first half of the bus ride was fine, but we ended up in an area of town that isn't very safe. Two guys got on the bus talking about drug dealing and there were several very intoxicated people who insisted on chatting with us and shaking our hands. This part of town was the subject of much debate leading up to the Olympics, with regards to the number of homeless people who congregate in the surrounding area and tent city. There was some type of issue with the overhead lines that the busses run on and we ended up sitting in traffic for a while waiting to move. We got off at the first safe looking stop and decided to walk from there. While I've been in big cities before, this was the first time we both felt a little unsafe in our surroundings. But it did lead to interesting discussions about life, circumstances and family.

We visited the Gastown area and did some window shopping. I really liked this Quatchi hat, but it was definitely designed for kids, though I did try to put it on!

We also stopped in a small store/cafe that sold Canada Maple products. We tried Maple Gelato which was awesome! I think we might have to go back there before we leave.

One of the highlights of the Gastown area is this steam powered clock. It plays a chime every quarter of an hour and we stayed to watch. It definitely draws a crowd.