Vancouver

Next installment :D So where did I leave you hanging?? Oh yes the next day :) ie Friday and our first full day in Vancouver.

So our first stop was breakfast at which point we were told by the man who owns the b&b that he lets out his monthly bus pass for people to use for $9 a day in oppose to the $35 we were going to sell out for a trolley tour of downtown vancouver. So we gave him the money and off we went to make note of the areas we wanted to visit, first official mistake of vancouver was walking up the road to a bus stop to be told we were on the wrong side of the road and downtown was the other way.. oh well :P We eventually made it downtown after the bus driver helping us with directions and warning us off the highly dodgy area (where we were later offered things that shouldnt be offered to naive young ladies like ourselves) Then we found our way into Gastown, it got its name from the man who founded the town and there was even a steam powered clock that also resembled the name of the town and was famous for it too. In this area we did quite a bit of souvenir shopping, and window shopping and general chit chat. We havent been together for awhile so it was nice to take in the area and talk as we did take many
stupid photos. My friend bought sushi for lunch at a very cheap price of $3.50 which we were both very impressed with masha'allah. Then we wandered around, pulling poses and taking in the beautiful scenery of the mountains for the first time we had seen them. From that point we couldnt wait to get out of the city and see the true beauty of the area, but first we stopped in a native indian store that sold all sorts of lovely handmade bits and bobs. Including jewellery, paintings, clothes, books, statues, and all sorts of other scary things. The prices were some what pretty steep or maybe it was just because of the things I was picking up. I found a lovely ring that was gold with a silver band in the middle all around the outside circumference but my budget really wasnt stretching the $400 price tag. Was nice to see all these sorts of things, I believe the family who made most of the stuff was deeply involved in the shop which is nice to know. You can buy 'authentic native indian hand made' stuff, hand made all the way away in China.. sort of makes it very cheap indeed :( Then I got a really nice egg salad sandwich after a big discussion on whether its a 'cheese salad sandwich' or a 'vegeratarian sandwich with cheese' and sat down for a bit with some refreshing drinks. After this we walked somemore and found our way to Vancouver lookout.. now this was a little disappointing, there was a picture in the lookout showing the heights of some of the tallest buildings in the world including the CN tower (Toronto) and the Sears tower (Chicago) in the list of about 20 buildings, Vancouver look out was last :( but there were some amazing pictures to be taken masha'allah

Then of course we went back later in the evening as the sun was setting for some more pics

After the lookout during the day we took the bus further, before stopping making even more silly photos. Then we made our way into Stanley Park by bus, we were very impressed at how easy it was to get around the city and how tourist friendly it was there too. Was nice to just sit on the bus taking a few pictures as we went along, the people on the bus were interesting as well.. although I couldnt say that about the girl sat next to me who was sitting on half my chair.. I mean, I know I dont use it all but does that mean you have to use it for me? I was glad when it was time to get off and venture into the park, but that blog is for another day... its nearly time for me to go home and sleep so i will leave it here for now insha'allah.
Peace and salams, Ammena