Transatlantic Adventure #5: Out and About in Vancouver

A trip to Vancouver would apparently not be complete without a trek round Stanley Park, the massive patch of green to the east of Downtown. It's got the sea around quite a lot of it, and possibly bears in the middle.

Thankfully, the wildest things we saw were raccoons. Which were still quite exciting!

Well, raccoons and the crime bird from the Week Word a while back. And some seals. Possibly.

There are also very impressive views, even when it's trying to rain.

We were actually visiting Vancouver for a wedding, so our last few days included an excuse to dress up.

Normal service will now resume, I think, as I'm out of holiday pictures!

Transatlantic Adventure #4: Vancouver by rail

Having spent four days in Seattle, we got the train to Vancouver. (The Canadian one, not the American one. Very confusing having them both on the same line. Recipe for disaster.)

The train was nice, so much nicer than the ones we have in the UK. Big seats, decent food that doesn't require a second mortgage. And very lovely views out the windows.

We stayed in a studio apartment rather than a hotel this time, and it was perfect. And in a very pretty bit of town, surrounded by 'heritage buildings'.

But still within walking distance of Downtown Vancouver, for more exploring.

Transatlantic Adventure #3: Seattle Sights

In between eating ice cream and drinking coffee in Seattle, we did also find time to have a look at most of the touristy things you're supposed to see.


The Space Needle (although we didn't go up - too cloudy to bother) and the monorail. It' s really like the 60s view of the future...

Pike Place Market

Mostly, though, we just wandered about and enjoyed being in a different city. Occasionally, the sun even came out.

Transatlantic Adventure #2: Seattle, City of Coffee

Having arrived in (a rainy) Seattle, I quickly realised that all that coffee I drank on the plane was clearly wise acclimatisation. Seattle's pretty much made of coffee. Starbucks coffee, to be specific.

This was the tea and coffee selection in our hotel room.

And this is the first ever Starbucks. 

Starbucks. Everywhere.

At one point we thought we were being very cunning and had found  a non-Starbucks coffee shop. Turns out it was a Starbuck's 'concept store'. I think the concept was that they also served wine and beer.

We didn't spend the entire trip on a caffeine high. Other things were also consumed.

Pastries (with, um, coffee...)

A mint chocolate brownie sundae that was bigger than my head.

And alcohol, of course. Out of jars because we're super-hip.

Next post: things that aren't food!

Transatlantic Adventure #1: Travelling

So, we've returned and are only a teensy bit jetlagged still after the Queen kindly gave us two extra days off to recover before heading back to work...


Rather than just doing a massive image-dump, I'm going to jumble up my photos and sketches and do a few posts over the next few days. Tune out now if holiday pictures don't interest you!


We started off with a flight from Heathrow to Seattle. 

Thankfully Nick works for an airline (can you guess which one...?) so after a bit of waiting around and biting fingernails...

...we had nice seats.

Due to the time difference, we had a policy not to go to sleep on the plane. Nick watched a lot of films.

I drew what I could see (mostly Nick, and increasingly erratically following all the Champagne) and relied on coffee and sugar to stay awake.

Eventually Seattle hove into view.