As many of you know, I enjoy day trip as a way to get
away from the madness and see something new. Up till now, I have been
enjoying day trips mainly to Portland (see another trip in this update), but
recently in October I took a four-hour excursion to Vancouver, Canada for
the first time on the train, and it was quite an experience!
I
took the train up and it was a pretty smooth ride, we got to watch “Some
like it hot” with Marilyn Monroe on the way up, which was awesome. When we
crossed the border, we didn’t do customs and the views of White Rock were
amazing. That’s a cute little town! We got to the train station and did
customs there (they thought it was really weird that I was only going to be
in
Canada
for four hours, but oh, well). I got to the train station and my friend Brad
was there to greet me as I exchanged my money. I love the Canada train
station as it has restaurants, gift shops, and is really clean and nice
(Seattle, take note!)
Brad
took me to Commercial drive to start (a really cool funky street) and there
we had the famous poutine (fries smothered with gravy and cheese). After
that, we headed to Chinatown which is way bigger than the one in
Seattle
, with street after street of food, knickknacks and more. I bought a few in
one store, and then we checked out a cool mall, that still has a lot more
stuff to add. Brad showed me the narrowest building according the Guinness
book and we took a pic.
Then, we went to Gastown from there, and checked out the cool steam clock
and souvenir shops. I loved how fun everything was in
Canada
and knew I would be back soon. Brad was also a gracious host and made sure I
didn’t miss anything. But four hours went quickly! We rushed to
Robson Street
, and had some burgers at the White Spot. Yummy!
After running for the bus, I bid adieu and headed back,
thinking this was a lot of fun, but more time will be needed! If you are
looking for a fun day trip, hit
Portland
but make more time for
Vancouver
! It will be worth it!
Mariam
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