Upon our arrival to the airport, we discovered that our flight to Toronto was delayed (not really a shock to anyone), so that gave us time to grab dinner in the airport before our flight. RDU is a pretty nice place to be delayed, so no complaints. We finally boarded the flight and celebrated with a plane selfie (one of the many perks of traveling with a 14 year-old -- Dan and I are selfie-deficient).
The downside of being delayed in RDU was that we arrived in Toronto after most of the porters had retired for the evening. Thus, we had to manage 2 wheelchairs, 7 carry-ons and 8 rolling bags by ourselves. It was looong way through Immigration and Customs and to the airport hotel, but we made it. Luckily, the hotel was actually inside the airport, so no transfer shuttle was needed. The hotel check-in employee was super nice, even though it was 11:15 PM, and she promised to get us some help for our early departure the next morning. We only had time to grab a soda before bedtime, but what a nice surprise that was! Canada still has aspertame in Diet Pepsi, so they taste the same as Diet Pepsi prior to the US formula switch. See -- "Avec Aspertame". Yay! I can't tolerate the new Diet Pepsi taste at home, so this made me a very happy camper. It is the little things...
We met Jodie at the hotel and found a great Japanese ramen place for lunch. Then, we grabbed a coffee for us and dessert for the kids at the Tim Hortons right next to our hotel. We were so excited to try Tim Hortons, which is a famous doughnut chain across Canada. They call their doughnut holes "Timbits" (how cute is that?!?) , so that is what they will be called in our house from this time forward.
We spent a beautiful afternoon walking around Vancouver, which is a very beautiful city. Jack and Hadley found this maze painted on the street and decided to give it a try.
The kids and Jodie frolicked in the freezing cold water for a bit, while Dan and I sat and watched. We couldn't believe there were people actually swimming in that water.
After a delicious Vietnamese dinner in the Yaletown district (we all tried lots of new foods), we retired to our hotel to get a little rest. Vancouver at night is just as beautiful as Vancouver during the day.
We had a few extra hours the next morning before we had to board the ship, so we took advantage of the time to eat one more delicious meal after a quick shopping trip back to Miniso. (They had Moomin accessories!!!! See last summer's blog for my obsession with Moomins.)
Japadog was one block away from our hotel, and we decided we had to try it. Anthony Bourdain highly recommended it on one of his travel shows (may he rest in peace), and we have never been misled by an Anthony Bourdain recommendation. The line out the door was a good sign. Our crowd is on the right side of the picture.
The menu consisted of various hotdogs with traditional Japanese toppings, and they had curry fries, much to our kids' delight.
We chose several different hotdogs to try, including one topped with seaweed and one topped with yakisoba.
After lunch, we packed everyone into three taxis and headed to the cruise ship bound for Alaska.
Here are some views of Vancouver from the boat.
Vancouver is a beautiful city, and we didn't do it justice in 24 hours. We look forward to traveling there again in the future.
And...we are off. This is the view from our room's balcony.
The next day, we spent an entire day at sea on our way to Alaska and Dan's 49th state. At least we began the morning with Black Chicken Coffee in our balcony. Dan and I bought a travel French press just for this purpose. Have Black Chicken, will travel!
Next stop -- Alaska!!!!
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