Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Day 339

we left the house at eight. stu was taking his son to school and offered to drop me at the bus station on his way to work and i accepted. along the way i learned some crazy things about the construction business and the current state of the industry. we almost went to the top of one of his buildings but the body mover structure was being removed. he also gave some tips on where to go and what to see in town. 'if you ever get lost just remember that the mountains are north,' he advised.

the only plan i had to accomplish in vancouver was buying a new sleeping bag and i went back and forth between a few stores and became a member of the mountain equipment co-op before deciding to buy a sweet north face bag elsewhere.

to be honest, i'm feeling kind of bland about this blog at the moment but i still want to tell you about downtown vancouver on a sunny and warm spring day. the canucks hockey team home playoff game is tonight and the entire town is buzzing. fans are wearing apparel. i hear at least fifty people talk about the game as we sit on sky trains or stand on street corners or in line at a coffee shop. the sky train stops at stadium station and the massive logo banner hangs from the concrete stadium. ironically, a guy came up to me as i waited at the station and asked which direction north was. 'the mountains are north,' i said.

i've been through chinatown, gas town (that apparently famous and exciting steaming clock), the shipping yard, downtown and chapters twice, the mountain equipment co-op store down past broadway and main, the waterfront station, and to random places in between. my legs are tired.

stu recommended i take the train home and that i sit on the left side to get the good view of the water and shipping yard and mountains. i boarded the purple west coast express ready to chill. had a playlist and everything. a couple girls joined the little four seat compartment and began talking so constantly and noisily that i'm sure half the train car could hear them. one guy moved away and i thought of doing the same. sometimes you just want to ask people, even if they are complete strangers, to just be quiet. i almost did but then i moved too.

vancouver is officially discovered and out of my system. i don't care too much about hockey but i'll watch the game tonight with stu back home. when in rome.

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