The Couv!

Written by: Craig
Location: Up in the air, flying to San Francisco
Weather: Not much oxygen, very very cold


CRIKEY did my head hurt on the way out of Montreal! After dinner at home with Alex and Anouk the night before, Alex and I went out "for an hour" to the bar across the road, Chez Baptiste. We got back about 3am. Yegads -- I wasn't good next day, and Alex had to go to WORK feeling like that! But, y'know, the hyeppy thaaames live on even after the brain cells have left the building. Hyeppy thaaames!

Alex and Anouk, post-lentils, pre-hangover

(Strange fact: There are Language Police in Montreal that bust people if they look like getting slack with French. An Irish bar was SHUT DOWN... not for underage drinking or overcrowding... but for having Guinness posters that DIDN'T OFFER FRENCH TRANSLATIONS and for having staff that spoke French, but not INCREDIBLY PERFECT FRENCH. Crikey! Sacre bleu on a bike!)

Okay, the next day I crawled out of the apartment (Crystal walked out with a brisk happiness in her stride) and we had lunch with Anouk. And it started SNOWING LIKE A BASTID! Real purty!

Snow in The Avenue

Heavy snow is great to look at out the window of a warm restaurant, but less fun to drive through at high speeds in the back of a taxi to the airport. But all went well, we got to the airport, flew for 5 or so hours, and arrived in Vancouver over on Canada's west coast.

Dave (we've been friends since slugging out a games convention in Leipzig, Germany a few years back) and his lovely wife Jen picked us up and took us to the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Canada, which is where Jen's parents met. Romantic! Great food! Hoorah!

Queuein' outside the Naam... veggie hippie hyeppy food, worth waiting for

After dinner and meeting Dave and Jen's INCREDIBLY exciteable and awesome dog Lucy at their house, we went to bed to prepare for our only full day in Vancouver the next day. Which was big and we saw heaps, so let's go to photos and caption:

The Inukshuk, an ancient stone structure letting peeps know the area is populated

Sorry, laydeeeez... this wild and sexy man is taken...

Dave, showing off his fitness compared to ours

A break during our awesome harbour bike ride

The Lions Gate Bridge

I'm not quite sure how to take stuffed, mounted, cutesy toy heads

It's almost like that bottom one has been carved to look like a dickhead.

Crystal and Jen on the Capilano Suspension Bridge

Jen and Dave, in a suspension of bridge

Treetop walk, near the Capilano Suspension Bridge

Crystal overlooks Vancouver from a mountain

We went to dinner after the big day and OH SWEET MAMMA this Portobello Mushroom thing was amazing

The effects of Portobello Mushroom and ridiculous amounts of butter

What a day! We were totally exhausted by the end of it, but happy that we'd squeezed so much in. Respect to Dave and Jen! Next day, Dave took us to a great fake meat restaurant, a coffee shop where people were playing chess (they play chess in bars too in Vancouver -- WELL LAAH DE DAAAAH!) and then it was back home on the bus and monorail (THE MONORAIL!) to grab our bags and bail.

A quick Vancouver trip, but a good 'un!

So now we're on a plane, headed for San Francisco to meet up with another cousin, Diane, and experience our last bit of holiday over here for a while. We're on this continent for only about 24 more hours, then heading on home. We'll try to squeeze in another entry before we cross the waters, but if we don't, we'll write from the LAND OF THE SHKIPPIES after catching up on some sleep.

Booyah! And thanks for reading!

Oh, forgot to mention... we're back in San Francisco in a hotel for the night, and we used that mystery cheapo website again to book it. Which means only one thing... WE'RE AT THE HILTON AGAIN, BITCHES!!! =P