Chaney and I didn't get to see a lot of Vancouver during our 4 day visit, since much of our time was spent engaging in the Hearties activities. But we did get out and about whenever we had the chance. On Saturday evening, after meeting the cast during the day, we took the Sky Train to a local mall, had dinner at the food court, and then caught a bus to the VanDusen Botanical Gardens for the Festival of Lights. It was a bit of an adventure getting there (including almost getting on the wrong bus), and it rained on us the whole time, but the lights were gorgeous, especially reflecting in the water, and we had a lot of fun exploring the gardens, riding the carousel, and even meeting a rather fresh Santa (he grabbed both of our behinds!).
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| Chaney said I looked like Mary Poppins :) |
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| Naughty Santa! |
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| Supporting the Tide in Canada! |
On Sunday, after leaving Hope Valley, we set off to enjoy the rest of the brilliant day. First stop was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Store in downtown, where we purchased Mountie souvenirs, took pictures with a giant Mountie moose, and met up with a couple of other Hearties who gave us a great suggestion for dinner.
Following the suggestion, we made our way to the Six Acres pub, visiting several souvenir shops as we walked down the Vancouver streets. Six Acres pub was featured in the first episode of WCTH season 2 - Tom and Jack got into a fight with another man, and were thrown out of the pub directly at the feet of the Thatcher sisters. It was the perfect dinner spot for Hearties!
When Chaney and I first started planning our trip to Vancouver, we decided that a must-see was the Capilano Suspension Bridge. During our research we found out the park would be decorated for Christmas and at that point our plans changed to visit at night rather than during the day. It was INCREDIBLE! So worth the money and the visit. We caught the free Capilano shuttle from the waterfront area, and after a long drive (mostly due to traffic rather than distance), we arrived at the park. Relying on public transportation is not always the most convenient when it comes to doing things on your own timing, but it was certainly convenient in terms of not having to figure out where we were going. :) The Capilano park lights were beautiful - we enjoyed the totem poles, the main suspension bridge (unfortunately we couldn't see the sights of the canyon below, and the bridge was really crowded), the treetop adventure, the gift shop, and all of the various sights.
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| The main suspension bridge - so cool! |
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| Another Mountie! |
We woke up on Monday morning to a snow shower - huge, beautiful flakes coming down! We quickly got dressed and caught the Sky Train downtown to see the city in the snow. Well by the time we made it downtown, it was just a cold, steady rain. We saw a few of the waterfront sights, had a very nice breakfast, and then made our way back to the hotel to get ready to catch our flight. Back at the hotel, the snow was still coming down (it's apparently a bit warmer in the city), so we had to take a few pics in the snow since who knew whether we would get to see snow in Texas that year!
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| The snowy view from the train |
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| Walking back to the hotel from the train station |
What a fun adventure we had in Vancouver! We didn't get back to my apartment until midnight that night, and had to be at work bright and early the next morning, so we were quite worn out, but it was worth it to get to meet the cast and visit the set of When Calls the Heart, and to explore the beautiful city of Vancouver. I definitely hope to go back and see more of the city sights one day.
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