Vancouver question for Brianna (OT)

marianne

Hi Brianna, we are going to Vancouver for a mini-vacation. Since you're a vegetarian, could you recommend any restaurants? We'll be staying in the center close to Robson. Also for the kids' activities, we're thinking Stanley Park, Granville island and maybe Grouse mtn... they are too little to handle anything more sophisticated. Is it worth taking kids to Chinatown? I've never been there.

I probably won't be able to spend much time shopping. I'll try to make it to Zara and maybe look for shoes. I did review Vancouver posts just in case.

I'd appreciate any suggestions! Thank you.

17 years ago

General

8 replies

Latest reply was from marianne

Ariadne

Veteran

Hey Marianne, I'm heading to bed right now but I wanted to tell you I saw this and I'll write more tomorrow! Where do you live, and when will you be here?

17 years ago

marianne

Active Member

Thanks! I'm in Seattle and we're driving up on Thursday.

17 years ago

Kari

Veteran

Marianne, hope I'm not butting into your thread, but depending on how old your kids are, you might consider the Vancouver Aquarium (which is at Stanley Park.) There were a lot of neat exhibits including beluga and dolphin shows. (There is a relatively new beluga calf there now that was born last summer.)

The only word of warning is that if you attend the beluga show, be prepared with a change of clothes if you sit in the splash zone. I was one of about 10 people in a large show to get wet, but we were really soaked!

17 years ago

Ariadne

Veteran

OK, since you're in Seattle, you know what to expect weather-wise. Since you have kids, my first suggestion would be, like Kari said, the aquarium! It's wonderful. Qila (one of our belugas) had a calf, Tiqa, fairly recently and Tiqa is still pretty little, which is neat to see. Her grandmother Aurora is pregnant right now. The whales are wonderful. There's a new jellyfish exhibit too which I haven't seen yet but which is supposed to be amazing. You'd want to budget at least half a day for the aquarium, especially with littles.

Chinatown, hmm. I love it but I don't know if kids would. It's not really touristy, and it butts right up against the worst corner in the Downtown Eastside (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Eastside), which is the poorest part of Canada. I don't think the DTES is a dangerous place (I do most of my grocery shopping there etc.) but it's not pretty and not pleasant, so it's not surprising that Chinatown's also pretty crowded and gritty. There are some great restaurants (especially Phnomh Penh: http://www.beyondrobson.com/re....._the_trip/). There are lots of interesting groceries, bakeries, etc. and the Sun Yat Sen gardens are great, but you would probably enjoy it more without kids.

Grouse Mountain's OK but a bit expensive for what you get. They have some grizzlies up there in an enclosure which would be neat for the kids, and of course the gondola is fun. If you have a car, the suspension bridge in North Vancouver in Lynn Valley Canyon park is beautiful, fun and free, unlike the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It's a great park for kids and you could easily do a short walk or a longer one. http://www.dnv.org/ecology/see_do/see_do.html

I heart Granville island; try to come during the day on a weekday, because it's a zoo on the weekend. Some of my favourite food things there are the spinach and feta-stuffed bagels at the bagel stand, cheese from Oyama's stand, donuts or giant apple fritters from the donut stand, and coffee from JJ Bean (all in the public market), plus beer from Granville Island Brewery. If you come to Granville Island you shouldn't miss Gravity Pope (http://www.gravitypope.com/) or Spank Shoes, which are both on West 4th a 2-minute drive or 10-minute walk from Granville Island. And of course since you're staying downtown you'll be close to Pacific Centre, which has Holt Renfrew and H&M. You should also check out MEXX on Robson if you have time b/c I don't think you have one in Seattle, as well as Plenty.

As for veg restaurants, sushi and Asian options abound. I adore Banana Leaf especially (http://bananaleaf-vancouver.com/, the one on Broadway at Bayswater, in Kitsilano, is the nicest), and Peaceful Restaraunt or Sha Lin Noodle House (http://www.beyondrobson.com/re.....le_action/ both are cheap and are a couple of doors away from each other) which make noodles by hand right in front of you. THE classic place, though, is The Naam. http://www.thenaam.com/naam/ You HAVE to go here, it's quintessential Vancouver and it's kid-friendly, too--but get there early or expect to wait in line for a while. Try the oven fries with miso gravy, the Thai Noodles, the croissant melt, or the enchilada thing with avocado and cashews. Or go for brunch! They have the best brunch. If you drink beer, they sell Crannog's organic Back Hand of God Stout. Also, the amazing cheese store Les Amis du Fromage just opened a wine and cheese etc. place called Au Petit Chavignol. Not sure how kid-friendly it would be. Another fun option near Granville Island and Gravity Pope is Las Margaritas--fun, relaxed atmosphere, lots of variety on the menu (they can make a lot of their items veg), kid-friendly. http://www.aupetitchavignol.com/ and http://www.lasmargaritas.com/.

Let me know if you have any more specific questions or whatever.

17 years ago

Ariadne

Veteran

Oh! I almost forgot! Walk along the seawall from Granville Island--sailboats to the west, houseboats to the east. If you eat seafood, Go Fish rules and is only a five minute walk to the west of Granville Island, right at Fishermen's Wharf. http://www.dinehere.ca/restaurant.asp?r=863

And Stanley Park is great too, of course.

17 years ago

marianne

Active Member

Thanks Brianna and Kari! Yes, we were thinking of going to the Aquarium but I didn't realize there was a beluga calf and that they have shows! That will be a big hit, I am definitely moving it to the top of priority list.

Wow, Brianna, you're my savior, thanks so much for all the info! the Naam looks awesome, exactly our kind of place!

OK, so it sounds like I should skip Chinatown. Unfortunately vacations with kids are quite limiting. *sigh*

Brianna, I also saw that you can take Aquabus to Granville island, is it worth it or is it better to drive? Thanks for the park recommendation, too. And, you're right, we don't have Mexx. I'll do my best but my family doesn't have much tolerance for shopping... I might sneak out in the evening. As for Holt Renfrew, it looks quite upscale and overwhelming, any tips on how to tackle it?

One more question - we'll probably have to take the kids to a conveyor belt sushi place (it keeps them entertained). Any particular suggestions or are they all pretty much the same?

17 years ago

Ariadne

Veteran

The Aquabus is so cute and fun! Do it, especially if you can catch it back downtown at sunset when the light fractures and glows against all the glass skyscrapers.

Holt Renfrew overwhelms me and I've only ventured into the lingerie, purse and shoe sections so far and have never bought anything! The salespeople seem quite nice, though, so don't be scared. Act like you belong there (because, after all, you do--it's a store, anyone who's interested belongs there).

I haven't been to a conveyor belt sushi place but Tsunami Sushi is right on Robson and is the classic (and the only one I know of, actually). You probably can't go wrong there. Let me know how it is--I keep meaning to go!

There's a great gallery of First Nations art on Granville Island. Even the kids will like it. It's called Eagle Spirit Gallery. Last time I was there some elders were there to, quietly burning sage and blessing the artworks with eagle feathers (not in a show-it-to-the-tourists way--they weren't calling attention to themselves at all and I got the impression it's something that's part of the gallery's behind-the-scenes setup, to allow them to display the art and to keep it safe). http://www.eaglespiritgallery.com/

Oh that reminds me--UBC has the Museum of Anthropology, http://www.moa.ubc.ca/, which was just renovated and is really amazing. They have some totem poles and Haida villages outside as well that the kids could explore. It's really humbling and wonderful. I love our First Nations peoples' cultures. They're really magnificent and humbling, although it's also incredibly sad to visit places like the MOA and think about how much has been ravaged and destroyed :(.

If you want some exercise, you can walk from Granville Island to Kitsilano Beach along the seawall (just walk west) in about 20-30 minutes. It's a beautiful walk and Kits Beach is nice and sandy, with a big grassy treed area too where you can picnic on the goodies you'll inevitably buy at Granville Island... wait til you see the fruit stalls!

17 years ago

marianne

Active Member

I am printing this and now I am going to explore all the links I will report back on the sushi place. Thank you so much for all your help! I have a much better grasp on it now. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

17 years ago

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