ALASKA TRIP - MAY 2018 - BACK TO GRANVILLE ISLAND, SEASONS IN THE PARK AND CHANGING HOTELS

I will add this on every post, just to let anyone who doesn't know, that we are actually back home.  I am now sharing my journal from the beginning of May.  If you want to see all the posts written so far, you can click on the label below this post entitled, Alaska Trip-May 2018.

VANCOUVER - GRANVILLE MARKET - SEASONS IN THE PARK - CHANGING HOTELS.

MAY 8TH, 2018

5.57 p.m. we have changed hotels and are now in one nearer the cruise line. Today we went to Granville Island again, and Seasons in the Park, this time with our niece and nephew. 

Left the hotel, managed to stuff all our suitcases into the boot, thanks to our nephew's great organizational skills.  We dropped luggage off at the new hotel downtown, and the desk staff took care of it all until our room was ready. 

I was happy we were driving back to Granville Island.  We walked around the market again, and niece and nephew treated us to breakfast.  We all chose a pastry from the same bakery we discovered on our last trip.  No, not the chocolate cake.

After a fun time looking at many of the stalls, we walked outside to the water's edge.

This time we took a water taxi, deciding to have a nice long walk on the other side of False Creek. 

We met a lady who had grown up in Belfast, and she was with a young lady from Austria.  They both had their dogs and as one of them came up to us and demanded a fuss, it started off a nice conversation.  She said she could tell immediately that we were all dog lovers. 

The other dog, not the explorer, was a rescue and a little more reticent.  

When I asked the young lady if he would mind me petting him, she said not at all but please to be careful of one spot where he had hurt himself, as he is a little nervous about it.  He had a bit of a sore looking graze on the back of his neck.  I carefully stroked him, avoiding the sore area and was rewarded with a wag of his tail.  The lady from Ireland wanted to know all about us.  She said she enjoyed talking to people.  Eventually it was time to move on and we said our goodbyes. We walked further along and found another taxi boat for a ride back.

I noticed a young lady with a gyrfalcon perched on her arm.  She was from the local raptor association.  

I asked her if the falcon was a rescue, and she told me it belonged to a falconer who had become tired of the sport and turned him in.  A beautiful bird and she was happy for me to take several photos.  

We stopped to listen to a street entertainer on our way back to the car. While our family explored a little more, Gregg and I sat on a bench nearby and listened to this pretty music for at least half an hour.  We bought two of his CD's. 

A man overheard us talking about what we were going to do tomorrow, and recommended Squamish.  It sounded a lovely place and he highly recommended it.  (Unfortunately we never did get there but it is still on our list for a future trip.)

Niece and nephew came back and we returned to the car.  We weren't ready to go back to the hotel yet, and decided to drive over to the Queen Elizabeth Park.  

It gave us a chance to visit this iconic statue.... 

also admire all the colorful flowers again... 

look at that view and.... 

pop into the restaurant that we enjoyed so much before.

We are very happy with the hotel.  It is very comfortable and closer to where we need to be.  When we saw our room my eyes were immediately drawn to the pretty origami bird on the corner of our bed, a cute little welcome for any guest. 

And there we ended our day.  I turned the lights off, kept the curtains open and enjoyed another pretty view, this time of the city lights.

More daily adventures to come.