Holiday Travel: Return to Vancouver

Thursday, December 29, 2022-Monday, January 2, 2023: Food, Museums, Massages, Polar Bear Swim

Mr. E and I spent New Year's Eve 2019/20 in Vancouver, B.C., and have been wanting to get back there every since for a return visit. After three years, we finally made it! We headed out on the late afternoon direct flight from Sac to Vancouver on Air Canada. Although we were a bit delayed, we still were able to have dinner at H Tasting Lounge in our hotel, the Westin Bayfront. The bread and oil appetizer with an olive oil candle was both tasty and unique (and yes, it really was a candle!). 

We also enjoyed some oysters, charcuterie and cheese, and a beet salad. Great menu overall, although it was disappointing that we couldn't indulge in the seafood tower because too many of the items were somehow cooked in or with onion or garlic.

We didn't have too many activities already planned, which allowed us to be flexible in how we filled our time. Our memories of and expectations for the breakfast buffet were completely on target, so we started off each morning with that. Our suite on a high floor had amazing views of the bay and the mountains (even on the cloudy days) along with all of the seaplanes that take off and land at a nearby pier.

During our stay, we visited two museums that we hadn't explored before: the Museum of Vancouver and the Vancouver Art Gallery. At MOV, we really enjoyed exploring several of the exhibitions, especially All We Want is More: The Tobias Wong Project, A Seat at the Table: Chinese Immigration and British Columbia, and c̓əsnaʔəm: the city before the city. Each of these exhibitions was so well organized and presented such different perspectives that were both engaging and thought-provoking. At the Vancouver Art Gallery, we were enthralled by the exhibition Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment. We also of course enjoyed just walking around downtown Vancouver again and getting reacquainted with the area, including the nearby Whole Foods and Safeway, which are great resources for purchasing snacks and drinks to stock in our suite during our visit.

Our New Year's Eve dinner reservations were at Showcase Restaurant. We had had an amazing dinner here during our previous visit and were not all at disappointed with our repeat experience and extraordinary service! The five-course meal had plenty of options for a pescatarian, and the kitchen and wait staff were extremely thoughtful in accommodating my allium allergy as well. And the holiday cocktail that I ordered was impressive! It literally arrived in a spherical Christmas tree ornament in the glass.

 

Despite the rainy forecast, we had gorgeous weather most days, including blue skies with puffy clouds and some amazing sunrise views over the water.

One of the events we had stumbled across during our last visit was the New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim. We had agreed that we would have to participate the next time we came to the city for the holiday, and we were lucky enough that the event was hosted in-person this year for the first time since our prior visit! Like many other folks, we decided not to wait for the "official" swim time of 2:30pm but instead took our plunge earlier in the day after we picked up the special towels we had purchased in advance. The weather was perfect -- sunny and clear, with both air and water temperature right around 42 degrees. Yeah, it was chilly and breath-taking, but in a good way! And we were very fortunate that a friendly bystander used Mr. E's phone to video our plunge for documentation. We decided to reward ourselves by purchasing long-sleeved branded shirts as an additional souvenir.

Another reward was our late afternoon massage appointments at Vida Spa in the hotel. And in the evening, we were able to get tickets to the festival of lights at the VanDusen Botanical Garden, another spot we hadn't ever explored in the past. We arrived just in time for the "dancing lights" show at the pond right by the entrance and spent about an hour or so strolling through the grounds and marveling at the millions of lights intertwined throughout the entire area. One of my favorites was the hummingbird hovering in midair and sipping from a couple of candy canes.

Once we got back to downtown, we decided to stroll along Robson Street to find a dinner spot and discovered the small but fabulous Pho 37. Mr. E ordered Spring rolls, egg rolls, and pho, and I had the seafood and veggie crispy chow mein, all of which were exceptional and plentiful. We definitely put this restaurant on our city map for a repeat visit!

Our flight home on Monday was uneventful, and Louis XIV welcomed us home with lots of purring and snuggles and friskiness. We're planning to return sometime this year over a long weekend, either Memorial Day or Labor Day, so that we can enjoy the city during a warmer time of year.