Its been four years since the last time I went to Vancouver with my family and that was summer of 2013. This time, I went back together with my boyfriend! 😀 Since his birthday was close to the long weekend, I suggested that we should have a “Birthday Getaway”, and yes, Vancouver it is! Since were only spending two full days in Vancouver, I had an idea of going to Abbotsford Tulip Festival and pretty much squish in any places that we can visit in Vancouver. We bought a ticket to the Tulip Festival for April 14, which is in the first week that they opened. Unfortunately, most the flowers haven’t bloomed because of the lousy, rainy, cold weather. There were only 30 out of 3 million flowers bloomed that week! 30/30M!!! Crazy! Good thing we were able to return our tickets, and I basically re-planned our first day in BC.
Here are the breakdown of the places we went last Easter long weekend:
Day One Killed Me!
Day one was rainy for the most part, it was not just rainy, it was freezing as hell! I was wearing a very thin rain jacket and a thin sweater all day, that did not help me keep warm at all. We rented a car at Hertz; I suggest you rent a car at Enterprise, it is so much cheaper! I was so stupid I thought I booked a car, and later found out I did not book a car at all! So yes, book a car in advance, don’t hesitate, book it!
Stop 1: Failed attempt to hike Quarry Rock – we couldn’t find the jump-off of the trail, and not sure where to park, because there were houses and “No Parking” signs everywhere; so we decided to head to next destination. However, we saw some cherry blossoms near the docking station on our way and we had to stop to take photos. 🙂 I think that made up for the failed hike.
Stop 2: Lynn Canyon – Free version of Capilano Suspension Bridge. We arrived early and it gave us plenty of time to walk around and take photos. The place did not really wow me, maybe because it rained and I was freezing! But overall, it was a good place to visit.
Stop 3: Lighthouse Park – This is not a bad place too. You have to take a short hike to get to the Lighthouse. What wowed us the most was the houses near the Park, most of the houses are really beautiful! We stopped on one of the houses and took photos because of – Cherry Blossoms. Cherry Blossoms in Vancouver are so pretty, most of them are light pink! Unlike here in Calgary, where its dark pink.
Stop 4: Prospect Point – When we headed back to Downtown Vancouver, we passed the Lion Gate Bridge, and I saw the Prospect Point sign. I told my boyfriend turn to that place because we had to take photos! 😀
Stop 5: Stanley Park – From Prospect Point we wanted to go straight to Stanley park but we missed it, got lost, and got stuck in the traffic! Driving in a busy street of Vancouver mainly in downtown was no fun! We finally got there and yes, another session of taking photos! 🙂
We returned our car and it cost us $100 for the whole day 9-4.30 pm including gas. We went back to the Hostel we stayed in, rest for a good hour, went out to eat, and headed to our last stop.
Stop 6: Waterfront/ Canada Place- From Granville St. we walked straight to Robson St. and I decided that we to turn right instead of left, thats when we got lost. It basically killed my legs. My legs were hurting from all the walks we did for that day, but that was the final blow for my legs! When we got there, guess what? — We took photos again! 🙂
On our way back, we ate dinner again at a Japanese Restaurant at Robson St. their foods are actually cheaper compared to Calgary! One regret that I had was not trying the best restaurants they have in Vancouver. I’ll come back next time for that main purpose. 🙂
After 6 Stops and 12 hours of walking – I just collapsed in my bed and slept like a dead person.
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