Vancouver

Dan and I escaped to Vancouver last week...and it was great experience! Neither of us had been to Canada before....my few observations before I get to the pics... 1. Canadians drive too slow. 2. The mountains and water everywhere were really pretty. 3. Sushi is CHEAP in vancouver. 4. It was too cold for JUNE for my southern blood! (It was 55 most days when we were there.) 5. I could not live so far north where it does not turn dark til 10 PM in the summers and yet the sun rises at 4 AM! 6. The Canadian people, esp at Passport Control, were really nice!

This is Dan the first day when we went to sushi....yum and even the pitcher of Sapporo was not very expensive - score! :) This beer went GREAT with our jetlag. That night we grabbed hot dogs from this specialty dog shop called Dougie Dogs. They had all sorts of hot dogs...a kimchi dog, a sushi dog, even a 100 dollar dog with truffles and cognac. Mine on the left is a bacon-wrapped dog that was deep fried and then topped with pineapple and scallion salsa. Dan's on the left is a NY dog....yep, that would be mustard and ketchup. :) This is the french-canadian classic comfort food - Poutine! French fries topped with cheese curds and brown gravy. Yum! The next day was our visit to The Granvill Island market...it was AWESOME. definitely my favorite thing and maybe even Dan's too! It had EVERY kind of meat, cheese, seafood, produce, or tea/coffee you could want...all fresh and delicious! Then we went to Granville Brewery for a beer tasting - that was great too - there was one lager that tasted JUST like bananas! A cityscape from the Harbor cruise we took that afternoon. Me chilling on boat Those two yellow piles in the Vancouver harbor are raw sulfur. Just thought it was cool! Self-portrait of my handsome hubby and I....on way out door to our fancy french dinner And since everyone already knows I take pics of my food....unahamedly, I submit a pic of my first course....bone marrow with tomato salsa and fresh greens. (you want some, right, Alex?) :) Then my second course....seared foie gras with a Calvados reduction topped with a shoestring potato cake, a sea scallop and those are cantaloupe around the outside...strangely, the melon actually worked perfectly in this dish! Dan's entree...seared duck breast with diced apples and seared foie gras Me at the border to cross into the US from canada....I had never crossed a border before (stop laughing, Alex)...so yes I had to take a pic! The snow-capped mountains from the US side looking back towards Canada....lovely.