1st two areSouth Falls and view from the back of the North Falls :) at
Silver Falls State Park in OR



Vancouver is a small city with lots of high-rise luxury apartment blocks right in the center of downtown. But they are smaller than the giant blocks of Amsterdam and fit this mini-city's size, not overwhelming one. I can unreservedly recommend my B & B right near the center. The room is tiny but adequate, only having a sink and, thank God, no TV. The shower-toilet down the hall is very clean and simple to use. The staff were really helpful and stored my bike in a room for an extra $5/day. Parking is a hassle, but I knew this already from what I had read and am paying $18/night for secure underground parking under the nearby Westin hotel.

Today was my get my bearings and wander day ... so I strolled past the Art museum (photo #3), trying to catch the atmosphere with a quick photo and then headed towards the waterfront where I circled the "Canada Place" pier (photo #4,5). It was amazing to peer into the cruise ships docked down there and see into all the suites with their Plasma TVs, beautiful furniture and slick design ... but I was reminded of Alcatraz ... I don't think a cruise ship is for me. The floatplane looked really cool.

Now it started raining .... pretty heavy.... so I pulled out my camera bag cover (1st time) and headed back to the Art museum. They didn't permit photos :( so i had to check my camera.
The content was OK ... lots of cartoon stuff ... with a few conventional photos. TP.

The camera check girl was nice on the way out ... even though she was overwhelmed with stuff.

My most interesting time was in the evening about 8p when i took a stroll down the street I'm on and up another. I had picked up a Moleskine sketching pad and the lamposts with trees enveloping them with the cityscape background ... got me to try my first sketch. On the way back I found the Nester's market (deli) and was amazed by the variety of the food. I picked up 2 Vegetable samosa's (divine) ... some cheap fruit and 1 French orange truffle as a treat.
(Only now do I fully realize the truly sad state of US cuisine.

The front-end manager was warm and friendly and made me feel welcome and safe even in a strange city. I do feel at home here.