Vancouver with Meredith

I never blogged this. I'm not sure why. Probably because there were a lot of pictures and they take awhile to upload.

As you know, my best friend Meredith lived in Australia for two years. She came back to Canada on December 25, 2006 but has really felt that Australia is where she should be. She secured a position with Mercy Ministries Australia, the organization that she has wanted to work with for years. One that she did work with when she was in Australia and the one that the schooling she took prepared her for.

Our last full day together was Monday, October 8 (Thanksgiving Day) We spent it pretty much like how we spent her first day back (December 26, 2006) Doing our favourite thing, walking around Vancouver. We started in Stanley Park where we had lunch at Prospect Point. Then we walked through Gastown. Mere was super sensitive to all things "Canadian" like mounties and moose. So we got lots of pictures for her to remember her home country by. :)


We really didn't have any destination or goal. It was a beautiful sunny day so we wandered and ended up covering a lot of ground. One cool place we came across was Blood Alley just off Carrall Street. I found out later that according to stories, Blood Alley was the location for a number of butcher shops. At the end of each day they would be rinsed out resulting in the inevitable blood in the street. As if that was not enough they used to hold public executions in blood alley square.

There were some people hanging out back there so we didn't stay long but it looked really neat. There are some interesting restaurants down there that I'd love to go back and try out.

From there we made our way through Vancouver's "International Village" where I got to visit Daiso for the first time. (Daiso is a super cool Asian dollar store that has only been in Canada for a few years). Past the Vancouver Library and back to Robson Street.
Mere got a hot dog there and I got an ice cream cone and we wandered through the stores there. It was a really relaxed day. I already miss being able to do it whenever.