August 2002
Bryan’s parents and grandmothers arrived safe and well and apparently enjoyed their nine hour flight! Early morning insomnia did not stop them having a full itinerary of sightseeing, throughout the nine days that they were here. Including a 1hr horse-drawn tour around Stanley Park, a full day of whale watching, and walking over Capilano Suspension Bridge. The ladies also managed to visit most of the public gardens in Vancouver, although this was only to avoid playing Pitch ‘n’ Putt. During their stay Vancouver was host to the Molson Indy motor racing, so over the three days of warm-up, practice, qualifying and final racing the sound of engines was incredible. We didn’t buy tickets since our apartment overlooked part of the course; we were able to watch the race from the TV and out of the windows. We had another wonderful experience when we watched “Joseph”; the production is performed outside in the grounds of Stanley Park. The cast and singing of TUTS (Theatre under the Stars) was of a very high standard, and we kept humming the songs over the following days. The theme of open air plays was continued after Bryan’s family had left, when we enjoyed watching the company of Bard on the Beach perform “Twelfth Night”. The acting was good - although it took a while to adjust to the Canadian accents performing Will, but all was forgotten as we saw the sunset, over English Bay, behind the open-backed stage. During the interval, we were provided with a salmon barbeque, which was very tasty! The evening coincided with the Celebration of Light (fireworks to music/set off from a barge) and we saw the display after the show, which was fantastic. For our first anniversary, we celebrated by going into the country for the day to have a change of scenery. We stopped in Brackendale in the hope of catching sight of salmon spawning, but to no avail. We then went to Alice Lake, which is a picturesque lake where the locals go to swim, sunbathe and have fun. Over the last four weeks we have both been taking a sailing course, in order to obtain the internationally recognised Basic Cruising Standard. After passing the theory exam on Thursday, both with 93%, and completing the practical this weekend, we are now qualified sailors. Ahoy there!
 |  |  |
 |