When we originally booked our trip, we were to arrive Saturday afternoon, and Leandra found a great deal on our rental car for Sat-Wed. A few weeks later the flight schedules were changed and (to make a long story short) we changed our flights to Friday instead. By then, car rental prices were much higher and it would have cost us double to add one extra day… hmm, no thanks. Instead, we decided to spend our first day in downtown Vancouver since we could easily take the train from the airport to our hotel.

Friday afternoon and evening

After a looong line in customs we made our way to our hotel (review), then went out to explore the Yaletown section of Vancouver for a mid-afternoon snack. Since we’d had a very early start on the east coast we were beat after a few hours, so it was back to our hotel for a quick nap. Feeling better we headed to the Gastown neighborhood to catch up with Leandra’s friend from elementary school (thanks Facebook).

After dinner we walked around Gastown, then toward the waterfront for some sunset photos.

steam clock in Gastown

silly shot!

beautiful night on the water

Saturday morning in Vancouver

Knowing we had a 1p pickup on our rental car meant we could sleep in a little on Saturday morning before venturing out for brunch; afterwards, we wandered around Vancouver enjoying the sunny morning.

fun with street art

a variety of gerberas

Around noon we picked up our bags at the hotel and made our way first to the airport rental counter, then to the Vancouver Island ferry. After a few hours of train-rides, driving, waiting, and sailing, we were exploring a very different terrain.