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From Toronto I took the bus to Vancouver. This trip took 3 days and really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. We stopped a lot and some main stops were in Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Calgary, Regina, Banff and we drove through the Rockies. Though it was hitting on dusk as we were passing through and over them. Obviously, some of the bus trip was incredibly boring but some of it was beautiful. I managed to befriend 2 crazies, who kept me entertained for 2 days and narrowly avoided befriending 2 more.
Finally arriving in a rainy Vancouver, I explored Downtown, Gastown, Stanley Park, the Waterfront and Granville Island. I came to terms with the rubbish weather, didn't really have a choice because it rained the entire time! Vancouver is awesome! I love it! It has such a relaxed but vibrant feel to it. The fringe festival was on while I was there, so there were quite a few street performers around too. While wandering the streets (some very dodgey ones, where drug deals were going down) I stumbled across the 2nd annual Gastown Blues and Chill festival and of course had to sample the wares. Yum! There was wild boar Chilli, Smoked Pig Chilli and my favourite, Camel Chilli. They were all really good and it turned out to be an easy lunch for me.
After 3 days in Vancouver, I headed to Seattle. Thankfully, this journey only took 4-ish hours. I was pretty excited about Seattle, being home to Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden etc I decided I had to get in some live music. Lucky for me, I met a guy in the hostel who was after some culture too so we headed out (well across the street and down a dodgey alleyway) to a club. The band playing were awesome! Superb musically but really entertaining too. We got a rendition of Crowded House's "don't dream it's over" too, that was pretty cool cos the whole club joined in.
Feeling slightly worse for wear and swearing off Gin once again, I explored the famous Pike Place Market the next day. This is where they throw fish and generally have a great time with it. Is such a blast to see. I also went to the Space needle and the Experience Music Project and Sci-fi museum. The EMP is fantastic! There is a tonne of Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana memorobilia. They have some great archive material including interviews with some true greats and a mixing/recording area to experiment in. The Sci-fi museum was there too.
Today, it is Pioneer Square, the historic centre of Seattle and then maybe find somewhere to get out of the rain.
Tomorrow I go to Portland, Oregon.
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