My last full day in Vancouver was pretty much as good as a day in Vancouver gets…I went down to Main St in the morning to have a cup of tea & check my emails, the people at the Main St Starbucks now know my order off by heart so I'm practically a local :P Then I went down town to meet Briony for a ride around Stanley Park. We hired super cool blue "cruiser" bikes (one-speed, back pedal breaking, seriously basic) from the Ezee Riders store on Robson & then trundled along around the sea wall. Both be somewhat challenged in the area of reading a map AND riding a bike, we had some difficulties getting started, but once we got the hang of things, stopped squealing every time someone overtook us on the bike path, & were actually riding in the right direction, we were all good! :)

We stopped by the totem poles & at several points around the sea wall to be all touristy & take photos (although I don't feel I'm REALLY a tourist in Vancouver…I have lived here before after all). It was, as always, a really beautiful ride - we got sprinkled on just a little, but compared to typical precipitation levels in Vancouver we were blessed to get away with staying reasonably dry & soon the sun was out again. With our stopping & squealing & wobbling, we made it round to English Bay in about 2 hours & then dropped the bikes back.

I then took Briony along the waterfront of Vancouver past Coal Harbour, which is one of my favourite neighborhoods in Vancouver (it is also one of the most expensive parts of town). We wandered along the dock looking out at all the big fancy powerboats parked alongside small, brightly coloured houseboats. What I love about Coal Harbour is how you have the water on one side then a wall of shimmering, blue glass on the other from all the apartments towering overhead.

We went for lunch at Café Artigiano, which is where I always used to go to pick up coffee in the mornings when I was studying down town with my girlfriends during my time at SFU. They do really great coffee & they always do a fancy, swirly pattern on top of the foam :) I'd talked the coffee up quite a bit to Briony so I was glad to find that it was just as good as I remembered it.

After lunch we strolled through Gas Town, looking in a few stores & lusting after gorgeous (but ridiculously expensive & totally unattainable) leather boots in the John Fluevog shoe store. Then we parted on Main St where I was careful to direct Briony away from the Main & Hastings intersection, having unpleasantly experienced that part of town by accident myself last time I was in Vancouver (you know a suburb is dodgy when you're standing at the bus stop & a woman snorts a line of coke off the pavement next to you). I got a little lost on the way to the bus stop, which turned out to be a happy accident as it took me past a vintage clothing store where I picked up a couple of very cheap skirts with my remaining Canadian dollars, leaving just enough for a taxi to the airport the next day.

In the evening JL & I hung out, enjoyed a glass of wine & a delicious home cooked meal. Now THAT is my perfect way to spend the last full day of an awesome 5 month holiday :)