Vancouver

[annwfyn]

I'm in Vancouver!

I'm jet lagged to hell and back and have developed the weirdest sleeping pattern ever! It's currently 4.30 am. I went to bed at 9 pm. My goal tonight is to stay awake until 10 pm. I'm not sure if I'll make it, but damnit, I'm going to try.

I've got a very long LJ written in biro in my notebook, which I want to type up at some point. The summary is mostly that I had a lovely day yesterday. I didn't manage to get the 7.30 train from Seattle to Vancouver, as it was sold out, but I did get a bus at 10 am and spent the extra time in Seattle, reacquainting myself with the city and remembering how much I love it. It's not my favourite city in the world, but it's definitely in my top five.*

I then got my bus at 10 am, bonded with a really very bright eighteen year old who was en route to University of British Columbia where he was starting his degree, chattered about the US education system, was told to talk more quietly by a stroppy couple in front of us, and eventually made it into Vancouver. Since making it here, I've met up with richardiii, been menaced with metal spikes, eaten dinner in a revolving restaurant, and bimbled around Granville Island listening to assorted buskers. So far Vancouver hasn't grabbed me the way Seattle does, but it's kinda joining Portland on my list of 'pleasant cities to bimble around'.

Sadly, by about 8 pm I was flaking badly, and ceasing to make coherent sense. Well, even less coherent sense than I do normally, so I apologised to Owen, and staggered back to my youth hostel, where I collapsed into a small ball of tiredness. I then woke up at 4 am which was vexing. I think I can safely say I'm jet lagged. Hopefully, I can shift this a bit over the next couple of days. Today, I woke up at 4 am and am now bimbling around, waiting for the world to wake so I can go and be a tourist. I'm going to the Vancouver Art Gallery first, and then we shall see where the day takes me.

Onward!


* And now I'm wondering what my top five cities are. Edinburgh is definitely up there. London isn't. Oxford isn't. I have this vague feeling that Ashland, in southern Oregon, might be, but that is tinged by the massive nostalgia for the one amazing weekend I spent down there with melsner. Hmmmm...this may need more thought and maybe an LJ entry of its own...

Comments

[lexx-uk.livejournal.com]

I have been told, and I don't know if it is true, that women of reproductive age are more susceptible to jet lag than are men. This is in part because estrogen is often vulnerable to jet lag-like conditions.

Not wanting to rain on your parade but its ment to be twice as bad when you travel east :(

[badgersandjam.livejournal.com]

I always suffer worst going west. Going East I can just go to sleep for a day and catch up that way. Going west I just seem to go onto the cycle Sally's on now. Mind you, in Alaska that means you see the sunrise with the whales and the dolphina etc...
Wish I remembered more of Vancouver/Victoria than watching the wake of the ferry and being bored in gardens. Mind you, it was 37 years ago, so I might be forgiven for not remembering :)

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

Top 5 cities:

London
New York
Melbourne
Venice
Hong Kong

If you combine all of those into one frenetic whole, then I'd never leave.

[slappersire.livejournal.com]

Chinese Night Market? I remember that being good many years ago when I was there.

Also: Edinburgh, Paris, Birmingham, Rome and Prague.

[melsner.livejournal.com]

I suspect that your favorite cities list is tinged by circumstances and romance.

Sort of "how you saw it and who you saw it with."

Oddly enough, though, Oxford and London would probably make my list. And Stratford upon Avon. Might be too many English cities though, so at least one would have to go.

And I feel so guilty about leaving Lambourn off the list.

[jeckcrow.livejournal.com]

In Vancouver I tend to wander around Stanley Park, Gastown, as well as the shops on Granville street, and Cambie street. In the evening I go out clubbing, although the two venues I enjoyed most have since disappeared. (Luv-A-Fair, and The Purple Onion)

Its too bad that I'm stuck doing this work thing really. I would have happily accompanied you to Vancouver BC. I enjoy the occasional trip into a country that's just different enough to feel like it's not here.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Next time I'm out I'll warn you in advance and you can come visit with me. Or I'll try and make sure I'm out over a weekend. ~nods firmly~