Canadian Rockies
– September/October 2017
Seattle
to Banff – Part
One
A great time to
visit Canada
is in early September so I was almost a bit too late in arriving. Flew into Seattle and took the lite rail into downtown
and a bus to Ballard Inn where I spent the night. It is a great little neighborhood but a bit
far from downtown. Took the bus back in
and had lunch at Mamnoon on Melrose/Pike, a cute little Middle Eastern
restaurant with great food, i.e. falafel with cabbage salad and hummus with
pita bread.
Walked up to the Fyre Museum
which had a very interesting exhibition on people who are “different”…Walked
around Pike Market, down to Olympic Park and into the Sculpture Gardens
near the waterfront. Later took the bus
to Lloyd Martin for a delicious dinner, i.e. ravioli filled with epoisse cheese
and foie gras and chocolate cremeux.
Found a nice
little pastry shop for breakfast and then walked to the Ballard Locks and was
able to see a boat come through. You can
also see the salmon migration through windows below the locks. Picked up my rental car about 2 p.m. and
drove to Vancouver. Stayed in an Airbnb near Chinatown
and walked to Blue Water Café for dinner, i.e. delicious tuna carpaccio nicoise
and warm chocolate cake sitting on the patio outside.
In the morning I spent
a couple hours at the Bill Reid Gallery which focuses on his Haida
origins. It highlights his beautiful
gold and silver jewelry, totems, etc.
Really a must see. Walked over
the Granville bridge to the Granville Market where I had a tuna sandwich and
cookie and then took the bus to the Museum
of Anthropology to see
the totems and Haida houses. I had been
there before so just wanted to see Bill Reid’s “raven” and a few others things
I loved. Dinner at Wildebeest, i.e.
tomato and plum salad with burrata cheese and arugula and chocolate cake with
toasted pineapple and rum raisin ice cream.
Drove up to
Tsawwassen in the morning to catch the 10 a.m. ferry to Victoria
Island. It was a beautiful
day so I stood outside and enjoyed the scenery.
Arrived about 12:00 p.m. in Swarz
Bay and stopped in Sidney nearby to wander around. Found a nice little café called Beacon where
I had an egg salad sandwich and ginger cookie and then drove to Victoria. Checked into my airbnb and on my way to the
Royal Columbian Museum stopped at Emily Carr’s house. None of her artwork was there so didn’t spend
too much time looking around. The RC
Museum is fantastic and filled with information on the First Peoples including
enormous totems, their artwork, life style, etc. Also an extensive exhibit of life in Canada
in the 1900’s. Really well done.
Later I walked
across the Johnson bridge and along the waterfront and back to Saveur where I
had dinner, i.e. beet terrine with goat cheese and pistachios and flourless
chocolate cake.
After a delicious
muffin at Liberty I drove up to the Butchart Gardens and spent about three hours
wandering through the sunken garden, rose garden, Italian garden, etc. until it
started to rain. There were so many
flowers in blow so it was gorgeous. Went
into the lovely dining room and had lunch overlooking the gardens, i.e. farro
salad with smoked trout and apple and crème brulee.
Drove back into Victoria to the Gallery of Art to see some of Emily
Carr’s original landscapes and then walked up the hill to the Craigdarroch Castle
with its 4 floors and 39 rooms. It was
constructed in the late 1800s as a family residence for coal baron Robert
Dunsmuir. Its history and intrigue made
the visit even more interesting.
Later in the
evening I walked to the Empress Hotel where you can have tea in the afternoon
and down Government Street
to Chinatown where I had dinner at Olo
Restauarant. Great food!!! I had cornbread with buckwheat butter,
grilled octopus with roasted pepper hummus, chickpea panisse and cucumbers and
chocolate cake with marshmallow cream for dessert.
In the morning I
walked the inner harbor to fisherman’s wharf and saw the 33 floathouses moored
along the river. They reminded me of the
house boats in Amsterdam
except much smaller and with a lot more personality. Walked to Beacon Park
and to the “O” kilometer where the trans-canadian highway starts.
About 12 p.m. I
drove back to Sidney for another delicious egg
salad sandwich and ginger cookie and caught the 2 p.m. ferry back to Vancouver. Lots of traffic from the port so didn’t
arrive to my airbnb until about 5 p.m.
It was also near Chinatown so it was
quite a walk into downtown. Walked to Water Street and
the clock tower and finally to Nightingale where I had dinner which was
excellent. Started with watermelon salad
with watercress, mini cucumbers and macadamia nut feta, next came the grilled
octopus with chickpeas and garlic aioli and finished with salted caramel pot of
cream.
Drove to Whistler
in the morning and visited the Squamish-Lil’wat center which was fabulous. It is set in a large concrete, fir and cedar
structure and explains the tradition of these two people. Walked to the village Square nearby and had
lunch at Ingrid’s, found Araxi where I would have dinner and then walked the
lost trail around the lake. Just as I
was finishing the walk it started to rain so drove to my airbnb where was
really nice. I had my own private
studio. Later in the evening I drove
back to town and enjoyed a beet salad with burrata cheese and fondant chocolate
flourless cake at Araxi sitting peacefully by the window.
In the morning had
a delicious muffin in a cute little café at the bottom of the hill before
heading to Revelstoke a long way away!!!
Stopped in Kamploops about halfway and wandered around the town, stopped
in a café for egg salad sandwich and continued on the Salmon Run where I
stopped at the famous Shuswap Pie Company for raspberry rhubarb pie and ice
cream. Cute little town as well. Found my airbnb and then took a walk into
town to stretch my legs. Pretty cold
out!!!
Decided to dine at
Quartermaster, a new restaurant in town, and was not disappointed. Had a steak salad with blue cheese, crispy
shoestring potatoes and greens and lava cake – all perfectly done and great
atmosphere.
Walked up to La
Baguette for breakfast in the morning and then spent about an hour at the
Railway Museum which presents the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway in
the Columbia mountains with dining cars, old trains, videos, etc. Fabulous!
Drove up to the Meadows in the Sky and walked up to the Summit where there were patches of snow on
the ground. Back down to La Baguette for
salad with goat cheese and dried cherries and chipotle yam soup before driving
through Revelstoke National Park where I walked the Skunk Cabbage
Boardwalk trail and then drove into Glacier
National Park which was
gorgeous. Wanted to do another hike but
the time was one hour ahead when I reached Golden so I kept going.
Stayed the night
in Field at the Truffle Pig in the center of the Yoho National Park
which was a delightful inn. Drove across
the bridge to Cathedral Lodge for a very enjoyable dinner in peaceful
surroundings. I had tuna tartar with
cucumbers and fingerling chips and a s’mores dessert which was wonderful, i.e.
crisp graham crackers topped with chocolate and mountains of meringue
caramelized on top served with caramel sauce.
Even had a glass of wine which I felt I deserved after a very busy
day. The next day I headed for Banff.
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