Monday, December 7, 2015

Dec. 7 - still raining


Yesterday was interesting. Not sure why we didn't just put our feet up in the apartment and let the hours drift by while the skies continued to pour outside. Because we had several things to deliver to my sister, we embarked on a "quick" trip to her home in Surrey at 1:30pm. Oblivious to the scheduled Santa Claus parade in downtown Vancouver, we ended up in a circuitous route that took us back to where we started... at the apartment...45 minutes later. After an additional 50 minutes of congested city driving we were at her door and dreading the thought of getting back into the traffic for our return trip!

Fortunately the parade had ended and the city had emptied. Back at the apartment we had time to rest for an hour before trekking for a mile to The Sylvia Hotel for our anniversary dinner. Seated at a table overlooking Beach Avenue we ordered a bottle of Malbec, savoured the flavour and relaxed. Three minutes later our dinner arrived. No time for reflection or sharing of those special moments that we had gathered over the past 35 years...the food was on the table after one sip of the wine!!

It was a delicious prime rib dinner served with a friendly attitude of "let's get these folks out of here as soon as possible so that we can go home"! The attitude of "server haste" replaced any notion of  a relaxed dinner date. The food must have been waiting on the plates before we arrived.

The walk home was wetter and windier than before. The uphill portion was challenging but we made it home in time to watch the salute to Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday celebration with a very strange assortment of vocalists performing his many tunes. What would he think if he were still alive? Fortunately we missed his daughter's performance!!

This morning we defied the "Rain God" and trudged over to BREKA Cafe for delicious scones and wonderful coffee. This place is better than all of the Starbucks, Waves and Blenz that line downtown streets. They have amazing breads, biscuits, muffins, pastries and cakes.

Along the way we noticed huge photo murals along a future construction site that included our current home.


The Martinique is the building near the bottom 
with the swimming pool on the roof.


Penthouse 2 is on this side of the building.

The Martinique was constructed in 1966. The two penthouses are actually on the 13th floor with a city view. The pool and terrace occupy the other "water view" side. It is a funky building with some longtime residents who share a love of Vancouver's West End.




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