We're getting in the mood to go to Ireland, good thing since we are. Soon-ish. Not even thinking about St. Patrick's Day, Jim wanted a break from Victoria and found a
Hotwire deal at the
Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver (we recommend it), so off we went. We put on our big kid knickers and left the car behind, in favour saving a couple of hundred dollars in ferry and parking fees, and used transit. Easy peazy and also recommended. Note to self though: check the Canuck's home schedule before assuming the Saturday morning ferry will be quiet. It wasn't. In fact in both directions there were HUNDREDS of foot passengers. Aside from all the interesting diversions I could go into, this is a photo post of Vancouver on St. Patrick's Day, 2013. You have to love the whacky west coast for having as many Asian participants as people who might have passed for Irish. This is the same city that came up with
Gung Haggis Fat Choy created by Todd Wong aka Toddish McWong) to celebrate Robbie Burns day And Chinese New Year. Back to the photos...
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| Granville Street closed off |
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| A green and white dragon |
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| A very Irish lotus flower |
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| you do not want to meet an Irish wolf-hound on a dark night |
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a rough looking bunch but really
good-natured and loving the attention |
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| lots of bands |
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| don't know what the character is but we saw him for 2 days on his stilts |
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| An Irish Korean drum corps |
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| lots of pipe bands |
There were about 300,000 people downtown for the parade on Sunday (who counts!), the bars were open at 9:00 am and, of all things, the sun was out! We liked our room at the Sheraton, with a great view of the city and north shore mountains. And for a bonus, as though we needed more, we were able to see friends and family for a catch-up. Yay.
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| the view from our room |
