Just a quick note - got to my hotel at around 1 a.m. local time (4 a.m. by my bio clock). Rain, rain and more rain.

Woke up to a downpour...went out to get my bearings and a bite to eat.

Have been passing emails with Juliet and supposed to have her come to my room Thursday afternoon.

Going out again after a nap to figure out the lay of the land.

Will fill in the with more details later.

eric

The bus system is pretty good, except that the bus stops do not have any transit maps. Thankfully I found a tourist/information booth that gave me a handout with all the major things with the best bus to catch.

Crashed hard last night and woke up early again today.

Went to Granville Island, took a walk along the sea-wall and to a museum today (maritime museum - don't go). ...a much needed nap and rest for my knees! -- note to self: get out and walk more when I get home!! --

Back out the door to a top ranked micro-brewery and a look at the Yaletown area.

At Yaletown Brewery I had two different Witte style beers. The first was the "thursday cask" specialty beer of the day and it was pretty good, but didn't come close to sitting in Belgium drinking a Belgian Witte. The second Witte I had was ordered by accident. I thought the waitress said one thing...she thought I said something else. It showed up so I drank it. Average at best. After I ate and the two beers I was too full to have a third beer...it would have been the IPA.

The downtown area is very walkable and a bit hilly. I've been told that there is only one area to seriously stay out of because it is so sketchy. The problem is it is between two neighborhoods that I want to go see. Talking to a local they said definitely don't go their after dark and during the day just stay to the main streets and keep walking. ..it's the stretch between little china and Gastown.

So much to do that I'm having trouble deciding!

Tough life. ;-)

hmmm...back to Granville or Yaletown later this evening??

Things did not work out with Juliet today and have not smoked.

Things going on here in town this week:
- Bard on the Beach
- Music Waste - a music festival with local/underground bands, poetry readings, comics, etc
- In The House - a mix of music/plays/comedy that are done in the back yards of people homes

Forgot - Bard on the Beach is delayed. It was something I was going to go see. They put the tents up for it and found that there was a problem with one of the main supports. They are taking it down and rebuilding the tent structure.

Rent that bike !!

You should have scored by now...it's Friday night

Go where I told you

Beer-Yaletown is one of the weakest places to drink beer.

Go to the Alibi Room :
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17 ... ew=beerfly

Who is Juliet, and how much was she going to charge ?


Go here for lunch today :

http://www.bistro101.com/hours.html

Today is West Coast Buffet day at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts:

http://www.bistro101.com/contact.html

You won't be disappointed






Best Regards

Smuler

Smuler - your the best!

Woke up to rain/drizzle again this morning (Friday).

Juliet is an independent SP that I had been passing emails back and forth with. Can't really nail it down, but I just got a bad vibe from her and cancelled. 250/hr

On the smoke I haven't tried all that hard - with the AI lunch you recommend and the Alibi being close in gastown it that may a good destination for today.

Moving a little slow this morning... hit the Granville Corridor last night.

Eric

Oops. got that backwards. AI Culinary is Granville Island.

Hey br! Hope things are working out for you! The weather is supposed to be better Saturday. At least where I live about 200 miles south of Van so it should be similar where you are.

Smuler and the others have given you great advice.

I don't remember if someone has already mentioned it but a good source of info about food, what's going on, and p4p girls is the alternative paper Georgia Strait. You'll see it for free all over the place. A lot of girls also list their services in a want ads paper called Buy and Sell that's in most convenience stores. If one of the girls in there, or on CL, catches your eye check them out on the PERB site before you commit.

Have a blast!

it was the odd things in her email and the sheer lack o information on juliet that made be wary.

This morning started with drizzle/rain but was definitely tolerable.

...typing this up on my phone so please be patient with typos

Smiled - the recommendation o the culinary school was BRILLIANT. That had to be one of the best inexpensive meals in a looong time.

Saw the Olympic village today. Interesting...but much of it was closed up. They are converting it into permanent housing.

Went to gastown with the intention of hitting the alibi room. It was closed. Went to steamworks brewing instead. Meh. Bad beer and worse service.

Last night was very good!

Went to Chinatown for the market. ...skip it unless you have a big desire to see it.

From chinatown to get to gastown you have to cross over Hastings. Not so nice. I was thinking that vancouver has a lot of homeless/panhandlers/etc on the streets downtown...then I walked through skidrow...

Gastown later in the day is a totally different place. Less tourists and lots of partiers.

Hung out at the Alibi Room. It is a little out from 'downtown' gastown but well worth the walk. Met some nice people and drank too much beer. ...VERY good beer!

Did you get some smoke ?

Glad the lunch thing worked out..


Next- get to False Creek ( about 1/4 mike from Granville Island)
This little shack serves up some very tasty,inexpensive lunch items :

http://www.yelp.ca/biz/go-fish-ocean-emporium-vancouver


Stay away from those mass produced brewpub places

Your next place to drink is :

Irish Heather
217 Carrall Street
http://irishheather.com/

It has a seperate room just for quality whisky

After that, go around the corner to Six Acres:
http://sixacres.ca/

I see they have this on their beer list :
Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/195

See if they have more Deschutes which is a quality Oregon brewery..

You're right around the corner from where I told you that you can score

Quit fucking around...or I'll come up there and kick your ass Ha Ha

I expect good news tonight

PS... If you really need to bang someone while you are there, this ageny is the Creme de la creme..quite pricey too:

http://www.carmanfox.com/

Please note under the rate sheet, that some girls are GFE, some not

Shop carefully, and ask direct questions to the agency

Nothing to hide, as it's all legal


Best Regards

Smuler

High end whiskey??? I'm in!!

better get a move on Smuler! you are going to need to get out here to kick my ass... just don't care that much about smoke anymore. CAN'T believe I just said that... If I'm in a comfortable place and it is easy to obtain then I'm probably in. ;-)

In the local paper this week I've seen several articles about busts. They even busted a legal grow operation and busted a bunch of 'sanctioned' dispenseries.

Today's big activity was Grouse Mountain. The day started out cool and cloudy but has become absolutely fantastic!

Came back to the hotel to rest up a bit and just relax. Going back out in a while.

The more comfortable I get here the more and more I like this city. It is not an inexpensive city. The sales tax rate is 12% and if you are buying alcohol it is even more.

Took a look at the Foxes. Sounds good but I'm going to pass this trip.

-----

Travel note: Grouse Mountain is very enjoyable. Easy to get to via public transit. Getting to the top of the mountain you can walk it - you BETTER be in very good shape! Or there is a cable car - $40-ish. I chose the cable car.

At the top there are some shows (free), Ziplines (pay) - I didn't go because um..uh...well...I am just over the weight limit. I heard it was fantastic from multiple people. Hiking, nature, great views of Vancouver, etc...

If you are a smoker, this would be a nice place to go spin up a good one and really enjoy a great chill or whatever you want. Plenty of place to sneak off and smoke...then enjoy.

For anyone who is reading this afterward and going to Vancouver I second this.

Another source that I found was the local paper The Vancouver Sun. Not every day do they have entertainment, but they do have decent coverage of things that I did not see in the the Straight

Spent most of my time talking beer at The Alibi last night. The locals don't like the vancouver microbrews!

The RNB cask aged beer (IPA) was okay...not great. One of the guys I spent the most time talking to told me that it used to be good, but the brewery is having production problems recently. He started recommending beers from non-vancouver but still BC area and his choices were good. That was too many beer and a slight hangover ago...so I don't remember everything I had there.

I DO remember that they all got much better after the first one.

--

So my travel trip is: Go to the Alibi room.

If I knew you were adventurous, you should have gone to Capilano Suspension Bridge :

Im afraid of heights, so this wasn't too thrilling for me, but it was a lot of fun :

http://www.capbridge.com/index.html


Eric- I highly recommend you take the Ferry to North Van

A decently quick trip, I think that the whole RT was 40 minutes

http://tripplanning.translink.ca/hiwire ... neAbbr=998

If you buy a Daypass (9 CDN ) , you can check out the Skytrain system...

A fantastic way to see the city

SkyTrain is the longest automated driverless light rapid transit system in the world

http://tripplanning.translink.ca/hiwire ... neAbbr=999

Maybe you can take the new train back to the airport, and let us know how it goes ?


Oh...I forgot

I used to bring these guys some local East Coast Beers over the course of a couple years ago

They are located right in the middle of the " low track " SW scene

If I cop ever pulled me over in the zone, I could use them as an alibi...

http://www.stormbrewing.org/

Their beer is quite good
Looks like they are going to have a cask festival at the Whip tomorrow !!

I've been there..it's a decent place

Sorta like the Alibi Room

The guy to the left is the brewmaster at Storm :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dknibbs/47 ... 546553@N00

Also, try to get over to Commercial Drive to the Italian Section


Best Regards

Smuler

Sitting upstairs at 6 acres at the railing. Great for people watching.

Looking at the menu...this is a place you come to drink. Not eat.

-

The Miller pond is the only Deschutes here.

My waitress is from Germany and is having trouble talking about anything that is not a very Hardy stout. ...but she is CUTE.

Thoughts on the Miller pond:

I never trust the first sip/taste of anything.

My first taste was - average

2/3 were questionable

After that I let it sit in the glass for a bit. Then BAM.

They serve this beer too cold.

Letting it set did amazing things for the palate

Next beer.

Duchesse de Bourgogne sour red ale

You better like beer to like this.

Sour in its name is an understatement.

Yes it was good!

The concierge in the hotel had already sent me there.

--------------

I will be taking the train back to airport.

So far I haven't used that line yet, but the one I've been on several times is very easy to use and the trains are very fast.

--------------

Drank a little to much whiskey at Irish Heather (?). Not so much the quantity but the price. They have very strict pours here - measure everything.

Back to heavy rain this afternoon.

Smuler - went to your fave breakfast place today. Very nice atmosphere. Food was good.

Had I walked a couple of blocks from the hotel to catch a different bus it would have saved me a LOT of walking on the other end. When I left breakfast the first bus stop I found brought me within 4 blocks of my hotel.

On the return, if it were not for part of Robson being closed I could have transferred right there to the bus that would take me to Stanley park. In the end I just walked the few blocks to another stop and took it to Denman. ...a few more blocks walking and it was time to rent the bicycle.

The ride around Stanley Park is very nice. It was cloudy, chilly and threatening rain the whole time.

took the bike back to the rental place ($22 for 2.5 hours) with the intentions of walking around parts of the park that are off limits to bicycles.

The occasional drop of rain was turning more regular so I made the decision to hop on the bus and head back to the hotel.

Rain picked up quickly and I made a snap decision to hop on the train. One of the concierge had recommended that if I wanted a quick tour of the city taking the millenium line for it's loop was a good way to do it.

...so I did.

Rained the whole time so visibility was a bit off, but it was definitely a good way to see other parts of the city very quickly.

If you take the public transit it is $2.50 for the first zone and I forget how much more for additional zones. Outside of the standard M-F peak time (business hours) the system becomes zone free. Hopping on the bus near stanley park, transferring to the Millenium line, and taking it out and back was just a hair over 90 minutes.

90 minutes is the crucial thing here. ;-) For your $2.50 you can do as many transfers as you want.

When I came out of Burrard station the bus was pulling away. When the next one showed up it was at 92 minutes.

...the driver let me on anyway.

----------

On another note about the transit. My trip to Grouse Mountain yesterday was only $2.50 each way.

Grabbed the bus down the block from my hotel which dropped me off a couple of blocks from waterfront station. Took the seabus across the bay. Then picked up another bus up to the base of Grouse Mountain.

From the base of Grouse Mountain to the top of Grouse Mountain was a much larger charge...

---------

Couple of things that I learned:

- if you want printed info about the transit system ask the bus driver. They have handouts
- 2xx numbered busses are North Vancouver buses. They come into Vancouver and stay along the southern edge of the bay -- or the North Vancouver busses only come into the very northern edge of downtown i.e. along the waterfront. ...don't ask one of them anything about how to get around Vancouver.
- when downtown and in need of some help with the busses/trains/touristy things... look for someone in a red coat/jacket. They are a wealth of information.

hotel: The Sutton Place / $135 CDN + taxes

Burrard and Robson

Priceline didn't like any of my bids and I found this place on Hotwire.

Got very lucky on the room. 10th floor looking down Burrard to the SE. The room I have is at the end of the hallway/wing and I have windows on two walls.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.... and as I write this I just watched a very hot blonde open up her curtains with no clothes on. The blonde, not the curtains. ;-) If it hadn't of been for the police pulling someone over I wouldn't have looked up at the right moment to see it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!