I met Jen at the company we work for several years ago in The Netherlands because someone who knew us both recognized our accents and suggested we met. The rest as they say is history.
I took my dear friend Jacco with me as he was also invited to the wedding and needed a vacation so it all worked out perfectly. We arrived to a wonderful warm and typical June afternoon, made our way to my brother's house near (funky) Main street, picked up his keys from the designated place and went there to chill out for a while, after getting freshed up we went out to find some food and promptly ran into my cousin Brownwen, which was nice cause I hardly ever get to see her.
After some good food at the Foundation (thanks for the tip Cuz), we went to get some supplies and ran into Eric (the brother) on the way back to his apartment, had some wine chatted and then slept as long as we could.
Friday in Vancouver was spent walking around on Main Street, downtown and Denman Street checking stuff out, shopping and showing Jacco around, English Bay, the downtown vibe and stopped for ceasers and beers at the Cloud 9 Revolving Restaurant on Robson Street. And headed back to grab some food and more drinks. I think after some very frustrating trials we ended up eating at Habit (I think that is what it was called) it was actually very good and nice to really catch up with my brother.
What's a Caesar you ask, not not a Roman emperor or a small Scottie Dog on the side of pet food, this is a wonderful and typically Canadian drink. Clamato Juice is the main ingredient and then comes vodka, Worcestershire and tabasco sauce the rim is slat lined and garnished with anything form celery to green beans. Sometimes it is also made with a horseradish juice as well, but I prefer the regular extra spicy version.
On Saturday after my now traditional soya latte at Soma's I took the bus up to Whistler for the Hen night while Jacco stayed behind and had a few drinks with Merlyn and friends before heading off on his own and exploring the exciting Davie Street night life.
Arriving in Whistler I picked up some drinks and headed for the cabin that the girls were staying at.
I already had met Anita before on a visit to Holland a few years ago but it was nice to meet the other contstants in Jen's life. Sushi for dinner and went to meet Merlyn's sisters who had just arrived in Canada and were due to arrive on the next bus from Vancouver.
Back to the cabin to get ready for the night out at Buffalo Bills.
I had not been there in many years, in fact since the first band I ever worked with played there over 14 years before, where we had certain Tommy Lee visit us in the back stage area but that is a story for another time.
The night was fun but surreal, a little like being in Temple Bar in Dublin with all the other stags and hen nights happening there. But good 80-90's music and a good laugh, a few of us left around 2 and went back for more lounging and drinks.
In the morning we went for breakfast just down the road and I headed back to get ready to head back to Vancouver where I was to meet Jacco at the Ferry Terminal at Horseshoe Bay. Whistler is a typical ski resort but very beautiful and teaming with people all year round. I can only imagine what might happen in 2010 when the winter Olympics are there.
After some minor delays we met at the Ferry and headed across the straight to Vancouver Island where I was born and raised but more importantly where my folks call home.
It was of course so great to see my folks again, being the very coolest people in the whole wide world.
Monday we went to Victoria because I had a bit of ca.gov administration to do, and also decided to do some whale watching so I called the Orca Spirit Adventure company and asked if they had seen any whales and they said that the day before Jpod had been spotted in the area. I knew it was a sign, being the title of the new Douglas Coupland book.
We headed out of the harbor towards the San Juan islands where it has been known they would most likely be. I believe it was the same pod I saw last year on the ferry just after I said good by to Sylvia for the last time. There are normally about 20 whales in the pod on that day only around 10. But spectacular non the less, they were beautiful and seemed quite undisturbed that we were there, one in fact decided to impress us by swimming under the boat and later breaching out of the water, I think soaking the 2 kayakers that were very near to him.
That night we headed back and had dinner and a good soak in the hot tub under the stars. On Tuesday I had made an appointment with the best hairdresser in the world, Paul and my very good friend as I wanted to look pretty before the wedding, so my parents took Jacco on a hike along a ridge that looked down the Goldstream estuary in one direction and the Gulf Islands in the other, while I got to be pampered and catch up with Paul. Later we would meet at Ferris's Oyster Bar and Grill for some yummy grub before heading home for the evening.
Wedensday was our last full day there, so we went on a wine tasting tour of the Cowichan valley with my parents and lunch at Vigneti Zanatta vineyards. Of course buying and tasting good wines along the way. We started at Glenterra where he had some interesting whites on offer, his new batch would not yet be ready until the end of the summer, so we said good bye and headed towards Blue Grouse where we tasted some nice reds and one very good Black Muscat which I bought. Then we headed to Vigneti Zanatta for some lunch, and in the end ended up tasting many of the wines with our lunch so we did not end up doing the tasting, I took home with me a couple of bottles of Ortego and a bottle of bubbly that sounded too good to leave behind. Last but not least we headed to Cherry Point where I was due to pick up some more Black Berry port which they do very well. That evening we had some family friends over for dinner so that I could catch up with them and sadly my last day at home was far to quickly past. 
In the morning Dad made me pancakes at my request (he makes the best in the world) and they drove us back to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal to head back to Vancouver. We had been invited to Jennifer's parents house for a BBQ that night and I thought it was a good idea to meet the whole family before showing up at the wedding and not knowing who anybody was.
Several hours later via car, ferry, coach, sky train, sea bus and transit bus we made it over to North Vancouver and headed up to her parents house where we got to meet her family his family and all the lovelies who had come from near and far to celebrate with their friends on their happy day.
It was of course very relaxed and very west coast style along side all the different accents from Australia, South Africa, England, Ireland and Holland. Several hours later Rob (the godsend) gave us a ride back to Vancouver to pick up our bags and dropped us off at Eric's place.
On Friday morning I met with Merlyn for a quick coffee up the road at JJ Beans to discuss some photography business then Jacco, Eric and and I decided it was time to go back downtown and see some culture before more shopping in Kitsilano. We headed to the Vancouver Art Gallery where there was two special exhibits, one called Raven Travelling and the other a retrospective on one of Vancouver's most famous architects Arthur Erickson. It also just so happened that there was a pow wow out front of the gallery to celebrate National Native Heritage week, tepees and a large stage for performances were scattered across the lawn. The best part was that I finally found a Raven ring to go with my wonderful collection of First Nations art. I found both the exhibits really great, I love Native West Coast Art and some of the items I had seen before only not in such a nice collection, and the history was also quite interesting because the Haida were one of the first to recognize that commercializing their art would bring more money from the sailors and other traders from Europe, sadly what they did not know that these same people were coming along and cutting down their totempoles and stealing their history once the Dominion had passed the Indian Act and forbidden the natives to celebrate their potlatches and other important dances. Thankfully these things are slowly changing and in particular the Haida are gaining back their traditions and pride along the way. The exhibit about Arthur Erickson was also very nice, he has built some of the most recognizable buildings in Vancouver but also apparently around the world. It was quite nice because as I was leaving the art gallery I actually saw him on his way in to give a private tour of his collection. Jacco and I both decided to buy prints in the gallery gift shop and were more than happy to contribute to the fine artistic talents of the First Nations peoples.
I then needed to get my Lululemon fix and pick up a new (grapejuice) Scuba Hoodie for H. We of course needed to eat some more great Sushi down the street on W4th Ave after also checking out another shop with more things for Jacco to buy after all this hard work we headed across the street to visit Eric at his job at Hell's Kitchen for a couple of drinks. Apparently we both managed about 8 pints of beer each and a few shots (not that we ordered any shots mind you) and feeling more than a bit buzzed by the time we left. Both of us with nice big bags of shopping tucked under our arms.
On Sat of course was the day of the wedding and since all of us were more than a bit tired from the day before it was a lazy beginning to the day. The wedding was not going to start until 5pm but we still had to make ourselves presentable and get back over to Deep Cove in North Vancouver.
We went for breakie/coffee and a nice walk up Main street checking out all the 2nd hand shops and other nice things. I headed back ahead of the boys, knowing it would take me a little more time to get ready than them. Then we headed over towards the North Shore again. I went to the hotel to see Jen and take a few photos and the boys headed to Deep Cove. Then I headed there as well with a separate taxi to make sure I could suss out the place.
The Deep Cove yacht club is a cute little place, which was perfect for the amount of guests and for both the ceremony and reception/ dinner after wards. It was a wonderful party, and beautiful ceremony and a great bunch of people to celebrate it with. It was also really great that Eric could use the D100 to take photos at the wedding, while I used the D1x. It was awesome that it worked out the way it did.
Sunday was a little melancholy because we knew that we were almost about to leave, Eric had to work early but Jacco and I decided to head into town again and rent bikes to cycle around Stanley Park, it is a beautiful and very large park that has ancient forests, beautiful beaches and wildlife like crazy. Of course Sunday is not the best day to do this kind of thing in Vancouver, as it is always busiest day of the week in the park. But it was still very nice, relaxed and nice to get some exercise. Later we met with Eric down in Yaletown for a few beers at the brew pub and then headed over to False Creek to catch the Aquabus across to Science World where we could just walk up to Main Street. We had planned on getting back to Granville Island to see a show related to the Jazz Festival but somehow ended up running late and missing it entirely. But we did manage to get some food at Bin 942 on Granville Street, which is always good for a unique taste of BC's best small plates. Eric was determined to make sure our last night was a good one, but somehow we made a few bad choices on where it was hip to go. First down to Gastown, was dead as a doornail, then over towards Granville by passing the Railway club where we stopped for a beer and then up to Granville, it is so strange because there used to only be one club on Granville for the longest time, and now there was many. BC also has a few very archaic liquor laws, one being that if you have a food license then you cannot stand up and have a drink even it it is called a pub. We went to one place had a couple of beers, and a couple of shooters (again Eric's idea) Jagermeister and Gold Schlager. But quickly decided it was time to get the hell out of there when they announced that they could not serve more than 2 drinks per person if we did not order food, but she could give us our bill and we could then order 2 more drinks per person and so on and so on.. IMHO a totally stupid and idiotic the way that province is doing things, I have said it more than once, Canada and the States could learn a thing or 10 from the European countries. We end up with some mix and sat again at Eric's place having some drinks and talking about how great it has all been and yet so quick it was hard to imagine that we did not just arrive.
On Monday we got up went for breakfast at a really cool breakfast joint near Main and Broadway (before my last coffee at Soma's) and then headed back to Granville Island to actually see some touristic things. Sadly it was all over to quickly and we had to head back to get our stuff and head to the airport. Said good buy to my brother and jumped in a cab home. It was strange because it felt in some ways that I was gone for over 3 weeks and other ways like I had never been gone. but I knew I already had my next adventure lined up for the next day after I arrived back which was the Fusion festival in Germany. (more photos to follow)
