Tag: Shopping

When on vacation, sometimes you get a moment to read. When shopping in places, I love looking for small bookstores. Occasionally you find a good book. Coombs BC is about 9 km from Parksville. In Coombs there’s a bookstore called Cozy Corner Books that’s got a lot of stuff but over time it’s gotten more disorganized over time. The owner knows tons but I literally tripped over a pile of books and was trapped for a couple of minutes. It’s always fun to look around but ton find anything is tough. Meanwhile in Parksville, at Fireside Books, the place is […]

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If you are visiting Vancouver, you should not miss Granville Island. Food, shopping, boats, artisans, entertainment and more. Food and shopping is what you’ve likely heard, but when I last walked onto the island, I noticed the first thing you see looking forward is the Theatresports venue, where you can enjoy improv. If you look behind you, you will see the Kids Market, which is a collection of toy stores and other fun things. Adults do not need children to enjoy that section. On the road heading to Granville Island Market, you will find unusual (i.e. not so branded) shops […]

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Escape Vancouver Completely (by way of North Vancouver) Without Touching a Car Part 2 of 5 – Seabus to Lonsdale Quay It is incredibly easy to reach the North Shore, specifically North Vancouver, by transit. It was a three-block walk from the Vancouver Art Gallery (part 1 of this series) to Burrard Station. From there, you can buy your tickets from machines to get onto the Skytrain. You need two zone fare for the North Shore. Start at Burrard Station and go to Waterfront Station on the Expo Line. You then follow the signs and walk to the Seabus. It […]

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This is the destination hotel in Harrison Hot Springs and there’s nothing that comes close in the area. This is not to say that the pricing and so forth isn’t accessible to families. I.e. it’s not a 5-star place because, if it were, we would not be staying there. It was March Break when we visited and there were families galore. Beware to those looking for the quiet romantic getaway! The primary draw is the hot springs themselves. You can walk up a path right outside the hotel and follow it to the source of the springs. An article I […]

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I’ll be honest, I’m not a shopper. I outsource that to my family. But I do attend shopping experiences when travelling because I sometimes look for fun things to send family members who live elsewhere. The main Harrison Hot Springs shopping area is on, around and between the Esplanade and Lillooet Rd. However, for you seasoned shoppers, the pickings are not great. There’s a cool store called Casa that has a variety of gifts and they must have a lot of fun doing their sourcing. Next to it is a shop that had a heavy emphasis on incense, which is […]

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Coombs is a 10-minute drive (about 10 km) inland from Parksville, which is considered part of central Vancouver Island. We always enjoy a side trip to Coombs when we’re in the area as there’s a couple of favourite shopping spots and there’s always something new. On Highway 4A, our first stop is Dutch Imports because some members of my family enjoy the rather peculiar-to-the-Dutch taste in candy (and other things). Stop here to find 43 types of salty licorice The store has more than odd foods. There’s a lot of traditional Dutch stuff that will make any Hollander homesick. Dutch […]

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BC Ferries is a funny entity. My view has been if you offer reservations, it should be for most of the boat. I was travelling on a July Saturday and knew it was busy because I could not reserve from their online system. I wanted the 9 AM sailing and so I planned to be out the door by 7 AM, assuming a 45-minute drive to Tsawwassen where the ferry terminal to Victoria is. Traffic was light so I made in in 40 minutes and I subsequently was loading onto the 8 AM sailing. This was a surprise considering a […]

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You might be forgiven if you thought Oak Bay were in Victoria BC. On a bad day it’s 10 minutes from downtown Victoria, but despite its modest size, it has its own police department. Given that Oak Bay is 10.5 sq km and Victoria is 19.5 to sq km, it seems odd. I suspect that this jurisdictional isolation has allowed Oak Bay to retain its character and not be subsumed into the larger municipalities. Oak Bay is also home to The Uplands, a very swishy neighbourhood to the north-east. If you walk high street (i.e Oak Bay Ave) there are […]

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For context I’m on a ultra low sugar and refined carbohydrate diet that allows one cheat day per week. Now, if you’re going to cheat, you ought to do it correctly, so I chose Chocolate Arts on West 3rd Ave in Vancouver. They had a special ice cream sandwich with macarons for $4.50. As you can see from the teeth marks below, this confection did not last long! They also have a choose-your-own-chocolate for making hot chocolate. Despite being a chocolate freak, I don’t enjoy the regular hot chocolates you can have elsewhere. This one is like nothing else. And […]

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Love Christmas Markets? Vancouver has two amazing events you should know about. One of the best and most well known Christmas Markets is the Circle Craft Market. It’s the 43rd annual market this year, and like those before, it’s bound to be amazing. It runs November 9th through to the 13th with over 300 artisans coming from all over Canada. Like always, the Circle Craft Market is located in the Vancouver Convention Centre West, 1055 Canada Place. This market is known for fantastic wood crafts and carvings,made by talented artists across Canada. Check out the many amazing stalls featuring glass […]

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