Visiting Vancouver

11. May, 2011 1 Comment

Vancouver is a beautiful city that I’ve been to quite a number of times, the first time dating back to high school. I’ve visited a lot of the touristy stuff, like Stanley Park, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, etc. Most recently, I’d been there a few times for business travel, so I was somewhat familiar with the area.

And while I knew a race there would be scenic, the main reason I ran the BMO Vancouver Marathon is because it’s in the homeland of Lululemon.

It’s no secret that I love Lulu. 99.9% of my workout gear is from there. I had heard that the selection of merchandise is so much better in the Vancouver stores so I was really looking forward to checking it out. In fact, this was the only thing I had to do while I was there.

Vancouver is a great walking city, so using the Google Maps app on our iPhones, we walked to the Robson store.

I was not disappointed. I got the:

• Turbo Run Shorts: I think this is the one replacing my favorite Groove Run Shorts.

• Bike Pants: I missed out on these the last time they were out, so I was glad to grab a pair, as I see it’s already gone from the Web site.

• Running Vest: I couldn’t find this in my local stores when they came out a few months ago, so I was really happy to snag one!

• Energy Short Sleeve Shirt: I ended up using this for the race. The sales girl was so cute and told me I shouldn’t try anything new for race day (which she is right about), but I told her that I only run in Lulu and had gotten this shirt from the Pearl District store last October when it was specially made for the Portland Marathon). BTW – it worked out great for the race – no chafing!

After leaving Lulu, we walked around for a bit longer (probably longer than I should have), and took a little boat…

…and made our way to Granville Island.

It was the site of a huge public market filled with sweet treats, delicacies and trinkets.

That was pretty much the extent of our explorations in Vancouver, but we did manage to visit a number of fantastic restaurants like the Shore Club and Al Porto.

But my favorite restaurant of all was Café Medina.

In fact, we had breakfast there twice.

It’s a French-themed coffee place with a delectable menu. On the first morning we brunched there I had this dish:

Fried eggs, leafy vegetables (I think it was arugula), and underneath it was a rich blend of braised short ribs with potatoes and apples, served with grilled foccaccia on the side. It was delicious.

But I also got a powdered waffle with dark chocolate dipping sauce.

This was SO GOOD that when we came back a second time I ordered 5 of them! This time I got it with the dark chocolate dipping sauce and a milk chocolate and lavender sauce.

Now I am obsessed with waffles. When I got home from all my travels I discovered that Jamba Juice has waffles – they’re okay but definitely not as good as Café Medina.

Vancouver is a great city to explore. It’s diverse, fairly compact, has great cuisine and of course, Lululemon! It’s definitely a must visit!