As I sit here listening to the wind roar outside (the downside of living on the 7th floor) I am keeping my spirits up by remembering the fun I had last weekend and the fun I will have in another six weeks and two days (but who's counting?)
Anyway Sunday morning I was awake early and went in search of coffee and a pastry - sadly all I could find open before 8 a.m. was a Tim Hortons. Not that there is anything wrong with Tim Horton's but I like to try places we don't have at home. Sigh...anyway I had a bagel and coffee. This place was rather run down as places open 24 hours usually are...anyway I then roamed listessly around the downtown area until it was time to meet Verni and other walks at the bus on Georgia St. Off we went on the 250 bus to West Vancouver. There was a group walk starting at 10 a.m. from Cafe Crema (more on that place later...) I signed in for the 5 km walk - I needed to save my energy for Paul so didn't want to do a 10km walk. This walk was two 5 km segments that came back to the start point. I had only ever done the 5 km Ambleside walk so I was happy that they did the 5 km Dundarave walk first. Mostly new territory for me so that was fun. The walk around the residential area was okay...but it was when we hit the ocean walking path that I got excited. Wow. And I should mention Mr. Sun came out to play so it was gorgeous...I will just let my pictures tell the story of the walk...
I did most of the walk with Brenda from Surrey but then I told her to go ahead as I was too busy taking pictures. We met up at the end of the walk and sat on a bench by the ocean and had a coffee and I had a warmed up piece of gingerbread cake. Yum. That was lunch....Cafe Crema was packed but is one of the coffee shops I love with a wide assortment of baked goodies but they serve breakfast as well. The place was packed but I wanted to sit outside anyway. How often do I get to sit by the ocean to drink my coffee?
I caught the bus with Verni who had just gotten back from the 10km walk - she got off at the mall in West Vancouver and I carried on to Georgia St. downtown. I walked down to the waterfront to do the Canada Trail at Canada Place which was interesting and made me feel patriotic which I guess is what it was designed to do... Verni had told me there were lots of posters of Paul on the Cambie bridge so I walked over and got some photos...
I walked back to Robson St by the hotel and visited the Memphis Blues BBQ House just because it was there....I had a half BBQ chicken with all sorts of sides - no way could I even get close to finishing it. It was good but I kept thinking why am I eating BBQ again - I should be eating something else! I wasn't even super hungry but knew if I did not have a good meal I would be hungry when the concert got out and I did not want to eat that late.... In retrospect I should have walked over to Chinatown and had something there...however the food was good and I would eat there again if I was in the mood for BBQ.
I then walked back to the Y and rested up. About 5 I headed out to listen to the sound check for a while. Things were getting noisy as there was a tribute band playing and radio stations were setting up but I found a place close to the stadium where I could hear what was going on inside. The excitement was building!!! Paul had not been to Vancouver since 1964 with the Beatles so there were a lot of happy fans!!!
Back to the room to rest up a bit more...then about 7:15 I headed out the front door and saw a ton of people - a line up right down the street. I walked across and kind of melted into the crowd. It took about 25 minutes to get into the door - guess the other doors weren't crowded at all. Oh well. With the hoards of people it was impossible to get through to the other entrances anyway. I located my seat in the 15th row which due to the screens and being a huge venue was more like 25 to 30. Oh well. I was still on the floor. The concert was due to start at 8 but didn't start until 8:40 - ten minutes past it's usual start time. What can I say...Paul was hot and so was the audience. My area stood the whole time which I am cool with - unfortunately there were taller people in my line of vision so it was hard to see Paul - I had to watch the screens a good deal of the time unless I wanted to twist my head to an unnatural angle!!! I sat down during the slow songs. The guys behind me were wild - screaming like girls "I love you Paul". It was hilarious but fun. I boogied and had a blast and yes I yelled too but not that I loved him! I sat down during "Eleanor Rigby" and one of the fellows behind me was trying to pull me up saying "you have to stand for this one!". "No", I said "I need to rest"!!! As in a previous post Paul was impressed with the audience's enthusiasm and said "Vancouver, you are a mover and a groover Vancouver" and of course we all went wild!!! As he always does in Canada he played "Mull of Kintyre" with the Delta Pipe Band. It was so good!!! As always a fantastic experience and one I hope I have many more times. I never get tired of it. Thank you Paul!!!!
Anyway Sunday morning I was awake early and went in search of coffee and a pastry - sadly all I could find open before 8 a.m. was a Tim Hortons. Not that there is anything wrong with Tim Horton's but I like to try places we don't have at home. Sigh...anyway I had a bagel and coffee. This place was rather run down as places open 24 hours usually are...anyway I then roamed listessly around the downtown area until it was time to meet Verni and other walks at the bus on Georgia St. Off we went on the 250 bus to West Vancouver. There was a group walk starting at 10 a.m. from Cafe Crema (more on that place later...) I signed in for the 5 km walk - I needed to save my energy for Paul so didn't want to do a 10km walk. This walk was two 5 km segments that came back to the start point. I had only ever done the 5 km Ambleside walk so I was happy that they did the 5 km Dundarave walk first. Mostly new territory for me so that was fun. The walk around the residential area was okay...but it was when we hit the ocean walking path that I got excited. Wow. And I should mention Mr. Sun came out to play so it was gorgeous...I will just let my pictures tell the story of the walk...
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| How would you like to walk this path every day? I would! |
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| Doggies aren't allowed on the path but can walk behind this fence. |
I caught the bus with Verni who had just gotten back from the 10km walk - she got off at the mall in West Vancouver and I carried on to Georgia St. downtown. I walked down to the waterfront to do the Canada Trail at Canada Place which was interesting and made me feel patriotic which I guess is what it was designed to do... Verni had told me there were lots of posters of Paul on the Cambie bridge so I walked over and got some photos...
I walked back to Robson St by the hotel and visited the Memphis Blues BBQ House just because it was there....I had a half BBQ chicken with all sorts of sides - no way could I even get close to finishing it. It was good but I kept thinking why am I eating BBQ again - I should be eating something else! I wasn't even super hungry but knew if I did not have a good meal I would be hungry when the concert got out and I did not want to eat that late.... In retrospect I should have walked over to Chinatown and had something there...however the food was good and I would eat there again if I was in the mood for BBQ.
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| Talk about a ton of food - yikes. |
I then walked back to the Y and rested up. About 5 I headed out to listen to the sound check for a while. Things were getting noisy as there was a tribute band playing and radio stations were setting up but I found a place close to the stadium where I could hear what was going on inside. The excitement was building!!! Paul had not been to Vancouver since 1964 with the Beatles so there were a lot of happy fans!!!
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| Obviously big fans!!! This kid was kissed by Paul? |
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| Terry Fox statue in front of B.C. Place |
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| I sat where they are sitting to listen to the rehearsal the day before...or should I say "the night before" |
Back to the room to rest up a bit more...then about 7:15 I headed out the front door and saw a ton of people - a line up right down the street. I walked across and kind of melted into the crowd. It took about 25 minutes to get into the door - guess the other doors weren't crowded at all. Oh well. With the hoards of people it was impossible to get through to the other entrances anyway. I located my seat in the 15th row which due to the screens and being a huge venue was more like 25 to 30. Oh well. I was still on the floor. The concert was due to start at 8 but didn't start until 8:40 - ten minutes past it's usual start time. What can I say...Paul was hot and so was the audience. My area stood the whole time which I am cool with - unfortunately there were taller people in my line of vision so it was hard to see Paul - I had to watch the screens a good deal of the time unless I wanted to twist my head to an unnatural angle!!! I sat down during the slow songs. The guys behind me were wild - screaming like girls "I love you Paul". It was hilarious but fun. I boogied and had a blast and yes I yelled too but not that I loved him! I sat down during "Eleanor Rigby" and one of the fellows behind me was trying to pull me up saying "you have to stand for this one!". "No", I said "I need to rest"!!! As in a previous post Paul was impressed with the audience's enthusiasm and said "Vancouver, you are a mover and a groover Vancouver" and of course we all went wild!!! As he always does in Canada he played "Mull of Kintyre" with the Delta Pipe Band. It was so good!!! As always a fantastic experience and one I hope I have many more times. I never get tired of it. Thank you Paul!!!!
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| The light at the top of B.C. Place were red, white and blue in honour of Paul! |
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| Heads in the way and my little zoom lens extended - I wasn't this close! |
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