Living over an hour and a half a way from the city means that I don't get to visit quite often. With hectic class, work, and volunteer schedules, I am often too buried under a dog-pile of responsibilities to make the trip down. Though I do wish that I lived closer, the distance and the small number of visits make each jaunt sweeter. As such, each time I find a hole in my calendar that can be filled with an excursion downtown, I make it a point to stay for as long as feasibly possible. With that being said, here's a recount of one of the times I spent roaming in the city that highlights the stark contrast of the undercurrents depending on the time of day.
MORNING
The day started off with brunch at Catch 122 on West Hastings (not pictured). Due to my love for salmon, I naturally ordered their signature Catch 122 which had "scrambled eggs, house-smoked and cured wild salmon with dill creme fraîche, arugula, croissant, yukon nugget potato hash." I've had it before and was most definitely not disappointed the second time around. The portions looked fairly small, but to my surprise it filled me up quite well. Also, though I don't normally like to drink (because alcohol in general does not react well within my system), for some reason, Wyne and I decided to get a mimosa as well, which (among the very limited drinks I've tried) goes quite close to the top of the list.
AFTERNOON
After brunch, we walked a few shops down to the corner of the street so that we could spend the rest of the afternoon in a cafe. Prado was an ideal choice due to its location, and because their Belgian waffles were calling my name. Sadly, even if we were out and about, we still had responsibilities to uphold. So, after ordering a cup of hot chocolate and the waffle I was so desperately craving, we buckled down and began to work for several hours. Luckily enough, the atmosphere was just right. The background noise was not distracting; rather, it was soothing to hear all the typical cafe noises. My favorite part of Prado though, was the fact that the majority of the place was windows. Truly, I was insanely grateful for the steady streaming of the sun through the glass, and for the productivity that followed.
NIGHT
As the sun set, and as our productivity levels dwindled, we decided to pack up and walk around Gastown while waiting for Philip. During this walk, we stumbled across one out of the many reasons why Gastown is so great; there's so many reminders and encouragements wherever you look.
When we finally met up with Philip, we walked around the area to find places to eat. It often takes awhile to figure out where we want to go because our small little group is so filled with indecisiveness. Originally, we had wanted to go to Tacofino because I have not been able to stop thinking about the fish tacos and wings since the first time I had been there. However, the place was packed and the line was long so instead, we went to MeeT, a place that we passed by earlier where the server waved for us to go in while we peered at the menu posted on the glass door.
Because the server motioned for us, we felt intrigued and inclined to go. So despite not having known very much about the place, we dove right in. When we sat down, it was to our surprise that the place was actually entirely vegan. The server prefaced us with a brief description of the establishment and said something along the lines of plant-based but not necessarily healthy. The entire concept was attractive to me, and so was the 50% off deal on the dishes because it was newly opened.
We ordered a ton of food, ranging from artichoke and spinach dip, garlic fries, hot chiggin, the macro bowl, MoM's Portobello stroganoff, and even coconut-milk based vegan ice cream. The entire vegan experience was wildly foreign to me, which is why I was so pleased to have enjoyed it. Every single one of the dishes that we ordered did not fail to please, and the atmosphere was electric. There was a buzz of conversation, and a steady stream of great food. What more could you ask for?
Lastly, I leave you all with a few shots I took of some of my favorite humans by Watefront station. Here's hoping you are surrounding yourself with great people in your life that make you glad to feel that you are alive.
Hope you've enjoyed this post!
Stay gold,
Kimberly
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