I recently spent four glorious days wandering through eating my way through Vancouver with two dear friends from my Victoria days. We actually met while studying holistic nutrition at Pacific Rim College back in 2015 and we have managed to stay in touch despite the fact that we all live in different provinces and states (Ontario, British Columbia, and Oregon, to be exact). We decided that a visit was long overdue and that Vancouver was a natural place to meet up (hello, mountains + ocean + bustling food scene).
Our first two nights were spent in North Vancouver and boy, I am still suffering from serious withdrawal.
I mean, just look at the Whole Foods Market:
And this view near our Air bnb:
Sigh. <3
We ate some phenomenal meals at Buddha-Full Provisions:
… like these nourishing Buddha bowls. I will re-create them for the blog soon.
And these vibrant acai bowls accompanied by wellness elixirs.
We also did the Grouse Grind. (I had the cute idea of hiking down as well. It was a rather humbling experience that was twice as challenging as hiking up. If you have ever done it, you will know what I mean.)
I loved how easy it was to get around on foot and by transit in North Vancouver! We took a Trans Link city bus from Lonsdale Quay to the base of Grouse Mountain and it was completely painless. As someone who grew up in a city with disappointingly sparse public transit options, I was very impressed by how easily nature can be accessed by public transportation.
North Vancouver is nice because it feels like a small city tucked away from the hustle of downtown that is just across the water. Needless to say, we had a great time exploring and I cannot wait to return!
Stay tuned for Part 2: UBC and Kitsilano!