On Saturday evening Lou and I went downtown together for the first time in a few weeks. I head down there everyday for work during the week but it's so much better when your heading across for fun! We decided to go for a nice meal and we opted for The Keg which is a nice steakhouse chain located a few minutes away from Burrard Station. There are actually four of their restaurants in the city, we previously went to a different one when it was Lou's birthday back in August. Our meal was great, we both went for the prime rib which came with garlic mashed potato and fried onions it was all very tasty but difficult to finish! We've actually had 4 meals at The Keg chain now (including when we went there on holiday in 2005) and each time it's always been good, I would definitely recommend it to anybody and everybody. After finishing our drinks we then headed back, joining the SkyTrain at the same time as all the Canucks fans who were leaving the stadium after seeing a great 5-1 win. We managed to get seats so it wasn't too bad and within 20 minutes we were home with our feet up watching a movie.
We were both had the day off work on Sunday so we intended to make the most of the day. However, it was harder to wake up Lou than expected and we didn't end up leaving home until almost mid-day, oops! We went over to North Vancouver to Lynn Canyon Park which is a place most people visit to cross the suspension bridge and see the waterfalls which are known as twin falls. The park was opened in 1912, is home to mainly 2nd generation trees (between 80-100 years old) and it covers an area of 617 acres. Apparently the area was used for filming some of the Stargate SG-1 television series. I personally enjoyed the walk and fresh air but overall I think there are better parks in Greater Vancouver.
The suspension bridge is fun if you're into that kind of thing but it's not as large as the one in Capilano. I'm not particularly a fan of heights and squeezing my way past hordes of families on a narrow bridge (especially when being so tall meant more than 40% of my body was above hand rail) is not my idea of fun. The twin falls are nice but it's a shame some of the nice photo spots are cut off from use. There were warnings of peoples lives being claimed by the falls and the fencing didn't look like it was done at the same time (I guess I would prefer it to be that way if it's done for safety reasons). The walk is not really a relaxing one, it's all downhill one side and an uphill trek the other but it's a good workout for the calf muscles. A lot of the walkways have been prone to rain and a lot of pedestrian traffic which has resulted in many tree roots being exposed, it looks interesting but it can be tricky to walk across when it's wet. There is a really good virtual tour of the park online which you can see by
clicking here. After leaving the park we headed over to the Park Royal Shopping Centre as it was nearby. We had some lunch there and a look around the shops before heading back home. We timed our departure from the park and shops well because soon after getting in the car it started raining heavily and continued to do so for the rest of the night.
Last but not least the bathroom work has all been completed and the shower is back in use now. There's been no real formal apology or offer of compensation for the inconvenience though. They did leave without turning the hot water back on but that was soon fixed on Friday afternoon. After having a shower at 5:50am this morning though I can confirm that all the work has not made the slightest bit of difference to the bloody water temperature, it's exactly the same as before! I still think the real issue is with the boiler(s) in the apartment block just needing to be turned on earlier because it's fine at 9am. I'm sure this situation is far from over, I know Lou too well!
Below are some photos from our visit to the park on Sunday.
