Shopping and Capilano

Shopping spree and Capilano Bridge

Yesterday was the so awaited day of shopping and we started out at a very far outlet mall called Queensborough Landing. Guess where we got started? The king of bargains from electronics to food: Wal-Mart! I don't need to mention we spent a good time in there and were a bit late in our program for the day - another huge mall and bowling at night. As we explored the other great shops around, we got more and more into the spirit of buying and making great deals! End of story, we stayed there until about 4:00 pm. In sequence, we headed to Metrotown, one of the biggest malls in Canada. By this time, our arms were practically dropping with so many shopping bags, so Dani and I found a fantastic offer for suitcases and bought one each. We put everybody's purchases in the huge bags and off we went to enjoy the big shopping center. On the way back, we were so tired and excited we missed our stop and got off before our destination. That delayed our already late return and we were back after 10:00 pm. Nevertheless, everyone happy with their new things.
Today we did some more sightseeing and this time it was Capilano Bridge. It is a suspension bridge that was built some time at the end of the 19th century and it's quite long, and very impressive if you consider the time when it was constructed. It's today part of a beautiful park which has tried to preserve both the incredible nature that already existed in the area, and also spread the history of these explorers who developed this land (Scottish, natives and Italians). Besides the bridge, there are some smaller versions of bridges on the tree tops that go all around, and some other paths circling the park.
After Capilano, we had to go back downtown anyway, so we stopped at a mall, had lunch and why not, shopped a bit more. Can you believe they still want more time for spending?
Tomorrow we'll join the big group for Playland, an amusement park, and Robson Street (shopping area, somewhat like the Oscar Freire region) for shopping.
Our trip is coming to an end soon, so we need to get as much as possible from these last precious moments. Weather has been heavenly with sunny days and blue skies! Hope it continues like that until Sunday...

Last day in Whistler and arrival at SFU

Here are pictures of our last day in Whistler, including a Hip Hop Dance show at the Village and our glamorous Hollywood Disco. Check it out!
Also, you'll find the first pictures of our arrival at SFU and our pleasant ride through Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium. Enjoy!

And the trip continues... Vancouver and SFU

Sunday was a long day traveling from Whistler to Vancouver in our dearest yellow school bus and waiting long hours at the airport to pick up more kids arriving to the Simon Fraser University Tamwood Camp. We got to SFU around 3:00 pm and did the whole process of intake (keys, passport, deposit, laundry bag and so on). Here life changes quite a bit. Each one has his or her own private room and the bathroom is of common use to all of those on the same floor, so, in other words, you get lots of privacy in your room, but lots of lines at rush hours to use the showers or toilets. However, flexibility and adaptation are at the core of our experience on this trip and we have no doubt grown quite used to changing factors. Also, because we're sort of following our own program, the boys haven't bonded that much to the other members of their group, The Grizzlies. They have the meals together, talk a bit and later in the evening do some activity together. Today they're having movie night, watching "The Illusionist".
Well, our first official day in Vancouver was very exciting and naturally, adventurous! We started out taking 2 buses to get to Stanley Park and stopped off at a bike rental shop. What for? Oh, we rented bikes and went all the way around the park, just alongside the sea wall, with this fantastic view of the ocean, the shore, the marina and all the boats and ships there anchored. In addition, there was a lot of green around and a clear blue sky above full of sunshine. Not bad for a Monday morning, huh? It took us about an hour and a half until we returned the bikes to the shop. After that, we headed to the Aquarium, which is inside the park as well, so we had to walk our way back to Stanley to get there. Aquatic life is always much fun and we enjoyed a delicious lunch there too. We saw crazy looking jellyfish, thousands of fish and a very cool 4D movie about the salmon run up the river every year. On our way back, before taking the second bus, we stopped at a mall downtown to browse around for a short time, as we needed to be back in time for dinner. Our journey back was quite interesting, as we hit rush hour (around 5:00 pm) and the bus was packed.
Tomorrow it's spending day and we'll get in the shopping spree spirit when we visit an outlet mall in Queensborough and a regular mall called Metrotown. Everyone's excited to find out what special offers we'll find there. I'll tell you later...
Best wishes to all!

The full story of the Garibaldi trip in pictures!