Travel Journal: Return to Granville Island

That title sounds like a pirate movie... Yarr!

So, I revisited Granville Island today, deciding to give it a second shot after my somewhat disappointing visit during the week. Matt from the hostel staff was running a tour there today and invited me along, saying that it would probably be more lively on the weekend.

And he was right!

Random Sights

The first thing I'll note is that it was WAY more fun checking out the island with someone who knows what there is to see, rather than just ambling around on my own. Matt guided us around several different points of interest which I'd missed before. The kids market, the trash mound, the food court and some of the more interesting stores, to name a few.

The Kids Market was as you would expect – a big market for kids. It was full of puppets, plush toys, wooden toys, car toys... basically lots of toys. We didn't spend long in there (though I did spy some pretty decent looking Pony key rings).

Next stop was the Trash Mound. This was aptly described by Matt as “Basically a big mound of trash, covered in dirt and grass” (that's in an Australian Accent, if anyone's counting). He explained that when the peninsula was originally cleaned up to be commercialised, all the rubbish was put into a massive pile. This pile was then covered with dirt and grass seeds, which has since grown into a lovely little hill (you would never know it was a trash mound unless someone explained it to you) with a Canadian Flag on top. Pretty darn cool.

Oh, Canada~~

Diagonally

So we checked out some of the more interesting shops too. For a short while, it actually felt like the kind of thing I imagined when reading the Harry Potter books for the first time.

"OMG! The New Nimbus 2000!"

...In no small part because the first shop we went into was an honest to goodness Quidditch Broom store. There were wooden-carved brooms of all shapes and sizes lining the walls and shelves. One of the ladies on staff walked around, testing each of them in turn and using them to sweep dust out of the entrance. The other was in a little workshop section in the back, piecing together several different new brooms. Seriously, if they had been wearing witches' hats it would have been the second most amazing shop ever.

As it is, it's just somewhat interesting.

A couple of paces along was a candle shop with a tonne of really interesting 'flavours' on display. I took a whiff of a random one off the shelf, and a second later realised that it was 'Dr Pepper' (the soft drink). I proceeded to try a bunch of different candles, with names such as 'Enchanted Forest', 'Whiskey Dream' (easily my favourite – white chocolate with a hint of bourbon) and 'London Fog'. Weirdly enough, all of them smelled roughly how I expected them to – which was pretty amazing.

The only exception was 'Monkey Farts', which was clearly a gag one. It smelled of bananas and strawberries.

The last place we checked out was a glass-blower's shop. I wasn't so much interested in the artwork inside as I was in the forge that was attached to the building. There were windows to look through, giving a fantastic view of all the blazing forges and smaller bunsen flames that were being used to create these pieces of art. I tried to get a decent photo, but the lighting was all wrong and the windows blurred the shots – sorry, Owen!

Taco Sunday

After our brief sortie into wizard-land, we hit the food court to dispel our hunger (wha-hey!). I picked up a cup of hot apple cider (absolutely delicious) and a soft-shell chicken and bean taco. I've never tried a taco before, but the plethora of internet-related taco jokes convinced me to give it a go. It's a tortilla type thing, but smaller and a little thicker. It was really good! Didn't last long though...

While we ate, we sat outside by the bay and watched some of the live entertainment. There was a comedian lady whose act we caught the tail end of. Very outspoken with jokes about money and calling out members of the audience. Not really my kind of humour, but it was still good entertainment.

Ah, and then came the music. I was hoping to see some more than I did last time around, and I was not disappointed.

I got a great picture of the guitarist who came on after the comedy act had finished (he looked a little bit like the prince of darkness). He was animated in a subtle kind of way – just walking around and nodding his head as he played – that's the kind of stage presence I imagine I'd have if I ever got into performing music properly.

He started out playing some laid back finger-style guitar tunes, then moved on to some faster-paced ones. I didn't recognise any of the tunes – I actually think some of them (if not all) were original – but they were all really excellent. I hope I can find him online because I'd really like to learn to play like that.

Wandering around the Island a bit more yielded at least half a dozen other performers. I didn't like them quite as much as this guy, but they were all great. There was another guitarist, a guy on what I believe was an Oboe and another on Pan-flute (not the same guy I saw the other day, either). It was nice to check out the local music to wind down after all the walking.

After all was said and done there, we rounded up the few of us who hadn't wandered off throughout the day and headed back over the bridge to the hostel. Today was a little bit more physically stressful than walking on my own, as there was a pace to be kept, so I've just had a shower and settled down for some R&R.

For those who don't know, tomorrow is actually my last day in the city (I've gotten what I came for – blog on that coming soon)! I may hop on board with whatever activity the hostel is throwing, or I may check out one of the few remaining things on my 'recommended' list. Or I may spend the day writing, though I keep reminding myself that I can do that when I get home!

Either way, you'll hear from me soon. Catch you next time!