The jetlag has relented (slightly)! This is mostly thanks to B dragging my tired (and often unwilling) self out of bed every morning before he goes to work. I never knew such a concentrated form of hatred existed as that of a tired girlfriend being woken up in the morning, even by a loving boyfriend. Thankfully it passes as the day wears on!
So... here goes. How K and B spent their Christmas vacation.
First of all, someone needs to remind me that no matter how cheap the flights may be, nothing on this earth is worth getting up at 3.30am for. Our first flight (to Frankfurt) was at 6.30am, meaning our taxi to the airport came at 4.30am. Not a good way to begin a transatlantic long-haul flight.
Nonetheless we arrived safely in Vancouver, although disturbingly we couldn't actually see Vancouver until 30 seconds before the wheels hit the tarmac. That's what they mean by poor visibility. Gotcha. The parents were waiting in Arrivals to take us home safely, and to be honest I don't remember much of the rest of the night, except trying desperately to stay awake (with the assistance of much-appreciated coffee!)
Our first day was beautiful - thankfully the rain had let up and the sun was shining, so I began my mission to show B as much of my life as humanly possible in 2.5 weeks. We hit up Stanley Park en route to the currency exchange, and then spent the afternoon wandering around the free highlights of North Vancouver (Cleveland Dam still terrifies me... the Fish Hatchery... not so much fun with no fish...)
And then the snow began. Or as a friend has dubbed it, Snowpocalypse.
Don't get me wrong... I am a sucker for snow. I love looking out the window and seeing the world magically blanketed in crystally white powder. Love it. It makes me feel like a little kid. But man is it a pain to drive in. Thankfully the next few days were mostly spent indoors, but we also had trips to the Vancouver Aquarium (still not the same without the killer whales), shopping for last minute presents, visiting with assorted friends and family, a trip to Whistler that made us re-evaluate our definitions of cold (-42 windchill at the Roundhouse, anyone?)... oh, and a very frosty, but not as cold as Whistler, trip to the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
Little known fact (to me, at least): If you are a Vancouver resident, you only need to pay admission to the Suspension Bridge once, and they give you a free season's pass. Brilliant, yes... except it's non-transferrable and I'm now 5000 miles away. Ah well, they make an effort.
On the 23rd we hit the road in a mini-convoy (B and I in one car, parents in another, and little brother and friend in yet another car) and headed up to the Okanagan. I love that drive. Apart from a few slippery sections just out of Vancouver the roads were fine, and while we didn't make record time (5 hours including stops... that was in the summer), we arrived unscathed at my Gran's house in Oliver.
Over the next couple of days, poor B was introduced to, and inspected by, every remaining family member he hadn't met yet. Thankfully they all love him. Seriously love him. We did some rambling around the town, went down to the orchard, and over to Osoyoos to check out the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa. Oh. My. God. Love it.
Then we headed back down to Vancouver, a trip made longer by a bad accident in the valley. After at least a 2 hour detour, we finally made it home. Our final few days were taken up with last minute people-seeing, frantic (as always) packing, and we flew via London back to Dublin, arriving at our apartment with 3 hours to kill until New Years.
Overall it was brilliant. I sometimes forget just how much I miss Vancouver, and the beauty of BC (they don't call it "Beautiful British Columbia" for nothing, you know). What made me even happier was that B felt exactly the same way. I liked being able to play tour guide, and be a tourist in my own town. I don't think people do that enough, and I am definitely guilty of taking my hometown for granted.
So now B and I have some interesting questions ahead of us... some of which we have already started tackling, and we haven't even been home a week yet! But that may be a post for another day.
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