Yes, indeed. I do have pictures. Like this one, of the Robson Square Ice Rink:
It’s pretty cool, actually. Despite appearances, it is outside and has this nifty kind of dome over it that changes color with the lights underneath. The ice changes color with the lights, which is equal parts cool and hazardous. Blue, green, OK. Red? Hazardous.
The ice rink is in Robson Square, which is kind of like the town center. The court house is there, as is the UBC Business School which apparently sponsors or helps maintain the ice rink. When you turn and look away from the ice rink, you see this:
It was an incredibly clear night last night. I walked a little bit beyond, closer to the stairs (which have a rather clever wheelchair ramp built into them), looked up and saw the moon and stars. Stars! Standing in the middle of downtown Vancouver, you can see stars. That was new, and cool. Standing in the middle of downtown Chicago, you see buildings and lights. You have to go out by Lake Shore Drive, or Millennium Park, to get a glance at stars, and only if they’re particularly bright and its a particularly clear night. There are skyscrapers in Chicago though, which help give it its famous skyline. No skyscrapers in Vancouver so you see stars instead.
After ice skating, we went to a local bar, the Winking Judge Pub. I mistakenly heard it as the Whispering Judge Pub, but it turned out to be too crowded for our party of six so off we went. Ended up at a place called The Corner in Yaletown, which had pretty crappy service but decent drinks. The shot special of the night was called Avatar, and the reason for that was soon obvious:
If the WordPress “edit image” option stops stalling, I’ll fix the rotation. But, as you can see, the drink is blue, very much like the blue used in the movie Avatar. It’s vodka and something else. Mostly vodka. Struck me as vodka with blue food coloring, and apparently has a horrible after taste. I passed on the shot and instead opted for an apple cider, which wasn’t bad.
The service was horrendous though. Ugh. Bartender/waiter kept forgetting about us. Took our drinks, and brought them a half hour later. Took another order and forgot about it entirely. Drinks were sitting on the bar, waiting. We got up and got’em ourselves. Downright disgraceful service.
Oh, and after waiting an hour for the bill, it was time to pay. Now, remember, Canadians love their coins. So, when most of the drinks you ordered off the menu are under $10, this how you pay:
In America, paying in change is an insult. Then again, in America, change is anything under a dollar. In Canada, it seems par for the course if you don’t whip out the plastic.
Go figure.