To pay, or not to pay. That was one of the biggest questions we had when deciding whether we wanted to go to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, Lynn Canyon Park, or both. We decided to go to both, because even though they're the same type of bridge, the scenery is different and we had enough time to go to check them out. Here's all the information we took into consideration when we decided that we would go to both:
Would I pay to go back to Capilano again? Probably not, especially because we won't be getting the student discount after this year. Is it worth checking out? Most definitely.
Lynn Canyon's bridge is smaller, but the fact that it's free and the staircases/bridge look very similar to Capilano is reason enough for me to choose this over Capilano.
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My Canada posts are LONGGG overdue, but I figured better late than never! During Spring Break, we visited Vancouver, and before the COVID-19 pandemic craze that forced most of the businesses to close during the last few days of our trip, we got to try some pretty bomb ass places. Jam Cafe was our very first stop, and we thought we'd done a good job getting there early, but we ended up still having to wait around 10 minutes in the fUHREEZING weather. The food was all amazing- I saw people ordering different dishes at each table and each looked so tantalizing. Huge pancakes, stacks of waffles, and massive omelettes. We shared the Chicken & Waffles and the ginormous Charlie Bowl, and both were amazing. Despite being travelers who never wanna go back to the same place twice, we both agreed that if we had time (and space in our bellies), we'd definitely make it a point to come back here. During our Granville Island day, we tried a bunch of different places. Our two favorites were the Duck Poutine from Edible Canada and the Salmon Chowder from A La Mode Pie. *The Poutine is cheaper during Happy hour, from 3-5p on Tuesdays-Sundays, so if you're like us and just wanted to get that, I highly recommend this time frame. The Salmon Chowder, and everything else on the menu from A La Mode Pie was pretty steep, but it's definitely worth a try. On the first day of the downhill that became the COVID-19 business-closing-streak, I really really wanted to try Forage, a sustainable farm-to-table restaurant. After walking 40 minutes to find out there were closed, we went to Yolks for breakfast instead, after seeing it on our friend's IG story the day before. I loved that their benedicts came with the option of béchamel sauce, since I'm really not a huge hollandaise fan. Also, whatever you do, you MUST get the lemon truffle potatoes. They're a life changer. Everyone who knows me can attest that I am a hardcore pastries person. I will choose pastries, breads, and cakes over any meal, so naturally, we visited a bunch of bakeries. Purebread was on the bottom of my must-try food list before coming to Canada, but after trying it once, I was IN. LOVE. I begged my boyfriend to go back every day because I needed to try everything. I don't ever reach for savory pastries, but this was the first time I was inclined to, and loved my savory option. The scones, croissants, breads, and brownies were all so amazing - I was heartbroken when we found out they'd be closed the rest of our stay - I'm determined to go back to Vancouver to try the rest of the pastries. On another round of disappointment, the only place that was an absolute-must on my list, Beta5 Chocolates was closed, also due to COVID-19. Luckily, my sweet boyfriend found another alternative, Beacoup Bakery. They had an amazing Hazelnut Rice Pudding Choux and a Churro Morning Bun that were absolutely to. die. for. Their selection was small, but mind-blowingly amazing. ICE CREAM. In. Vancouver. Is. BETTER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE. Well, it's better than anywhere I've tried at least. Earnest Ice Cream & Bella Gelateria will give any ice cream shop in Hawaii a run for their money. At Earnest, we made ice cream our dinner, and got two scoops each - we literally stared at the menu for a good 10 minutes, then proceeded to discuss and planned out which flavors we'd get because every one sounded so good. The Lavender Shortbread and Salted Chocolate with Rye Cookie were my absolute favorites, followed by the London Fog and the the Whiskey Hazelnut. The quality of Bella Gelateria was phenomenal, and despite having a three-sample limit, the worker let us try whatever we wanted and even convinced us to get a flavor we originally weren't intending on, and it was amazing. Dark Chocolate Sorbetto sounded watery to us but bruh it was the darkest, creamiest, most luscious piece of chocolate magic we ever encountered. Honorable Mentions:
Tacofino and Ganache Patisserie were two places that were also really good (but also not mind-blowing like the other places mentioned). We got the Crispy Chicken Burrito and Fish Tacos, and both were really good - much better than any taco place in Hawaii, that's for sure. I stumbled upon Ganache Patisserie on my way home from ANOTHER cake shop (the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, on Granville Island), but they had this Earl Grey Chocolate Cake that I NEEDED to try. Did I go over my calorie count for the day? Absolutely. Do I regret it? Not a single bit. Today kicks off the beginning of my last Europe trip for a while.
“Corina, you’ve had so much bad luck, why do you always risk making more traumatizing memories?” Good question. I have no idea. Nah. It’s because this week is the longest break I’ve had from school, and I knew if I didn’t take advantage of it, I would regret it. So, I contacted Monique, a fellow SGL studying in Prague, asking if she would be down to hang, and I booked my flight, booked my hostel, packed my bags, and arrived in a fairytale kingdom. My first full day consisted of sightseeing and eating – what else is new? I stopped by Bakeshop for breakfast and I literally had to look at every single bread, loaf, cookie, croissant, cake, brownie, and pastry about three times, because the prices still confused me (~23czk for $1) and because I really couldn't decide on just a few. I made my way to Vyšehrad, which was a beautiful fort alongside the water. Despite the cloudy weather, this was probably one of the nicest views I’ve ever seen. It overlooks the city and every step you take, you get to see a brand new perspective. I originally tried to make my way to a restaurant called Kantyna, but after Google Maps took me around in circles for a solid 20 minutes, I gave up and threw in a different restaurant into my GPS. After being thrown in circles for 10 minutes after that, I finally ended up at Lokal. I read that this place is really popular with both the lokals (hahaha get it, lokals, because that’s the name of the restaurant) and the tourists. I got a small portion of the braised pork shoulder and the smažený sýr (deep fried cheese) and I’d say both of them were just alright :/ I thought I’d be in loveeee with the smažený sýr but it was such a big portion (100g) that by the time it was out of the oil and on my table, it was already starting to get cold, and within the first five minutes, I was basically just eating a big chunk of breaded cheese. Prague was much colder than I had anticipated, and it was torturous to walk in the -2C weather without proper clothes, so I stopped by the Chocolate Museum in the city center, and ended up buying a ticket to enter the museum and a ticket for the chocolate workshop. Lowkey, the chocolate museum was pretty lame HAHA but I legit took a good €9 worth of free chocolate samples so I guess it wasn’t too bad. The chocolate workshop was pretty cool too but because it was in the glass window that everyone could see, I felt like an awkward caged animal making chocolate by myself. It's been two weeks since I went to Switzerland, and I've been meaning to post about my amazing time there, but things here have been so crazy, hectic, unbelievable, and chaotic, that I never got a chance to write about one of my only good experiences on this exchange.
There were so many times prior to boarding the plane that I thought “why am I traveling again? Nothing good has come from it recently.” And I know I’m right to think that, because my past two trips really have been traumatizing. That’s why, I am so happy to say that everything went right this time. More than alright, everything was spectacularly amazing. The accommodation: Geneva Hostel and City Hostel Geneva were both outstanding, and the best hostels I’ve been to so far. Beautiful, convenient location, clean, friendly staff, cheap, and hella dope free breakfast at Geneva Hostel. The food: Chou, a little cafe that specializes in choux pastries, was absolutely adorable and amazing. Bayview by Michel Roth – My first Michelin Star restaurant experience was outstanding. The service was exceptional, the food was beautifully presented, and the whole place and experience sparkled. Le Portail was a very unassuming cafe/bar/restaurant that ended up having amazing food for the price, and helped me avoid a tourist trap restaurant that I originally planned on going. The chocolate: Belgium was my first chocolate heaven experience, but we were only sampling the cheap truffles sold at souvenir stores. This chocolate heaven was a finer, more exquisite experience, because I got to sample actual quality chocolates from places like Laderach, Favarger, and Rohr, and actually ended up buying (I know, who am I) these said expensive chocolates, because they were that darn good. The flight: Air France put my anxious mind at ease by having a super smooth check-in process, being on time for all my flights, and even providing snacks and drinks for each of the short, one-hour-long flights. Public Transportation: The free Geneva Transport Card is given to all tourists staying at a hotel or hostel to use for the entire duration of your time. This helped a lot because it allowed me to ride the trams to rest my legs or shield myself from the rain, because heaven knows I never pay unnecessary for transportation, no matter how tired I am or how terrible the weather is. It also allowed me to get back to the airport safely and on time via the train (which is really fast lol) Scenery: It was cloudy and rainy for majority of my time there, but the morning of my last full day, it was sunny. I finally got to see the blue sky, tall trees, and beautiful mountains which made me a little homesick because it reminded me of Hawaii. I walked past turquoise lakes and rivers surrounded by autumn trees, and that’s when I thought “wow. I’m not in Hawaii anymore. I’m not in France anymore. I’m in Switzerland, having the time of my life.” Everything: Amazing. If I could sum up my experience in Switzerland, it was nothing short of amazing. After my first day in Switzerland, I thought to myself “I could live here. I want to live here. I want to move here one day.” The gloom and buildings reminded me of Japan (my favorite place in the world) The bed of waters reminded me of Norway & our fjord cruises last year The trees and mountains reminded me of our trip to Iceland last year The mountains also reminded me of Hawaii, which I didn’t know I could miss so much The food is just as amazing as France, which I absolutely love. And an added bonus because their two specialties are cheese and chocolates, which also happen to be my two favorite foods. The cultural diversity of all the tourists made me feel like I was back in Hawaii – I saw Japanese, Chinese and Korean tourists, which was a nice change from all the Indian, Middle Eastern, and European people that I always see here. After my hellish experience last week, you’d think i’d learn my lesson about taking the bus system in Europe. And I did - that’s precisely why I booked another trip to Frankfurt, Germany this time - because every time I thought about traveling, I got scared and anxious that something bad would happen. And I didn’t wanna let this fear consume me and prevent me from doing something that I love to do. Despite everything I’ve had to endure, the universe really continues to test me. I got to Paris on time at 3:00pm, and explored other parts of the city, returning back to the bus stop 40 minutes before my bus was supposed to depart at 10:15pm. As the time approached 10:10, I called the emergency service (see, I called them BEFORE the departure time this time) in which the guy on the phone casually told me that it’s been cancelled, and that all passengers should have received a notification about this (which I didn't, apparently). And then you know the drill - my body became cold, my mind started to race, my breathing became shorter, but somehow I managed to keep my cool, even when he told me that there were no other busses tonight and he would not rebook my ticket, and that I had to do it manually. I hung up the phone, called my mom, and broke. down. into. tears. sobs. I can’t even think of a word that could describe how I felt at that point. I actually felt myself hitting rock bottom. The last time this happened last week, I told myself “well, at least it’s still daytime, and I’m only stuck here for four hours, not for the entire night.” and welp in a not-so-funny turn of events, that’s exactly what happened this time. I made my way to the same hotel I went to last week when I used their wifi and charging station, and as I entered the bathroom to freshen up after 20 minutes of crying, a sweet, startled girl saw me, asked what’s wrong, and when I told her everything, she helped me talk to the concierges to see what they could do. Short story short, they told me there was another bus departing in 15 minutes, so I ran my ass back to that station, just to find out that THAT bus got cancelled too. Luckily, I talked to a station worker and had her rebook me for a bus the following morning at 9am. So one problem was solved, but now came the most crucial - where do I stay, in this foreign country, for the next 10 hours? I went BACK to that hotel, hid in a corner, and cried to my sisters and mom for an hour and a half on the phone. I could feel my body slowly falling asleep but knew I’d be caught if I slept in that spot, so I figured i’d find a better place. I walked two steps, and a worker that was eyeing me out the entire time i was there, asked me what was wrong. I’d been caught. Luckily, he was there when the sweet French girl explained my situation for me, so after I told him my bus wouldn’t be departing until 9am and that I had no place to sleep AND no money (this hotel costs minimum $200 a night), he told me he couldn’t allow me to sleep in the lobby. but. There was a private meeting room in that lobby in which he directed me to, and allowed me to sleep strictly until 6am. Bless his heart, I now had a place to sleep. It was rough - cold room, lights on, music playing, people’s footsteps approaching every ten minutes, but it got the job done. And I was so mentally exhausted that I was able to fit in a few good hours of rest. Being the diligent worker he was, he promptly knocked on my door at 6:03am and told me it was time to leave. I freshened up in the bathroom and asked for one more favor - to charge my phone before I left for good. He agreed, and told me I could grab some coffee or tea, along with muffins, that were meant for the guests. There really were no words I could find to describe the appreciation and gratitude that I felt for those people that helped me throughout the toughest hours of my life. I have never encountered people and workers that had so much goodwill and honest concern for people, and although there’s nothing I can do to repay them, I hope the universe repays them on my behalf, with luck, good health, prosperity, and happiness. And like everything in my life, this turned out to be a good life lesson, and I had a huge realization after talking to a really good friend who always helps me through my roughest patches. I realized that these bad things keep happening to me because I’m trying to escape my current reality of all problems with my uncomfortable housing, never-ending visa process, and incomplete class situations, instead of buckling down and trying to make the best of it back in Rennes. It’s the universe telling me that the time for fun is after I start to enjoy my life in my own city on my own terms, and that I can’t travel to escape, I have to travel to explore. i figured this quote I saw in Amsterdam fit my situation perfectly
Despite my hellish experiences this weekend, my short trip to Amsterdam really was one for the books. It was a lovely city where you’re surrounded by English speakers, flowers, canals, bicycles, and food. Here’s a rundown of all the foods I ate: Honingwafel from Lanskroon Banketbakkerij For a little over 2 euros, this was probably my best buy of the weekend. It’s a huge “waffle” filled with a honey syrup. The outside was more of a thin butter cookie than a waffle, and was crisp but chewy – the most addicting texture combination in my opinion. I told myself I’d just eat a bite, and by the time I looked at my hands, it was gone LOL Stroopwafel from Albert Cuypmarkt 2 euros gets you this huge freshly made, soft, syrupy waffle with a chocolate spread. It was a lot softer than I thought it would be, and although this was what I was looking forward to ever since I tried the Stroopwafel McFlurry back home, I honestly prefer the Lanskroon Honingwafel, because of the texture. Veal Croquette from Patisserie Holtkamp A little over 2 euros for a small lil croquette that's PACKED with flavor from a shop specializing in chocolate and cakes? Weird, but it works I guess. They have veal, shrimp, and cheese croquettes, but they're nothing like the Japanese ones. They do have a crisp outside like japanese croquettes, but the inside is more of a creamy mushroom sauce, and the veal one had lil bits of meat mixed in. It takes about 5 minutes to make, but it comes out hot & fresh! Bitterballen (regular & truffle) from De Ballenbar Located in The Foodhallen (a cool, modern food court), this was my last stop of the weekend and I was SO full but duh. Bitterballen is a staple in the Netherlands so I had to try it. The beef one basically tasted like the Croquette from Patisserie Holtkamp, and the truffle one was hella truffle-y, which is just the way I like it. Chocolate cookie from Van Strapele Koekmakerij I saw a long line outside this store while I was making my second round at Lanskroon to get another honingwafel, and I asked the lady what it was about, in which she answered – a chocolate cookie. Hm. Underwhelming, but the long line must mean it’s good, so I waited for about 7 minutes and got my hands on this dark chocolate cookie with a white chocolate inside for 2 euros. They’re made fresh, right in front of you (which is their gimmick I’m guessing) with Valrhona chocolate – it tasted like a brownie cookie and it was super good, but not something I’d wait in line for, for 2 euros. Poffertjes & Kibbeling from Lindengrachtmarkt
Lindengrachtmarkt is a foodie’s dream – so many food stalls and SO. MANY. CHEESE & CHOCOLATE SAMPLES. So many that I got sick of it after a while. Poffertjes were cute lil mini pancakes freshly made with butter and powdered sugar – 10 for 2,50 euros is what I paid (I scouted the prices and found this booth to be cheaper than the one at Albert Cuypermarkt). Kibbeling is basically deep fried cod, so like fish & chips, minus the fish. I got mine for 2,75 euros (also MUCH much much cheaper than all the other food stalls I’ve seen throughout the city) and it was packed with flavors from the seasonings, and was perfectly fried – crispy outside and soft inside. |