Vancouver, Canada >> Dublin, Ireland, Home.

We took the train from Portland to Vancouver and I think I spent the entire 8 hours in awe. The Oregon coat is no joke…with mountains out one window and the sea out the other it was truly breathtaking. I felt so overwhelmingly nostalgic and unbelievably lucky to be right there, right then…on the train, with my love, travelling to such stunningly beautiful places. 

We spent our last few days in Vancouver relaxing. We read by the beach, drank beer, ate and tried not to spend what little money we had left. 

We made sure to say our goodbyes to the Pacific. 

Gill took this photo of the two of us on the way to watch the fireworks from Kits. How handsome is my boyfriend? A few minutes before this photo was taken a guy stopped us on the street and gushed that Rich looked like a member of One Direction. Ha! Not sure if I like that or not buuut he sure meant it as a compliment!

We took this super awkward selfie before leaving to get the sky train to the airport. Our flights went off without a hitch and we BOTH slept almost the entire 9 hours home.
It was a miracle. 

Seattle, Washington, USA.

On Monday we loaded our bags on our backs and headed for Union Station (is it just me or are all of the bus/train stations in North America called Union something?). We were excited about the journey almost as much as the destination but I can’t say that I wasn’t a little bit nervous about the border crossing. We had heard horror stories about the bus to Seattle but the price tag was too good to pass up so we pulled up our bootstraps and decided to go for it. We were pleasantly surprise by a lovely driver, a pleasant enough drive and plenty of pit stops along the beautiful coast. 

We found the bus stop and located our airbnb ‘home’ easily enough. Letting ourselves into a strangers home was definitely stranger than strange but we were quickly at ease upon meeting our host. We were greeted with oven-fresh brownies and ice cold beers upon arrival and instantly bombarded with recommendations of things to do, places to go and restaurants try. Over the next 48 hours we made our way through most of the list and were not once disappointed once…a serious perk of airbnb if you ask me. We pottered aboutand found a place to eat, a film to watch and a bar to drink in. We chatted and flirted and drew pictures and drank cocktails.

The following morning we walked down towards the water, the bay opening up before our eyes as we got closer to the central business district. After touring Pike Market, eating the best Mexican food (tostidas!) from a hole in the wall—once again recommended by our host—and taking a breather on the boardwalk, we made our way back to an antique shop that we had spied on our way to eat lunch. I was particularly excited and thankfully justifiably so! I left with a dress, a giant ball mason jar and a 1960's map of NYC. I easily could have spent all of my money there. Our legs felt ready to give in but we persevered, shopping a little bit more and contemplating whether to take a water-taxi or do the renowned underground tour. We went with the latter and were greatly amused and interested by it. Richard even bought the book! 

After a long day of walking we collected ourselves and headed out for malaysian food (from another hole-in-the-wall place recommended by our host) which was, we both agree, hands down, the best meal of our entire trip. It was small, exceptionally cheap and unbelievably delicious. We licked the boxes and watched the sunset. We spent our last night in Seattle drinking red wine and sharing a brownie on the porch of our house. Seattle really surprised us and surpassed all of our —totally clueless—expectations. I’m so glad we went, the weather was beautiful, the city was fascinating and  our accommodation was truly a godsend. 

Our only regret is leaving so soon to head for Portland… 

Whistler, British Columbia.

On Saturday Jack and Gill, (our amazing hosts, lovely friends and all around deadly people) drove us to Whistler. They certainly don’t call it Beautiful British Columbia for nothing, the drive was breathtaking. Mountains covered in snow appeared, literally, out of nowhere and the sea opened up before our eyes.

We checked into our room, dumped our stuff and headed out. Our destination was Loggers Lake for a float party. We lounged around in blown up boats and lilos and drank beer (or cider in my case) and laughed and chatted. There were around 200 people there from Canada and the rest of the world, with many accents and slang being bandied about. It was surreal. People kept saying things like ‘oh yeah, this is such a typical BC weekend’ and ‘we do this all the time’. It may not be the whole truth but it certainly has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

(Richard took all of the above photos because I left my camera at the hotel)

The following day we got up, feeling a little worse for wear, ate a tonnn of breakfast and headed to Lost Lake. It was beautiful. It is all beautiful. Snow capped mountains, rolling forests, glassy lakes and vast blue skies.

Jack and Richard in accidental matching stripes.

We had to have one of these…even if we do look a little rough (car naps make for sleepy faces!).

Next stop: Seattle, Washington, USA.

Vancouver, Canada (via London, England).

Three weeks ago we started out early, rising with the sun to load up the car...airport bound.
We flew to London and spent an exceptionally long lay-over in Hyde Park in the scorching heat.

 We then flew, a horribly long and bumpy flight, to Vancouver. Bags on backs and bags on fronts we took the Sky train, disembarking in a city so very different to our own, we trudged up up up hill towards familiar faces. We ate and slept and talked and arose very very early the following day. Jet lag will do that.

  We saw the pacific for the first time. Following it's edge we walked thousands and thousands of steps all the way to Main Street. In and out of shops we familiarised ourselves with prices and currency and notes and taxes. We sought shade in a playground before taking the train home to sleep. Jet lag is frustrating and zombifying and, most of all, exhausting. We ate dinner by the beach, watching a beautiful sun set. We think we could get used to this kind of thing. We slept soundly, undisturbed by the seagulls and sirens of city life outside the window.

The following day we cycled. Back-pedal braking is not for the faint of heart. We watched a racoon having lunch and visited the Aquarium. Jellyfish, dolphins, seals, otters and beluga whales. And also a sloth (which is in the photo above!). We cycled along the Sea Wall revelling at the mountain views. We immersed our bodies into the cold pacific and shared a veggie burger as the evening sun begin to cast its golden light. We fell asleep early, happy and full.

On Thursday I wandered downtown alone and mooched between familiar and unfamiliar shops. The block system in North America is foreign and oddly confusing to a girl raised on the higgledy piggledy streets of Dublin city. I managed to walk two blocks further than necessary only to have to double back on myself to to get to where I wanted to go.
In the afternoon we walked across Granville Bridge—attempted to soak up the breathtaking, overwhelming, holycrapisthisreal views on each side—to Kitsilano. There we bought and devoured a garlicky pizza, read our books on the beach and sunned ourselves. We thought we could really get used to this and grinned like fools. Jet lag kicked our bums into bed early again but we were too sleepy to fight it.

Coming up: Whistler, lakes, beers and beautiful mountains.