First full day in Vancouver

Arrived in Vancouver last night at 7pm local time...felt like 10pm to us, and then we waited in vain for our checked luggage to come through. We'd had a stopover in Toronto (damn cold, but pretty airport...) and only a little less than an hour between flights. So...got into our hostel in Vancouver with no more than our carryons. Heh. Canada customs were very nice though. I half expected to get a thrashing for re-electing GWB...well not really, but you never know. :-)

What a difference between Toronto/Detroit area and Vancouver. When we got over this side of the continent, there were impenatrable rain clouds...on the ground it was 50F and pouring rain. Got to bed at 1:30 EST, and woke this morning to glowering grey clouds...breakfast at the hostel was remarkably good for a "continental" breakfast. It was a good spread, with lots and lots of carbs (*sigh*) and fresh fruit. Atrocious coffee, but I guess you can't have everything. Checked with the desk and Air Canada had delivered our luggage in the night. Hooray!

Some things are as you might expect, others are strange. Vancouver airport is absolutely georgeous. More European than American for sure. Dairy products are rediculously expensive. Internet time, by contrast is dirt cheap. I'm at an internet cafe no more than 40 paces from the hostel's front door, and it's 1.50 CAD for an hour. ( ! )

After getting over my crankiness at Air Canada's baggage handling, I'm really feeling quite excited about this new stage.

Will keep you "posted" so to speak...