A Week without Wine (almost!)

Wine has its place, and can add so much to an experience. But there are also times when it is not much missed. Last week, when I was on vacation in Vancouver, B.C., that was one of those times, a non-wine-focused holiday.

Not to say that British Columbia doesn't have some great wines. It does. In fact, my sister brought me back a couple of bottles from her trip out to Burrowing Owl, and I do look forward to tasting those (Pinot Noir & Meritage). It is just that I prefer to drink wine when it is a wee bit cooler outside.



The weather, was for the most part, sweltering hot. I was happy guzzling my B.C. tap, some bubble tea, and some good beer.

But most of all, it was a time to spend with family. And re-acquainting myself with the city. The city in its summer self, when lawns were yellowy-brown and parched, unaccustomed to being so starved for water in a city known for its plentiful rains.

The days were so hot at one point, that I thought I was visiting my family in Vegas or something - I couldn't sleep at night, and complained that it was so much hotter than in L.A. Then one evening, before sunset, I declared that it was enough, I had to get out of the house, so my sister took me and my husband down to the beach. English Bay. And it was gorgeous.

We had front row seats for the sunset. Literally, a great park bench that no one else had claimed. The sun took its sweet time descending from the sky to tuck in behind the mountains. I even heard myself complaining that it was taking too long to descend. "Why isn't it going down already??" I am cranky when hot and the sun is in my eyes. But then I learned that the farther one is away from the equator, the longer it takes for the sun to set. In the Caribbean, it would dive down in a minute, I was told.

During the week, we even went to a concert - Michael Buble - a veritable Vancouver boy - 34-3/4 years old, crooning the oldies. He was opened by this group, Naturally 7, who did "voice play" - a version of a capella, except not only do they use their voices to sing, they used them to simulate instruments. Sometimes, they even became their instrument. They were cool. One group member reminded me of Barack Obama. He was the double bass, I think.


Then came Buble. He sang for a solid 2 hours. By himself. No back-up singers. No duets. Just himself. He sang lots of oldies. I enjoyed it but didn't go crazy over it. Being at this concert at Rogers Arena (formerly GM Place & Canada Hockey Place) made me feel nostalgic for a George Michael concert I attended maybe 20 years ago, when I really went nuts for all the songs.

Memories...

Now, for my next post, I'll share with you the one wine-inclusive evening that I did have in Vancouver...