Day 1 - London to Vancouver

After a lovely night's sleep, we woke at 6am. The chore of getting out of bed was made much easier by pressing the button that converted the bed into a sofa, so rather like my nan in her magic chair we were almost pushed out of bed :)

After changing the lighting to normal, we got dressed, put the remaining bits and bobs back into our suitcases and checked out.

We got the elevator back up to the airport and as if by magic we were there in departures. Genius.

After finding the check-in for Air Transat we suddenly realised that we hadn't actually checked in online, er, not sure why we didn't. Just forgot! Anyway, didn't seem to be a problem because we'd pre-selected our seats months ago to guarantee we got a pair of seats together.

Once through security we spent 20 minutes browsing perfumes in duty free and stocked up on some new smells. I finally have a new bottle of Bonbon by Viktor & Rolf!

We got a table at Wondertree and had some breakfast. It was very nice, a similar feel to Giraffe.

After that it was time to board. We got to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare (no point being first and having to queue, right?!) and took our seats on the plane. The narrowness at the back of the plane meant that the 3-3-3 configuration reduces to 2-3-2, so we had no middle seat and got an extra wide isle instead (thanks for the advice Seatguru.com)

We had some reservations about flying with Air-Transat because frankly, who the hell are Air-Transat?! But we chose them because they are a lot cheaper than other carriers and the planes have recently been refitted with lots of funky lighting and touchscreen entertainment units. We felt very happy with our choice.



Once in the air we both watched Spare Parts – a movie based on the true story of a community high school who built a robot from spare parts, entered it in the Underwater Robotic Competition and beat MIT and Virginia Tech etc. It was very moving!

Later on we both watched Still Alice (about a woman with early onset Alzheimers) and both cried lots at the end. A wonderful and moving film.

Laura also watched The Spongebob Squarepants Movie whilst I watched an aerial documentary about British Columbia.

At this point I have to mention how amazing my new Bose Quietcomfort 25 headphones are. I've been using them at work for a few weeks and they really help me focus and concentrate. The noise cancelling technology is incredible. On the flight, the engine roar was reduced to nothing more than a distant hiss. Expensive, but ultimately very worth it.

The main meal on the flight was a chicken / rice thing (it was nice) and a snack later was pizza. Mmmm. I drank lots of coke zero and according to our stewardess I'm the only person that ever orders it. (One of my favourite things about flying to Canada is that Canadian's say doody free, instead of duty free, that was amusing every time - Laura)

The flight passed very quickly. Near the end of the flight we flew over the rockies and saw glaciers, lakes, snow capped peaks... it was amazing.

We landed in Vancouver about 45 minutes early (good work captain). The airport is lovely, very clean, modern, spacious. It also felt very natural with lots of daylight and wooden sculptures.

Once through, we headed to Hertz to get our hire car. We'd booked a midsize SUV for a one way trip from Vancouver to Alberta and got given a massive 2015 Jeep Wrangler. It's a ridiculous car, but we're happy with it! After exploring it appears the roof panels come off too, so we could be cruising down the Icefields Parkway in a convertible Jeep. Hmmm! It also has a built in sat-nav, which is a bonus.

As with all North American vehicles, it seems to have an engine bigger than my house, so the lightest tap on the accelerator makes the engine roar. I think we're going to have fun in this car.

Driving to downtown Vancouver was very pleasant. Vancouver is such a lovely, modern, green city. I'm in love already.

We navigated our way to Hotel BLU, which is two blocks from BC Place Stadium and Laura's definitely got us a gem of a hotel. The reception allowed us to check in early (like, 2 hours early) and after tipping the porter (gosh, don't get me started on the ridiculousness of being British and not knowing how much to tip) we crossed the street to watch England vs Germany in Back Forty Saloon.

The place was packed with football fans, but we got a table with great views of the screens and watched a very tense and exciting match. Everyone gasped and oohed and aahed as shots were missed or saved. There were a few brits in there, but a lot of the crowd seemed to be Americans that had just arrived ahead of the final tomorrow. And with it being Independence Day too, they needed no extra incentive to wear their colours with pride.

We ordered some food and had a few drinks. I had a burger and a pint of Stanley Park. Laura had a BLT and a diet coke.

In extra time England got a penalty, and even though nerves meant we could barely watch at this point, we scored! One nil to England! Woohoo! When the final whistle blew everyone cheered and then clapped (which seemed a bit odd...) but we were very happy.

Back at the hotel we got changed to go on a bike ride. The hotel have bikes that guests can use for free to explore the city, so we'd reserved two for after 5pm.

As it wasn't quite 5pm yet, we wandered around the nearby streets, checked out the Vancouver Public Library (which Fringe fans will spot as the Fringe HQ from the alternate universe) and the found the the FIFA WWC fan zone. We got a free coke each and saw lots more Americans wearing stars, stripes, red, white, blue, eagle hats, bandanas and flags. They were clearly very excited. As two fans we talked to said, women's soccer is a big deal in the USA.

Fatigue was getting to Laura though. It was 5pm, so really 1am UK time so she decided to go back to the hotel room and sleep, leaving me to explore on my own. Laura had a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out) but would have been no fun. Like the hulk, you wouldn't like her when she's tired.

I picked up my bike and headed to the seawall path. Vancouver is an extremely bike friendly city. There are wide dedicated bike lanes everywhere and it was really simple to explore. I cycled south, then west and then north as I headed up to Stanley Park along the sea front.

It was really surreal (maybe my brain was a bit tired) and if you've ever played Wii Fit then let me tell you that it was just like the jogging / cycling part. I think because Vancouver is so modern and clean it felt like I was in a video game. As I cycled past BBQs on the beach, couples lazing in the parks, people chatting, the sounds drifted in and out, only to be replaced again with the sound of the sea and the birds. It was lovely.

I really am in love with Vancouver. I think I want to live here. Stanley Park is bigger than New York's Central Park and I cycled all the way around the sea wall path with a huge smile on my face.

After a few hours of cycling I headed back to the hotel and joined Laura in Slumberville. New population: 2.