Vancouver & Victoria, B.C., Canada

6:24 PM

The hubby and I spent a week in Vancouver and Victoria with my in-laws over Labor Day.

I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the trip - Vancouver might be one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It is an amazing combination of cosmopolitan meets laid-back, meets foodie heaven, all set in the emerald pacific northwest. It seemed to be a combination of nearly every other west coast city, save perhaps San Diego. All the things one loves about L.A., San Francisco, Portland and Seattle merge into one, bright, friendly, accessible city.

The food was superior on two counts. First, the restaurants. Anything - and I mean anything - you want you can have. And not just have but enjoy because the quality is supreme. In Vancouver we had Japanese, Dim Sum, and Charcuterie all in a matter of a couple of days. It seems that Vancouver-ites won't accept anything less that exceptional quality food. Second, the markets (namely Granville Island) carried foods I normally only dream of. Case and point - one stall at Granville Island carried 8 kinds of prosciutto in addition to duck fat (those who know about duck fat know that it is the most flavorful type of cooking fat on earth) and at least a dozen kinds of pate. Just down the aisle from that was salmon just off the boat and beyond that the most lovely french pastries.

Victoria was wonderful as well. Being much drier there seemed to be an abundance of local farms and wineries as well as breweries, fish stores and an array of cuisines. There we had wonderful french food, great British beers, and local produce and seafood to name a few things. Again, the diversity of products coupled with their quality is like none I have seen elsewhere in the U.S. (yes, I know B.C. is not the U.S., but it seems close enough!)

Here are my restaurant recommendations:

A couple other lovely finds:

I wanted to share lots of pictures so you can see how lovely it really was. I hope, though I doubt, that these photos give you glimpse of these wonderful, and in my opinion, overlooked cities.

View of Vancouver from Granville Island