It isn't every day that you get to make an unplanned stop at a city at the other side of the world. When Air Canada blessed us with a 12 hour delay at Vancouver, where we were originally supposed to have a one hour long hault, we thanked our stars that Canada mandates any passengers halting at its airport to get a transit visa before boarding the flight.
This was a special flight because more than 20 of us from the same organization were travelling in the same flight. I did not know anyone personally though. However, we managed to form a small group and head out into the city. We got out of the airport, boarded the train to the waterfront, and started our little adventure.
The train ride to the waterfront was spectacular. The train was empty and I managed to grab the very first seat. It gave me an opportunity to truly appreciate the beauty of the tall buildings and the snow-covered mountains in the distance. It also gave me the perfect opportunity to record this spectacular video.
At the waterfront, we first decided to have breakfast and mostly because we couldn't decide on one place, we chose a Subway. However, this turned out to a good decision because the outlet was run by an Indian couple and they chatted with us happily throughout our halt there. Next, I bought the quintessential Fridge Magnet from a store run by a Japanese woman. I think I made her very happy when I greeted her in Japanese and made small talk too.
With our coffee-induced caffeine high, we started our long walk along the water front. The waterfront is a walk built around a lagoon formed off the Columbia river. One can see seaplanes land and take off on these waters. One can even take a 30 minute ride on these planes for Canadian Dollars 135. We chose not to do so.
Instead we walked towards the Stanley park and looked at the ducks swimming on the water. It was a lovely walk. The air was crisp and clear. Little did we know that it was soon going to get so cold that even walking would be a struggle. Anyways, for the time being, oblivious to this, we kept walking towards the aquarium.
By the time we reached the Aquarium, half of the group had lost interest in it, and they decided to head back towards the airport. In the end, it was just the 3 of us who paid for the $38 tickets and entered the huge building. While the aquarium deserves a dedicated post, I must share that it was worth the visit. There were some really exotic animals inside.
The aquarium took about 3 hours to explore and we kind of hurried through it. After exiting the aquarium, we continued our walk towards the Totem Poles. By now we were really tired and I was dragging my feet. The fact that we were hardly suitably dressed to be roaming around in sub-zero temperatures and I was wearing shoes that are great for the airplane but not so good for walking had started weighing on us. The totem poles (details in a separate post) turned out to be quite amazing actually.
But the walk back to the Waterfront station felt the longest one in my life. And the fact that we had only had a sub and coffee since the morning. By the time we reached he bus stand, I was ready to pass out. We took the bus back to the airport and used out 20USD coupons (courtesy Air Canada) to have our meal. The day had come to an end and we were pretty happy with the way we had managed to utilize it.
If you are planning a trip to the US via Canada, make sure you keep a really warm jacket in your carry-in luggage because you never know what fate would bring to you. Also, I have learnt that one must do research about the airport where the flight has a layover. In more than one instances, we have been blessed with a chance to explore cities we never planned to explore.
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