In search of coffee

So I finally managed to catch up with Lesley. I'd been terribly negligent by not calling her for almost a week after arriving in Vancouver. In my defense, I had been thinking I'd be in Los Angeles this weekend but when those plans fell through, I planned a dinner with Lesley. Lesley's been mostly staying with her boyfriend (an Australian of course) at his place in Yaletown so she suggested we meet there. Trekking back out to my brother's place in Coquitlam late at night after a few drinks would have been a bit tricky so I was invited to stay. Dinner was great. Good food and even better company at Yaletown Brewery. It was great to catch up with Lesley after so long and we had a good night. But the trip home through downtown in the early morning was just bliss.

With Lesley leaving early for work, I left the apartment a bit before 8am to beautiful sun glancing off the glass buildings. I love seeing a city when It's just waking up and because Vancouver's downtown has a mix of high rises and open public spaces, the sunlight actually made it to street level. I walked up Granville, stepping over puddles made the veritable army of street cleaners, pressure-hosing off the detritus left on the sidewalks from the night's homeless and clubbers.

After a late night, I was terribly keen for a good coffee and as much as I tried, couldn't find anything other than the ubiquitous and far below par Starbucks. Seriously. Have they actually licensed the entire downtown area? Aside from the occasional Blenz, the Canadian-own but barely better chain, there just don't seem to be any independent coffee shops left. I just don't remember it being this bad.

So coffee-less, I sat on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery, across from UBC Place and watched the city go by for a while. Vancouver really does seem to be a young, active and very casual city. Men and women in suits are the exception, not the norm, in the downtown mid-week landscape. It gives the city a much more friendly feel. It takes away it's teeth.

And the Skytrain transfer at Commercial has a great free-trade coffee cart.