[trip style = sightseeing + spa + staycation] I don't want to jinx it, BUT, we've had a dreamy summer in Vancouver: warm and sunny seasoned with sea breeze. While Sun-couver is hot to trot, I spend a lot of time at home. I mean, who would want to leave one of the world's most gorgeous cities when it's like California outside?!?
Aside from "Vancouvering" by way of hiking the Grouse Grind, riding the Aquabus or lounging at the beach, here are a few more reasons to give the City of Glass a big hug while school's out:
Pop-Up Pianos
Coined the keys to the streets, four pop-up pianos are gracing the streets of Vancouver from July 1 - Aug 24. Painted in polka dots and rainbows {literally}, these music makers are giving dabblers and concert pianists a casual, alfresco stage for their craft. There are two installations near my running/walking route, and somebody is tickling the ivories every single time I pass by. Aside from the occasional heart and soul medley, I've witnessed some serious tunes about town, many times with an audience that grows by the note. Visit; it's worth it for the photo opp alone. Beethoven-level music is a bonus.
Food Cart Fest
Hanging out in an uber-urban, concrete lot near The {Olympic} Village, Food Cart Fest is making its second annual summer appearance from June 23 - Sept 22. Forming a circle of cuisine around a concrete box, aka the DJ's digs, 20 trucks set up camp from noon - 5pm every Sunday. It's a tasty way to sample Van's street food without roaming the city in search of each truck, like Holy Perogy, The Juice Truck, Mom's Grilled Cheese, Yolk's or Roaming Dragon. There's also a flea market for browsing between bites, and a bouncy castle for kids {bounce first, eat second}. Cost of admission is $2 {VanCity members and children under 13 are free}.
The Spa
CHI, Shangri-La's spa has just launched an uber-Vancouver spa package, perfect for recharging your sun-drenched batteries for fall. To date, it is the most exquisite spa I've visited in Vancouver, from the cashmere robes and sheets {so luxurious you want to rip them off the bed and wear them as a scarf} to the spa suites sporting infinity soaker tubs with embedded light therapy. The discreet service is also on another level. The four-hour West Coast Lifestyles package starts with a private yoga class {so Vancouver!}, and is followed by sea kelp soak, body wrap with mud flown in from China and a seaweed facial {or massage}. From $355 for the 'lite' version and $485 for the full version. Bonus, this runs into Spring 2014. {See my Instagram snaps for recent photos of the experience.}
Vancouver Chinatown Night Market
Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 6pm - 11pm, Chinatown's Keefer street shuts down to perform a quick-change into a standing room-only market. Vancouver has the largest Chinatown in Canada, so it's only fitting! Think of it like a summer vacation to the Far East, plus, most of Vancouver's hottest restaurants are a stone's throw away {if you're still hungry, which is unlikely}. You've got until Sept 8th to pick up dumplings, deep-fried snakes {ok, they're just sugar-topped pieces of dough shaped like a snake}, orchids or cellphone cases.
Trip Styler Tip :: If you want to venture just beyond Vancouver's borders, check the Richmond Night Market, open every weekend and holiday night until Oct 14. Admission is $2.
Grand Hotel
I wrote about Grand Hotel at the Vancouver Art Gallery in the Spring, but it's worth mentioning again since it's only on until Sept 15, and the exhibition was nearly SEVEN years in the making. To say I liked GH is an epic understatement, in fact, it left me on a hotel high—higher than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. Chronicling game-changers like the 1887-built Raffles hotel to the 2010-built Marina Bay Sands {where people book a room for the sole purpose of perching atop the surfboard-shaped SkyPark’s 150-meter infinity pool}, the multimedia show acts as a lab into hotel life. An adult ticket is $21, but admission is by donation every Tuesday after 5pm.
[photos by @tripstyler, except for CHI where I was a guest of the spa]