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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sunny weather brightens our Vancouver day

Dan Webster

Day two in sunny Vancouver, British Columbia (see post immediate below), started out with the necessities as offered by our East Vancouver neighborhood: coffee at Turk's Coffee (double-shot americano) and then breakfast at Havana (everything from chicken and waffles to Eggs Benedict sans Hollandaise sauce).

Then we drove to Queen Elizabeth Park, which offers both a bit of nature and a great view of the city skyline. Following something of a theme, we drove to the University of British Columbia and checked out the Museum of Anthropology (MOA), which offers enough of a collection of native art and artifacts to please a pride of anthropologists.

Afterward, we drove along Marine Drive, stopped and walked along the beach at Jericho Beach Park.

And tonight: dinner at East Is East, an eatery owned by a couple of siblings of Afghan descent who lived in India and whose intent in Vancouver is — according to the website — to offer "fusion approaches to food, ambiance, music and art (that) all contribute to creating a sense of universality while retaining the essence of the Eastern heritage that the owners have brought with them to this land."

Our meal included chicken kabobs, spinach paneer, tabouli, salmon in coconut sauce and dahl — in other words, a whole assortment of eastern dishes. And during our meal, we were serenaded by a group of flamenco dancers, singers and musicians. All in all, it was a great experience — especially when one of our servers dropped an entire tray of food, dealt with the situation calmly and did her best to ease everyone's embarrassment. And then made sure the replacement food came faster than we expected.

Tomorrow we head home. But we'll take a bit of Vancouver with us. And we'll no doubt be back.