The Last Day

So it turns out Vancouver Airport does have wifi!

Check in was quite slow; it took about an hour to get through the queue.  But I got there in the end, and for some reason they decided not to charge for the extra bag!  I didn’t complain..  I had tried to check in this morning, so I could just go through security before the flight, and enjoy the day not worrying about the extra bag, but Condor is such a budget airline, they only rent the check-in desks from 3pm!

So I had to go back to the hotel with both big bags.. which together weight 35kg, over 75lbs for those of you who don’t know kilograms.  Having learned my lesson in Heathrow, instead of struggling to the train station with all four bags, I took a taxi to the train station, which then drops you off right outside the main terminal.

Anyway, on to more interesting things.

This morning Stephanie (Annie’s sister) arrived, to make use of the extra night I booked by accident.  We had lunch together opposite the Steam Clock, having arrived just in time for the noon performance (it went off about five seconds after we spotted it!).  Here it is, in all its glory:

After lunch (her treat, thank you Stephanie) we grabbed a coffee from a place just outside the United Kingdom Building.  We were just looking, but when we tried to sniff the coffee, it turned out the bags were empty.. the lady there told us they had all been stolen by two kids with a box, so now they display empty bags.  She ran off to get a couple of full bags for us to try.. and I turned to Stephanie and said, ‘We have to get our coffee here now!’

Thankfully it was actually quite good coffee, so we sat on the pier at Canada Place and watched the seaplanes landing, and the mountains just sitting there not doing much at all.

On our way back, though, I met my first Mountie!  Well, sort of..

Finally, we headed back to the hotel and I caught my taxi and train.  It felt sad to say goodbye to my lovely view, to Vancouver, and to North America.  But I am going back to move house (hopefully!) and a new job (definitely!), so there is plenty to get excited about when I get home and back to normality.

The boarding starts now.. so I am off.  This is Ben Green, saying goodbye North America, and thank you to everyone I’ve met, from old friends to new friends to complete strangers who I’ll never see again.  This has been a wonderful trip, so special in many, many ways, and I will never forget it.

Next stop: home.