May 26, Day 16, 3rd Full Day in Vancouver

Eating breakfast at Meliches Cafe, while awaiting clothes to wash.

Today would be almost a light as yesterday. Patrise woke up not feeling well at all. We caught a cab and went to a local laundromat. While waiting for our clothes to wash and then dry, we ate breakfast at a neighborhood bakery called Meliches. The food again was wonderful. We shared a warm cinnamon bun, I had a breakfast croissant, and Patrise had scrambled eggs, buttered toast and bacon. After eating we returned to the laundromat. The ladies who ran it were so helpful and warm. This is a statement that has been true for the overwhelming majority of our Canadian interactions. You might expect this from people who work in the hospitality industry – hotels, tour services, restaurants – but honestly, we have received the same warm courtesy from just about everyone we have interacted with.

Breakfast eaten, clothes washed, dried, and folded, we took a taxi back to the hotel. Patrise laid down to rest, because she had a full-blown cold now, and perhaps something worse. We weren’t sure.  I had originally hoped we would be able to go to the Vancouver Aquarium, the Science Center, or some other cultural venue. It quickly became clear that she should not attempt any more running around; she needed to stay in the hotel and rest.

Nevertheless, she insisted I go ahead to the venue of my choice, which was the aquarium. I took an Uber to the Vancouver Aquarium, which is the largest one in Canada; it is located in Stanley Park. I enjoyed the aquarium. I enjoy aquariums in general. This one featured aquatic species of different river basins around the world. So there were exhibits representative of the Amazon and its 1100 tributaries, of the Congo River, of Asian rivers, especially in India, and North America. Most of the exhibits were for British Columbia’s rivers, coast, and for Canada’s Artic regions. The BC exhibit also included a sea otter pool and a seal pool. There was a 2pm talk about the seals. There was also a 4:15pm talk about the sea otters, but I did not remain in the aquarium long enough to catch it. After visiting for slightly more than two hours, I called for an Uber and returned to the hotel.

When I returned to the hotel, I was surprised that Patrise was gone. I had called her from the Uber car when I was on the way, but she did not answer. I thought that she might be taking a much-needed nap. So when I got to the room and she was gone, my concern was heightened. However, shortly after I arrived, she called me to say that she had gone to a local health clinic, to be seen by a doctor. This took several hours, but she eventually made her way back to the hotel room. The clinic doctor confirmed that she had an upper respiratory infection. The doctor had given her a prescription, which she left or lost in the cab. So, the clinic called the prescription into a drug store, London Drugs, that was a short three blocks away from the hotel. When the drugstore pharmacist notified Patrise that the prescription was ready, I walked to the store to get the much-needed antibiotic.

We ate dinner in the room and settled in for the evening; she watched cooking shows, while I watched the NBA conference finals game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tomorrow would be an early rising time, because we have to be at the seaplane terminal by 8:20-8:30am, to check in for our flight to the city of Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Here are some photos from my aquarium visit and other miscellaneous Vancouver sights.