the second day complete

it's friday night, just after midnight, my second day winding down, and i'm at a 24-hour coffee shop called blenz, near our hostel. the coffee is not particularly good, i'm sad to report. but they have wireless, and since our hostel charges for internet access, i'm here.

today it rained, but i still enjoyed the city tremendously. and i will say that, despite the gray cloud shroudering the city all day, i was blown away by the beauty offered here.

i believe i previously talked about how there are a lot of trees. i'm in a very green place, and you know how that colour warms my heart.

i rented a bike a little after noon, and today i ventured all over....well past where i would have walked. the downtwon area offers coastline in pretty much every direction, and exploring this coastline was where i spent most of the time on my bike.

i was a little uncomfortable at first. when i rented the bike, the girl from the hostel informed me that the law is you must where a helmet (which was included with the bike rental, as was a u-lock). so yeah, i wore a helmet almost all day. i now have helmet-hair big time, due not only to having that huge thing on my head all day, but all the rain my body took on. i don't like wearing a helmet. yeah, i know a slip in traffic could be serious, but i'm good on a bike and i was actually afraid the helmet might lead to a mishap, since i didn't feel as comfortable as i normally do. this was not the case at all. the helmet was not going to cause me to get hurt. in the end, it just gave me a bad case of helmet-hair.

when i first got the bike, i headed towards the granville-street area. yesterday, i saw a bunch of shops that sold sneakers. the soles on my sneakers, which i've had for over two years, had holes in them, and with the rain, the universe basically told me today i was getting new sneakers. i found a comfy pair i liked at an addidas store, marked way down too. most 'skater'-type sneakers (which i always buy, irregardless of the fact that i've never owned a skateboard) are between $80 and $120. but the always last for two-to three years, so i'm okay with that. i got this new pair for $59, well under what i was expecting to pay. it all started as soon as i entered the store. tribe called quest was playing from the speakers, and after being in a cold rainy downpour, this warmed me. i had good service too. the girl who helped me was totally chill. all in all, it happened very easy and i now have new black sneakers that are amazingly dry at the moment (considering how much rain i've been in today).

eating in this town has been so easy for me. lots of healthy choices. i had a tasty veggie burger at a vancouver chain called "the white spot." yum. this was right before i got my sneakers. after lunch and new shoes were checked off the to-do list, i ventured out for a long ride.

as i biked down hastings street toward stanley park, i started feeling so happy and peaceful inside. the beauty of some of the coasts of downtown floored me, in a way that i probably should've been expecting, but i wasn't. there are mountains and whitecaps surrounding the downtown area. wow. everything is here. green trees, parks, whitecaps, all fitted closely around a cool downtown with a good music scene.

i thought about checking out a club tonight, but i'm not feeling going to a club alone. lorena gets in tomorrow evening, so going out can wait a bit. tonight...coffee, my macbook, and "on the road" are working nicely. the money i save on not going out, on not buying a beer or two for $5 a pop, will go to renting a bike again tomorrow morning. i have all day, really, until lorena arrives in the evening. another day sounds perfect.

my coffee has gone cold. it's 12:30 a.m., and the rain has completely stopped. no drops, nothing. i still have my bike, locked up across the street here at blenz. one last jaunt through the streets of downtown seems the appropriate way to end this day...