VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA: GRANVILLE ISLAND PUBLIC MARKET

Warning: This is mostly, but not exclusively, a post about beautiful food. If you are hungry, this is going to make things worse.  If you are on a diet, this will do you in. If your fridge is empty, you'll feel a sudden urge to go grocery shopping.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

On the last day of our cruise, we tried to take advantage of what Princess had to offer on board the ship. There were some beautiful food creations:

Like all good cruise passengers, we ate far too much:

In addition, on the last day of our cruise the skies were finally blue, at least for a little while:

Overall, this was a nice cruise with incredible scenery and some great ports. We liked our room and the service was impeccable, but we were not overly impressed by the entertainment on board the ship, and the food was good but not as good as some of the other cruises we have been on (including another Princess cruise). I wonder if we are just getting jaded?

As we began to near our deportation site in Vancouver, Canada, clouds began to roll in again:

The cruise ship dock in Vancouver is close to downtown:

This was our second visit to the city, the first having been over 20 years ago on a trip with all our children. Yeah, it was much easier without the kids, and I have decided that I love Vancouver.

A public library and thrift store sharing space? Cool!

We had a list of things we wanted to see. We picked up a rental car and headed for the first: Granville Island Public Market. Between our parking place and the market, we saw something interesting poking out of what looked like an industrial area:

These 70-foot-tall silos were turned into a piece of public art by identical twin Brazilian artists who call themselves "Osgemeos," the Portuguese word for "twins." The artwork is part of a global series called "Giants." This piece was created for the 2014 Vancouver Biennale and is one of my favorite pieces of public art anywhere. It's so huge and colorful, so startling to come upon. The droll faces and funky clothing of the giants are quite unique:

Something else I've never seen before: A bicycle valet!

Aha! the famous Granville Island Public Market! It is full of farm products, restaurants, and artists' booths. This is our kind of shopping mall:

I don't think I've ever seen so much beautiful food gathered in a single building:

Let's start with the fruits and vegetables:

The variety of meats and fish made my carnivorous husband's mouth water:

There was an incredible array of cheeses and olives:

Loaf after loaf of bread--it almost looked like a shop in France:

Enough pasta for a small Italian village:


A passel of pastries:

Ahhh....macarons! I swear we had teleported to France:

To be a truly worthy shopping place, there must be a good amount of chocolate . . .

. . . and gelato:

Looking at all this food made us really, really, REALLY hungry. We began with some artisan pizza:

Where better to satiate our appetites than at the local crepe shop?

Just remembering this Nutella and banana crepe activates my salivary glands:

Need a break from all this food? Me too. Here you go:

Okay, now back to the food.

Finally, while not in the Public Market, The Lobster Man is close by and deserves to be included in this post about beautiful food:

Poor Bob. Shellfish everywhere, but no stove to cook them on. It just about broke his heart:

I'm sorry if you put on five pounds reading this post.  I warned you!