Word of Mouth

One of my favorite things about travel is talking to people and discovering local favorites through word-of-mouth recommendations.  Tonight, as we dined on some of the best seafood I have had in a long time, we talked with our waiter about some of his favorites in the city of Vancouver...
One of his recommendations was to bike the seawall, which, incidentally, we did today! Should you find yourself in Vancouver, I would also definitely recommend it. It was spectacular; gorgeous scenery, great concessions, views, and beaches along the way, and a fabulous workout--one that I am still feeling! If ever looking for a great bike rental company in Vancouver, we went through Bikes on Robson and had a wonderful experience. Personally, I was all about the bright orange "beach cruiser" bike with the basket in the front...

Another place that he recommended was Lift. While he said he was a bit biased because his partner is the owner of the place, it still sounds quite amazing--if not solely for the water views.  We are going to head there at some point this week. Their brunch looks excellent...who wouldn't love a little huevos rancheros to start their day?!

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Since we were trying to sample all things local, I tried a local wine and the mister decided to try a local beer.  Our waiter was telling us that one of the better, and more popular, Vancouver beers is Stanley Park Amber.  Apparently, this beer brewery is run by Mission Hills Winery, which in effort to be as local and organic as possible also recycles all of their beer excess into their winery, creating a symbiotic and environmentally awesome relationship among beer brewing and wine making... He also informed us that the reason this brewery/winery has the resources to be so amazing and innovative in environmental sciences is because they made a fortune selling (the disgusting "hard cider") Mike's Hard Lemonade!
Ahh yes... the things you learn, and the travel experience and value gained, just from the beauty of talking to people!
And P.S. The Paris Wife...so far, so good!