OK, time for a personal confession: I really miss my family. While there are a handful of things about Vancouver that I miss, really, the only difficult thing about not living in Vancouver anymore is being away from my parents and sister.
The most fucking awesome people in the world.
(Ma & Pa, if you’re reading this, please pardon the potty mouth.)
So it was really great to have the chance to spend a few days at home last week, especially for Father’s Day. Despite the short stay, we definitely made the most of it. Father’s Day this year happened to coincide with Vancouver’s annual Car Free Day, a festival that takes place throughout the city and is exactly as it sounds — the city closes several blocks in various neighbourhoods and opens the car-free streets up for a block party.
Car Free Day, Main Street, Vancouver, Canada
It’s run entirely by volunteers and from about lunchtime until early evening, there’s food, local art, live music, and dancing…
…Lots of awkward Canadian dancing.
Me at my danciest.
Main Street is already pretty bomb even when it’s not in party mode, so it was especially fun during Car Free Day. We spent the afternoon at the street festival and had a pretty tasty lunch at a fusion sushi place that looked nothing like you’d expect a sushi place to look like.
Thankfully, it didn’t rain that day. Actually, it didn’t rain at all while we were in town (a Vancouver miracle!), which of course meant lots of outdoor barbecue time. Any holiday weight that I had managed to lose after coming back from Brazil, I successfully regained, and then some. It’s impossible to stick to a diet of any sort when you’re surrounded by my Mama’s awesome Filipino food, Edu’s Brazilian take on Canadian steak, and Andrea’s amazing cooking (having a sister in culinary school is both a blessing and a curse).
It was my longest stay in Vancouver since my three-week visit for Christmas two years ago, but at a mere five days in length, it was definitely not a long enough trip, especially considering that it will be my last visit to Vancouver for a while.
