We have returned from the Sacred Slopes and the Land of the Blossoms (aka Whistler and Vancouver) back to Fimbulwinter (or at least the light version in Toronto).  The small Flickr photo set is here at Whistler & Vancouver 2015
We were based in the YaleTown part of Vancouver, which also had several excellent coffee places. Highly recommended is Small Victory (1088 Homer St) .ca and Coo Coo Coffee (477 Davie St).  Time and the need for sleep to not allow for a visit to every independent coffee shop I saw in Vancouver and I regret that.
Vancouver food culture continues to impress, supported by it local ingredients and inspired by the heritage of its people.
Guu Original Thurlow continues to deliver outstanding Izakaya style, and our visit to VJ’s fine dining Indian restaurant was an great experience and meal – although they need to update their website and drop the flash 🙁  I also got a yummy yummy JapaDog #8 Kurobuta Terimayo. In Yaletown, I would also recommend Yopo Cafe (1122 Homer St) for their Quote “REAL CHINESE CUISINE” UnQuote.
We also experienced Vancouver take on urbanism and design. The Skytrain, or at least the Canada line to the Richmond Aberdeen Centre, and later to the Airport (and unlike Toronto’s UP airport express was just a regular fare trip). I also saw several takes on building design that seems common here : a mid rise design with stacked retail on the lower 2 levels and residential on the upper levels. We have some examples of this in Toronto, but I hope this combination becomes much more the norm.
I look forward to exploring more of Vancouver, Richmond, and Burnaby.
(In related news, I was not elsewhere near the Port Metro Vancouver, before or when, the fire broke out 🙂