Vancouver, eh? Fuck yea!

So, apparently Amtrak also has its fair share of buses that commute to places not covered by their trains, or during hours when trains aren't available. I caught the 4:45pm bus from King's Station to Vancouver and immediately set to accosting the people around me. There was a nice mix of people from Canada and the States, who were more than willing to impart some of their knowledge on me. The most useful was the explanation of what would happen once we got to the border. For some reason I didn't imagine having to go through customs, but that just goes to show what a clueless Yank I can be at times. When we got to the border and had to stand through customs, I started a conversation with a Canadian girl, Nina, that was standing behind me and I expressed my disappointment that the border guards weren't actually mounties, donning red coats and fun hats. She asked me if I was serious and I admitted that I was and that I wasn't, but that I was genuinely disappointed. I don't know how I come off, but I guess it was at least amusing since she recommended a few places to eat and scenes to check out.

The general consensus that I got from everyone on the bus was that my timing for Vancouver was perfect. The Canucks just decimated the LA Kings and were ready to sodomize Chicago on its journey to the Stanley Cup. There's definitely a buzz in the air and the Canuck pride is on full display as I walk down the street. Whereas Seattle definitely felt more like a city in comparison to Portland, Vancouver is a full-fledged city. The downtown skyline is decorated with beautiful buildings and an awesome public transit system. Sometimes, that's enough for me to enjoy a city, but downtown Vancouver also has the added charm of being along a beautiful waterfront with snowcapped mountains across the water. Of course, I didn't see all of this last night as I got in around 8:30pm and Seattle's rain decided to follow me across the border. Despite the torrential downpour I took up one of my busmate's recommendations and checked out a greek place called Stepho's. This could very well be my favorite greek restaurant. Now, Yelp may have you think otherwise as some of the reviews that I read after dinner complained about long lines, dry roasts, and bad service, but everything was awesome. HUGE fucking portions for a very reasonable price. The dolmathes I ordered were delicious and they came on top of a bed of rice pilaf and the best tsatziki I've ever had. I'm not sure what Canadians do to their yogurt, but it tasted like I was spreading butter on my dolmathes... *drool* My entree was the roast lamb, which sat on top of another bed of rice, with a side of greek salad, stewed veggies, and roasted potatoes. The meat was about as juicy as I could imagine lamb being with meat falling off the bones (which I sucked on, of course) and the overall taste being superb. There was the distinct lamb taste w/out the game'iness that can sometimes overwhelm the palate. The only complaint that I could issue is that they need to find even bigger plates to serve the food on, as the rice would sometimes spill over the plate... I didn't mind since I wasn't able to finish the entire meal. Let me repeat that... I could not finish the plate, despite eating a full 9 hours before. So far, Vancouver, sooooo good.