A Rainy Day in San Antonio

As I was thinking about this post I thought it was appropriate that I write it today as it’s a rainy and dreary day in Massachusetts. Perfect for putting me in the mood for telling you about our rainy day in San Antonio.

We’d had a full day with the City Tour and the rain had held off until the end at the Japanese Garden so I guess we don’t have too much to complain about.

This morning we woke to more drizzly rain. This was our personal day. We got the grand tour yesterday and now we had the whole day to explore on our own – in the rain.

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We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant looking out over the Riverwalk while we considered our options. I wanted to go back to the Alamo to pick up some gifts I’d spotted the day before. The various tours, trolleys and buses all leave from the square in front of the Alamo so that seemed a good place to start.

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We didn’t want to start the day soaked so we asked the valet to call us a cab. Let me tell you, New York City doormen have nothing on our guys! A piecing whistle and a leap into the street and we had our cab.

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Walking would have been a couple of blocks straight down the street but taking a cab was an adventure because so many streets are one way. Once again I was happy I didn’t have a rental car!

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After loading up with souvenirs and gifts we  crossed back to visitor center where we spotted another T shirt that Sandy wanted to get. Unfortunately they were all out of the size she wanted. Thus began the great T shirt hunt while we explored  up and down the street in every T shirt store and gift shop within sight. Eventually we found a shirt similar enough to satisfy  Sandy.

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Now it was time to figure out San Antonio’s transit system.

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We each bought all day tickets for about $3.00 each and climbed aboard a trolley that would take us to the Botanical Gardens.

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It was in the Botanical Gardens that I got my angel wings. I must say they are pretty heavy.

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Along with the Angel Wings were “birdmen” sculptures throughout the gardens. These were from an exhibit by famed Mexican artist Jorge Marín called “Wings of the City.

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The rain wasn’t letting up so eventually we found ourselves relaxing in an arbor that did a pretty good job of keeping us dry.

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We may have been wilting from the rain but the dry desert was coming to life. Cactus was blooming and flowers were perking up.

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All in all it was a nice morning. We didn’t let a little rain put a damper on our day.

 

 

A Rainy Vancouver Morning

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is living up to it’s reputation for rain. Vancouver is Canada’s third most rainy city, with over 161 rainy days per year! Even so we were determined to get in a bit of time exploring Stanley Park.

Stanley Park is  Vancouver’s first, largest, and most beloved urban park. We stopped at the front desk for directions and to find out where we could leave our luggage until we left for the cruise ship.

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Continuing in the friendly tradition I mentioned yesterday the desk tagged the luggage for us and placed it behind the desk. That way we could check out, they could get the room ready for the next guest and we could call for our luggage later.

The clerk also told us we were just steps from Stanley Park. I’m not sure if we went in the wrong direction but we ended up in a park that followed the water front. We didn’t get to the normal Stanly Park attractions like the Totem poles, the botanical gardens , or any monuments. I believe that we ended up following the Seawall.

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The Seawall  is a scenic 22 km path that lines Vancouver’s waterfront. We got caught up watching the birds that seemed to be everywhere, mostly herons and ducks.

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There were also plenty of dogs jogging with their owners.

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In spite of the cool weather, the landscaping was well underway.

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Our walk started with a sculpture of laughing men.

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A bit of research identified the sculpture as A-Maze-ing Laughter by the Chinese artist Yue Minjun. It is well named as it had us both smiling as we explored the bronze statutes.

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The huge sails that dominate the waterfront were built for the 1986 World’s Fair . These sails are Vancouver’s equivalent of the Sydney Opera House or the Empire State Building. Located on Canada Place you can’t miss them.

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We also passed a sculpture that looked like it was right out of Stonehenge.

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This is an inuksuk which is a  stone landmark or cairn  built by humans. Such monuments were used by the First Nation People of the Artic Region.  An inuksuk was used as the basis of the Vancouver 2010 logo and the construction of inuksuit around the world have led to increasing recognition of them.

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The time passed quickly and before we had even scratched the surface it was time to get lunch, retrieve our bags and get a cab to the main event….the cruise ship. The friendly desk clerks helped us gather our bags and even called a cab for us.

The time had come for the adventure to really begin.