Saturday, August 2, 2008

A tourist in my own town



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I am so tired, I can barely type. We've been playing tourist ever since the kids arrived from Montreal.
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We've walked downtown, we've gone to Grouse Mountain, even did the Grouse Grind Trail (which, by the way, for those of you who don't know is an insanely steep 'hike', 2.9 km uphill) we've gone to Stanley park, Capilano Suspension Bridge, and tomorrow we are heading to Vancouver Island.
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I have come to realize that although I live in this city, I don't know as much about it as I should.
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Jp's eldest son is quite curious and smart, asking all sorts of good questions, like: "how many people live here?" "When was this bridge built?" "Why did they name it Stanley Park?"
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I had to shrug at all of them. "I don't know kid... I just live here".
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Have you ever had company in town, and been a really bad tour guide?
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One that shouldn't be allowed to show tourists around?
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The kind like me?
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I mean, you have to make shit up if you don't know, right?
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So I did... we'll see how much of my crap they're going to remember once they get home and tell their mother.
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I can already see her eyes rolling now.
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(All indignant, like only the french know how to do)
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We are the host city for the 2010 Olympics, I'd better learn some trivia fast so I can answer the millions of questions that will come from the many many tourists.
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Before I do that, I'm gonna pass out of sheer exhaustion first.
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21 comments:

Laura said...

Congrats on the Grouse Grind... it's tough eh? I might try it this week, since I've been back to the gym a few times and might potentially be able to make it to the top without requiring an airlift rescue halfway up. Hope you had a great time with the kids!

Eileen said...

Oh, I miss it there! What about Golden Ears? Did you go there?
We lived there for 10 years, never did the Grouse Grind and never made it to the Island. Too much else to see.
Looks like you had a great time with the kids. That's nice for all of you.
Happy long weekend!!

That girl said...

Laura - You sound in MUCH better shape than I am. I have not seen a gym since 2006 (oops)

But, it was fun, even though with the kids there it took us 2hrs to complete :-)

Eileen - Golden Ears is today, and so is the Abbey in Mission as well as White Rock. (We were gonna go to Victoria today but with the long weekend, we'll just wait til after the weekend is over to go)

Fned said...

Dude, don't feel bad. I'm the worst tourist guide there is. When we have friends visiting and they tell us they want to do the Louvre-Eiffel-Notre Dame thing, I usually take out a map of Paris and show them which subway lines will get them there. :(

Fned.

Just telling it like it is said...

Awe suga...Sorry your so tired..I never remember names hardly never mind the history...We have had kids over every night since summer started...good thing for xbox...all I had to do was provide the endless snacks, and water....They kids are sooooo cute!!!

tweetey30 said...

Glad the kids are having fun. How do they get along with your two?? I guess I never thought to ask. Anyway they are adorable boys.

Anonymous said...

wow. 2.9 km uphill?That would make for an awesome run! Good training. I'm always looking for interesting runs. This sounds cool :-)

That girl said...

Fned - that must drive you crazy... Eiffel Tower/Notre Dame/Arc de Triumph...all the sites that, as a resident,you've probably grown to avoid, lol.

Just telling - I'd hate to have my kids friends over so often...they'd drive me crazy. Although, sometimes it's nice when the kids have friends over, so they keep them out of my hair, lol.

Tweets - they're fine, but you gotta remember that my 2 only speak english, and his 2 only speak french. So in the end it's just a lot of charades :-)

That girl said...

Leilani - your comment must have snuck in there while I was typing mine, cause I just noticed it :=)

The grouse grind is indeed good training. (not sure for what)

There are parts where you are basically on all fours, upright because it's so steep.

I don't know what possessed us to go there with the kids, but they had a blast so it worked out.

Dave said...

You apparently have things that people would want to see. Atlanta has traffic, smog, a hundred or so streets with Peachtree in their name, and some nice trees.

Just telling it like it is said...

I'm telling ya..it is like an instant out of my hair experience..Not that he wants to hang out with me anymore since he turned 13 yrs old all of a sudden I am not popular anymore..I can't believe it...
anywho I only have one crumb snatcher which I know is different than having even two children...

That girl said...

Dave - I laughed out loud when I read the 'Peachtree in their name' part... sounds like I'd most definitly get lost there :-)

Just telling - Yeah, lol. I hear you.

tweetey30 said...

I can only imagine. I bet they could learn loads from each other if they were together more often.. LOL... That was funny though..

Queen of the Mayhem said...

I feel that way often when I am showing people around my town.

I can't be bothered in learning the history of worthless trivia facts......I have STUFF to do! :)

pissed off patricia said...

I'm tired just from reading all the stuff you did. You must be dead.

I'm not sure where exactly in Canada you are but those pics are beautiful. Here in Florida the highest points are the ant hills. No beautiful mountains to explore like the ones in your pictures. I may be a little bit green with envy.

Sayre said...

I was hoping to be a tourist in my own town this summer and share some really cool stuff with my son (you know there's GOT to be a reason the town is HERE). It didn't happen though. Work interfered.

I have something for you on my blog - come and get it!

none said...

It does look like a nice visit.


I hate playing tour guide because it's hot here and the only good thing to do is sit in a cool bar or movie theater.

Ann(ie) said...

*sigh* I must come visit you. I love that city so much!!!

That girl said...

Tweets - yeah, it is funny.

Queen - I imagine you as my tourguide would be quite knowlegeable... I'm not interested in town trivia, I want to all the good spots to party! I know you excel at that!!

POP - there's 2 more days of this and then I'll sleep for a week!

Hammer and Sayre - both your comments were here today, but now for some reason blogger ate them and I can't see them anymore...maybe they'll come back, maybe they won't.

JR said...

Oh cool! My favorite city in the world is Vancouver and my favorite spot is Stanley Park, watching the sun set. The last time M and I were there, we did Grouse Mtn and the suspension bridge. Thanks for bringing back fond memories. We might make it up there again next year, we'll see.

La Cremiere said...

Impressive your city, your trivia knowledge is even more impressive. I fancy myself a neat tour guide, I know stuff but only because Alex told me all of it, he's the knowledgeable one and then I'm surprised that sometimes I remember what he said. :) The kids would have loved the tour so much they'd forget to repeat it to their mom (and who cares what she thinks? You're the best already!)