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Saturday Night Fever
Donna, Susan's cousin, was going to join us for the rest of our stay and we had used up all of the coffee that Linda had left in the apartment. I ventured out into the monsoon that had swept in from the Pacific fully kitted out in all my waterproof gear to find a Starbucks and replace our stock of coffee. I was soaked to the skin in seconds the rain just bounces off the pavement, up your trouser legs and into your jacket through the seams, zips and pockets.
I stood at Starbucks counter with water pouring out of me and the staff gathered to consider whether to serve me or throw me out for flooding their shop. To their credit they were incredible helpful in finding a coffee that was both to our taste and suitable for use with our coffee making technology and I braved the rain again with £10 of coffee under my jacket and inside my trousers. It was still dry when I got back to the apartment.
Donna arrived around midday when the rain had gone off and, after an 11 year catchup session and a cup of coffee, we headed off to find some lunch. It was good to have an expert on the local eateries. After lunch we had our most surreal experience in Canada and certainly the most distinct example of how different Canadians are from Scots.
Well would you go dancing on a Saturday afternoon at 4:30pm? Donna does and so do lots of others. She took us to the Fairview pub in broad daylight and inside the place was 'loupin' as we would say. The dance floor was packed, every seat was taken and there was standing room only at the back and this was a big venue. We were late and they had started without us. The age range was from fifties to 92 with the median well towards the top end. The 92 year old gentleman comes every week, picks out the prettiest lady, dances the whole of the first set then, having exhausted himself, makes his way home on his mobility scooter.
The band was brilliant! Big City Soul- a nine piece band not in the first flush of youth themselves, they hammered out soul for 3 hours. All the classics belted out at full volume. There was a four piece brass section, keyboards, drums, two guitars and a singer. What a sound. I got in a round of drinks but we hardly got the chance to enjoy them before we were off to the dance floor to strut our stuff. The floor was bouncing, indeed you had to be a bit careful as there was a section that hadn't survived the constant pounding. The hours flew past and suddenly it was 7:30pm, the band was packing up and the old folk were making there way out into the still bright evening. We said goodbye to our new friends and Donna decided to take us on an evening driving tour or the south side of the city.
Darkness falls suddenly in Vancouver and soon Donna was pointing out were various buildings, attractions, golf courses and beaches could have been seen if there had been some light.
We finished our tour by having dinner in a very simple Chinese restaurant which had been Donna's dad's (Susan's uncles') favourite. A poignant and fitting conclusion to a great day out.
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