October 31, 2005 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Artists & Art Galleries
Find more information about Vancouver, Artists & Art Galleries
One of my favourite annual events in Vancouver is coming up. The
Eastside Culture Crawl is a weekend in November (this year, the 18 - 20th) when local artists open up their studios that dot the semi-industrial eastside of Vancouver. You can visit the studios of everyone from furniture makers to sculptors to painters to potters; some very mainstream, and others very eclectic. It's a great way to get to know the style and spirit of many Vancouver artists, and explore an oft-forgotten neighbourhood. My favourite stop is
Joe Blow Glassworks, to watch the glassblowers at work. A must to cap off your studio-crawl is a gelato from the pink-coloured
La Casa Gelato; an amazing shop with hundreds of flavours of the italian frozen treat.
October 28, 2005 | Tips from Us > Tofino, Walking
This fall when my new husband and I got married, our plans had a definite 'island' theme. We followed our wedding on
Galiano Island in the Gulf Islands with a honeymoon on
Vancouver Island, and the combination couldn't have been more perfect. We left Galiano Island by
ferry at the finale of a weekend of celebration with family and friends. Our first destination was Sooke, a small town about 30 minutes drive outside of Victoria. We stayed at
Sooke Harbour House, a charming inn on the ocean, which has a relaxed and whimsical style. The best part about the inn is the amazing food served in the dining room. We sampled some of the most remarkable and delicious dishes, but my favourite was always the sablefish: first night smoked, next night steamed. The inn's food focuses on local products, especially from their own completely edible garden. On our last morning, we toured the garden with the head gardener and some of the other guests, and discovered that not only is tuberous begonia edible, it's also really delicious... who knew? We departed Sooke and headed northwest towards