The boys and I go to Canada

  As I lay sleeping in Vancouver BC, window propped open by a picture frame to combat the heat, I am awoken one more morning by the sound of birds and bells.  But these are not the birds of Rome sweetly chirping while the church bells toll nor are they the familiar sound of Goldfinches singing outside my own bedroom window.  Instead it is the squawking of Seagulls one after another drowning out both the bells and the flock of pigeons cooing right outside my window on the neighboring roof. I give into the Seagulls and raise myself from the bed to ready myself and the boys for the trip home.
  This trip has taught me plenty.  It was meant as an introduction to foreign travel for my boys; a test to see if they would be ready for Europe in two years.  We explored endlessly.  They were unafraid of the city although Nikolai said he would probably get lost alone in the city. They loved, as I do, listening to all the different languages being spoken as we passed people on the streets.  They were decent at navigating busy city streets and I only had to remind them a handful of times that we were not in Prineville anymore.  We walked almost everywhere and they complained very little.  Besides walking we rode a train, a trolley, a bus, bikes and a subway.  The subway and trolley were both first for the boys and they were excited.  Unfortunately on the subway they were smashed in the middle of the crowd and couldn't see out once it came above ground.  They liked its speed.
  More than a few times they called cars as we passed on the roadways; Maserati, Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari.  "Is everyone in the city rich?" they inquired.  They could count the number of trucks we saw on one hand.
   On our first day we visited the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  The boys woke up early eager to explore.  I made oatmeal in the room and quickly discovered I had not brought near enough food.  Boys eat a meal and five short minutes later they are starving again. We would have to find a grocery store today and stock up.
  We walked through Gastown exploring the inner workings of the steam clock.  Its gears exposed by glass clicked and turned and the vents at the bottom of the clock poured out heat like a radiator.
  On we walked to Canada Place taking pictures and looking at both the waterfront and the skyscrapers that are as foreign to us as the languages being spoken on the streets.  A homeless man offered to take our picture and I consented knowing he would be asking for a little money.  I gave him a couple of dollars in coins and he graciously thanked us.  On we went ready to board the shuttle to the park.  I attempted to buy some juice for the boys, one of our morning staples, and quickly found out it is a premium product in Canada costing anywhere from three to five dollars for a very small bottle.  We would have to do without for the day.
   The shuttle ride was an adventure.  It chugged up the hill to the park dying more than once along the way while the driver reassured us she would make it.  At last she died as we turned into the parking lot but we had made it.
   The park's website had advertised more than just a suspension bridge and I expected to spend the day but upon arrival we discovered it was very small.  We spent the first few minutes arranging our newly acquired yellow rain ponchos over our bodies and then explored the exhibit on native Canadians. We spoke with a native man about a wooden canoe and he explained it was just a replica.  Native canoes would have been built two from one tree by splitting it down the middle.  These canoes took the natives to Oregon, Washington, Alaska and even Hawaii.  Hawaii seemed impossible to me but he explained that the natives first knew the trade winds, could smell land and knew where fresh water springs existed in the ocean.  They navigated to far away places using those three keys.  He said pollution has destroyed the smell of the land and it is no longer possible to find their way.  There was a sadness in his eyes and I got the feeling he didn't often get to tell people this much of his people's story.  Most people quickly moved past the exhibit not stopping to talk at all.
   We moved on to the suspension bridge and I was anticipating fear from Max who is not a fan of heights.  We all three quickly moved onto the bridge and Max wasn't frightened.  The bridge wobbled and swayed to and fro as the river gently passed hundreds of feet below.  Once across we explored the pond where we spotted a few fish.  We moved on to the "raptors exhibit" which consisted of one Barn Owl and a Harris Hawk.  The tree house adventure was a series of platforms connected by suspension bridges.  It was small and only took a few minutes to cross.  Later we took the canyon walk which has plexiglass overlooks of the river and granite walls.  We were disappointed to not be able to leave the walkways to explore the Pacific Rainforest more.    There were not any trails for us to hike and we were not able to hike down to the river either.  We were finished with the park in just a couple of hours.
  We followed the advice of one of the park workers and walked up the hill a couple of miles to a small village for lunch.  There was a deli tucked off the main road between a barber shop and bookstore known only to locals and we ordered some soup and sandwiches.  It was expensive, as I later found every meal in Vancouver to be.  We ate outside since the skies had cleared and the sun was warm.  On our way back we stopped at a grocery store and picked up snacks and oatmeal.
   When we returned to the park we were lucky to catch the trolley shuttle back down to Vancouver.  The trolley blazed down the hill at breakneck speed as we held on, Nikolai looping his arms through mine to keep himself from falling out the large open window.  We laughed the whole way back bouncing and shifting around.
   Back at Canada Place there was a ship in port so we decided to take a look.  As we walked towards the ship I noticed a museum exhibit about the War of 1812.  I told the boys on the way back we would have to look at it.  They were less than thrilled but I convinced them.  When we were finished we returned to the hostel and dropped off bags.  Off we went again to explore the city.  When the boys spotted the subway I asked a foodcart vendor the cost.  It was inexpensive so I figured we would do it.  She directed us to the station around the corner and told us to get off at Science World where we would be able to walk along the water and explore Olympic village.
   Olympic village had huge statues of birds and spinning chairs down by the water.  The boys took turns making one another dizzy on the chairs.  I went once but not too fast.  There were dragon boats practicing, kayakers on the water, bikers and runners all around.  We threw rocks into the water and strolled slowly back to town.  Science World caught the eyes of my boys and they begged to go.  When we returned to the hotel we asked the front desk clerk.  She checked to see what was being displayed and it turned out to be the world tour of the Davinci exhibit.  I had to go!  They next day we would head there but first pizza and sleep.