Getting Ready

Sitting in Hadar’s apartment in Kirkland, WA, writing the last blog post before the tour madness starts. The apartment boasts a perfect view of Lake Washington, which looks lovely at day time and much less exciting on 2:46am. Kirkland is an altogether lovely little town; greenery welcomes you everywhere you go, shops and stores designed to give you the feeling that you are sifting through the pages of some childhood fantasy book. Think of Banff, AB—in particular, Banff Avenue—very similar “feel”. Heck, even Starbucks looks sexy here (their coffee, alas, is a whole different story).

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The morning after the last blog post, I decided to devote the day to show Jeroen around Vancouver and its surroundings. Whoever knows the first thing about me, knows that I would never miss a chance to rave about this beautiful city. And so after a quick breakfast, we decided to take highway 99—known as “Sea to Sky highway”—north of Vancouver towards Whistler, and stop in a few places along the way. For example, Cypress Hill—

(Sorry for ruining the view), Horseshoe Bay—

(If you’re in the area, go to Blenz Coffee just across the street, get a cup of coffee / tea and consume it while gazing at the bay. That should add a few months to your life expectancy), Whistler—

—as well as numerous view‐points off the highway, those who make you wonder whether you’re just imagining these beautiful views:

At the end, on our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Prospect Point—about 100m drive into Stanley Park:

The next day had a similar format—driving to neat places surrounding Vancouver, taking a few shots, only this time we went east towards Chilliwack and Hope (pictures not available yet… sorry. But if you’re in the area, be sure you check‐out the Bridal Veil Falls).

No matter what new places I go to and experience, it appears that there are two cities that cannot be beat. Vancouver is one of them (the other is Jerusalem)—the mix of nature and urbanism here is simply a winner, and the abundance of things to do and sights to see in the area makes it a heavenly place to live (assuming you can afford it; wages here are generally lower than, say, Toronto—while the cost of living is higher).

We ended the two days of exploration with a superb dinner in a restaurant called “Stepho’s”, on Davie Street. For a while now, I have been nagged by more than a handful of foodie friends of mine, to go and give this place a try. It’s a Greek‐Mediterranean restaurant, and apparently very successful—its walls are literally swamped with all sorts of certificates, awards and whatnot. And the food? well, if I told you that you could get pretty full by ordering their lamb roast for $9.25 (read: nine dollars and twenty five cents), you would most likely argue that it’s either the food is crappy or my stomach’s capacity leaves much to be desired. I dare you, then. I had the same doubts when I looked at their simple, almost boring menu, so I also ordered an appetizer (generous portion of hummus served as a dip; $4.25). I couldn’t finish my entire meal, and man was it good!

Give it a shot next time you’re in Vancouver.

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We decided to spend April 7 onwards in Seattle, and so after a quick breakfast we made our way south. Due to the NEXUS rules, we had to take the regular passenger crossing lanes, which stole about two hours from our time—but still we made it safe and sound to Seattle. Pouring down rain the entire way. Dropped Jeroen off at the Moore Hotel—adjacent to the Moore Theatre, where the Seattle concert is to take place tomorrow—and drove to Kirkland to stay in Hadar’s place.

Tomorrow… tomorrow, April 8, the Get Lucky tour begins. Seems like it was yesterday when the album was released. I still am not fully grasping the fact that, in slightly over 13 hours, I will be seated at the second row of the Moore Theatre and watch the best musical group I could think of—performing live. It will be the first of 87 shows which I am going to attend. In particular, I am curious about the setlist, and about which songs of Get Lucky are going to be performed (I can only wish that Border Reiver, Before Gas & TV, So Far from the Clyde and Piper to the End are in the list). All questions and wonderings will be answered tomorrow. I can hardly wait.

Good night,
Isaac