Who doesn’t love a city market? To me it profiles a city. Some cities have markets you remember. They may basically have the same things. Fruit, veg, meats etc etc. they have eating places and sitting places and they have personalities.

Some of the markets I’ve visited around the world have big doses of the above ……. Spain has Boqueria, Melbourne has Queen Victoria market ( not a great name!) France has great village markets -Cotignac is one I loved. Kyoto has the Nishiki And now Granville island. ( tell me in comments your favourite markets)

What did I like ? The island is easy to move around. It’s colourful, is almost car free! The food stalls are inviting – there’s not a huge number of them but what there is, is great. The eating places are great. We had pancakes for breakfast.

But I loved the ‘vibe’ of walking around outside the markets and visiting the art and craft shops.

The sun was out. The island had a good feeling, – around the island people were on pedal bikes, kayaks little aqua boats scooting up and down the river. There were busking strumming away. One was really good. Another not so good! And the bossa- nova guy was enough to make me want to dance in the street.

I went into one craft shop leaving Steve sitting in the sun and came back to find he had a new best friend. An Aussie from Newcastle. His wife and friends arrived and we found they’d just come off a Holland- American cruise and loved it. They gave us a few handy hints about excursions, eating on board etc.

We spent a few hours looking at glass blowing , then wood whittling, painters, silk weaving , soap makers, jewellers beating silver, a hat maker. So many lovely artisans.

Feeling hungry we decided lunch would be our main meal today so went into a seafood place by the river. It was big, but was run with precision. We scored a table by the window, so had the theatre of the river to entertain us.

Gordon, our waiter was kind & helpful, and became our new best friend. Perhaps in the hope of a good tip.

Steve decided to gift me a beautiful necklace for Mother’s Day. We’d met a lady earlier who had the most beautiful silver mesh jewellery. She was wearing a piece I loved.

I thought about it over lunch and maybe having wine made the decision to say ‘yes’ to the necklace a little easier. So, back we went and bought it.

The little boats we’d seen scooting around the river looked fun so we hopped on one and headed down the river.

The dome is the now the science centre and an area for sport.

People were out in force walking, sitting eating ice cream , riding bikes , sitting on rocks looking over the river. It was beautiful.

Final transportation for the day – a train back to the hotel arriving in time for a ‘wee’ rest then Steve headed downstairs for a happy hour drink at the hotel and to watch hockey. I waited a while and went down to find he’d make another two friends who will be on our ship tomorrow. They had to go and another couple started chatting. Marnie and Mike from Florida are also cruising. But on Monday on a different ship. They were fun to talk to and Marnie introduced me to a new cocktail. It called The Last Word (Something I like to have with Steve. ……)😘. It’s made with equal parts gin, Green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and lime juice. Rather nice.

We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the room and Steve went to buy some cheese and crackers. He came back exhausted. He walked and walked and found himself in a rather dangerous homeless area. There’s quite a bit a homeless people here. It’s so sad. the milk and iced tea were kept in locked fridges!

Tomorrow is cruise day. It’s going to be interesting.

Give your best cruise hints please !