***PHOTO Vancouver walking tour & Renaissance Harbourside, pre-cruise (August 2010)

[daliflor]

"The whole of Stanley Park really is a garden and the rose garden is like finding a shiny jewel in the middle of it."

 

 

The best time to visit the Rose garden, we were told by the tour guise, is in early summer right around the end of June when the 4,000 bushes are flowering with over 200 varieties of roses.

 

 

 

"I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes."

 

 

Not surprisingly, Stanley Park rose garden is one of the most popular and best places in Vancouver to have a wedding.

 

 

 

 

In the middle of this beauty, as the sun was coming out and the rain was left behind us, my shuttle tour ($10.00 CAD) came to an end at the same point where it started (close to the Stanley Park Pavilion - where the local bus stop is located).

 

[daliflor]

The local bus # 19 came quickly to Stanley Park and for $2.00 CAD, it took me back Vancouver Downtown, around the corner from the Renaissance hotel, in less than 10 minutes!

 

 

 

Leaving the beautiful Rose Garden behind... for good this time... and with the garden, Vancouver's famous landmark Stanley Park!...

 

 

 

[daliflor]

 

 

 

My walking tour in Vancouver concluded once I got off the local bus and returned to the Renaissance Hotel to pick up my luggage...

 

Around 2pm that Friday afternoon (August 27th 2010), I was heading to the Cruise Terminal... ready to start my Alaskan adventure aboard RCI cruise ship Radiance of the Seas!

 

 

It was an easy 10-15 minutes walk to Canada Place Cruise Terminal where a sparkling ship awaited me!

 

 

Radiance of the Seas in Vancouver, B.C. seen for Vancouver Lookout Tower (August 27th 2010)

 

 

To conclude a glorious day in Vancouver, I would like to use a nice shot from one fellow cruiser - a pleasant, well traveled person and a passionate photographer; also a CC member ( source: jay galvin's photostream ):

 

Vancouver's Harbor (August 27, 2010)

 

 

[daliflor]

Hello, everyone!

 

If interested, please feel free to visit the online photo album similar to the one presented on this thread, but this time a walking tour in SEATTLE, WA (including a pre-scheduled lunch reservation on the revolving restaurant atop Space Needle):

 

http://2010northernalaskacruise.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

 

Finally, at the end of this particular photo album, I also included some pictures from the scenic train ride on "CASCADES" evening train from Seattle, WA to Vancouver, B.C. (this ride took place on Thursday, August 26th 2010; pre-cruise).

 

The site is a work in progress; so as time allows me, I may add photo albums from our ports of call in Alaska.

 

 

Enjoy!