All Over Seattle

We had some adventures in the big city today.

We got some delicious pork buns at Mee Sum Pastry. A sad reality is that once I've finished eating all of my favorites at the market I often don't have any room for anything else.

This time were did have enough cargo space for a visit to Turkish Delight. Some were good and some were overly soft. I wonder if I got a bad batch.

Lydia's a big fan of this new Hellenika Greek frozen yogurt joint.

There was a random exhibit about the giant Robert Wadlow from Alton, IL. I don't see a lot of midwest references over here so I'll take what I can get.

I don't super care that the Hard Rock Cafe died but I wish I had made an appearance beforehand.

We had a quick sip at the luxuriously appointed Olympic Bar in the lobby of the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.

Zoe noticed a promotion where you got a glass of wine for signing up for the hotel's loyalty program. Yes please.

I got a mezcal flight. It was a mistake.

Pacific National Exhibition

I have a deep love of state fairs dating back to my upbringing in Springfield, Illinois, home to the Illinois State Fair. I noticed that Vancouver had sort of state fair when we moved to Seattle, and I've been thirsty for a visit ever since.

Canada sadly doesn't have "states" and so can't have state fairs. That's not my rules, that's the laws of nature. Instead they have these things they call exhibitions.

Much like a state fair they had plenty of hucksters peddling junk to those with more money than sense.

Is 30km fast? Slow? Literally no one knows.

These strange people did seem to share our affinity for taking an unhealthy thing then frying it to multiply the unhealthiness.

There was noticeably more British influence. Down in Real North America we belittle the Brits for having terrible food.

There was a free Chinese acrobat show.

I couldn't pass up Mac & Cheese Soft Serve.

These people are sick.

There was a drag version of Cher singing on stage which to me is pretty much the normal version of Cher singing on stage.

One thing that was very different to American fairs was they seemed to have a full blown casino operating under a few tents.

Canada is more extreme than most realize.

There's a national campaign teaching Canadians how to wipe their butts. Things here are much worse than I realized.

Here they were being taught how to enter and exit a bus.

A solid 65% percent of the reason to go to Vancouver is to buy the friggin delicious chocolate babka at Kozak Ukrainian Restaurant. They even had a little President Zelenskyy.

Time to get this babka chocolate into my face.

Friends, Lydia hasn't quite been the same lately. Sometimes when we go for walks she spreads out her arms and flaps her arms like she's a bird. I've caught her licking her lips at the park whenever a bird flies overhead. I'm afraid it all goes back to when I took her to that fancy restaurant in Matera, Italy and she ordered several dishes made from pigeon.

So when she heard there was a restaurant in Vancouver named Pidgin she got confusedly excited and demanded that we go there for dinner.

For a drink to start off with I ordered the Hardy Tardy-rhubarb liquer, pisco, sparkling wine

They started us off with an assortment of pickled pickles.

rabbit terrine, shiitake, radish, garlic scapes, sake kasu mustard

This particular dish was memorable because it was the first time I told another human that Lydia was pregnant. Pregnant ladies aren't supposed to eat raw meat or many cold meats, so I had a conversation with the waiter about what this dish entailed.

tempura zucchini blossom, Dungeness crab aioli

sockeye salmon, squid, vierge

lamb sirloin, miso garlic, eggplant caponata, kimchi cabbage, tomato paste, mentaiko

chocolate cake, vanilla mousse, yuzu curd

Lastly we visited Hard Rock Casino Vancouver. I like casinos, and I like the fun vibe and musical artifacts of Hard Rock Cafes, so this was a natural choice.

 I assume that this is what Canadians wear to church.

Even the casino parking lot was musical.