First lesson: Vancouver is boring during the winter. Beautiful, but BORING. Anyone who loves adventure, great food and a beautiful ocean side city, should visit in the summer.  If you do decide to go up during the winter, the ONLY place to be is Whistler.  The skiing and snowboarding are INSANE, the food is delicious, you can party all night and wake up to do it all again.

Since you know my love of food is beyond all others, restaurant reviews first!

Whistler Restaurant Reviews: My favorite all around experience was  DUBH LINN GATE IRISH PUB. We went there on New Years Eve and had a blast. The food was DELICIOUS and at a great price (which is saying something for Whistler). There was live music, Ruckus Deluxe, who is my new favorite band. I love them so much. We drank, ate and danced all night; I couldn’t ask for more. Don’t ever waste a cover charge, especially on New Years Eve. My second favorite place, it could have been a tie really, was Quattro. This was excellent Italian food at its finest. You HAVE to get the Caprese Trio, the Buffalo Ricotta, Bocconcini, Buffalo Mozzarella BLEW MY MIND.  I mean, I literally could have eaten a whole appetizer plate by myself. I got the Gnocchi a la Pomodoro, which inspired me to make my own Homemade Gnocchi.  Chris had the Rigatoni Pecorari, which was a delicious beef and lamb bolognese. Although, I think my bolognese is a contender against this one. For dessert the BEST place to go is Cow’s Ice Cream Parlor. My ONLY negative review of the whole trip was Side Cut at The Four Season. It was the most expensive meal of our whole trip and it was totally stuffy and overrated on every review website we checked out. It boasts a fancy house made signature rubs and 8 pairing steak sauces. We tried two different rubs and all sauces; at best I could say it was OK. I mean a $200+ meal for two with wine should not be just OK, right? Not to mention the service abhorrent! We sat there for 20 minutes before we even got water, while the staff cleaned of a few other tables. Our waiter was stuffy, unhelpful and just wanted to up-sell us on every choice we made, that is, when we saw him… I would avoid that one, it is not worth the money.

Vancouver Restaurant Reviews: Let me just say I have never tried harder to go to a restaurant and by restaurant I mean food truck, in MY LIFE until I tried to go to Fresh, Local, Wild. Talk about a waste of time. We literally stood at the corner of Hastings and Burrard for at least two hours, EVERY SINGLE DAY we were in Vacouver. And on that note, I have no review to give. Actually my review is: Don’t boast the best F-ing Fried Oyster Po-Boy in the world and NOT SHOW UP TO YOUR CORNER. WTF. I am still so angry. Lesson, don’t go to Vancouver during the winter!!! I can however give an EXCELLENT review for Joe Forte’s Seafood and Chop House. They weren’t lying when they said Vanoucer has some of the best seafood in the world. My meal: Sea Food Tower (for one). I literally ate half a dozen oysters, 8 crab legs, half a lobster, 10 clams, 10 mussels, scallop ceviche, seared tuna, smoked sockeye salmon and jumbo prawns. I ate every last bite. Their claim of being the best oyster bar in Vancouver is well deserved. There are more expensive choices (Blue Water Cafe) but don’t waste the money. You get everything you could ever want here, at a great price. The other restaurants we went to were fine but not worth noting.

Why didn’t we stay in Whistler the whole time?! I mean don’t get me wrong, I cannot wait to go to Vancouver in May! Whale watching, sea planes, beaches, hiking and bridge crossings…. it all sounds so adventurous and fun… but during the winter…. closed. Winter = Whistler. WHY? Olympic quality ski resort at its finest.  There are over 200 runs with the best snow on the planet, it is without a doubt my favorite ski resort yet. This is coming from a girl born and raised skiing and snowboarding in Colorado; I know my Sh*t. One of the coolest experiences was riding on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, the worlds longest free-span gondola.  Words cannot describe my love for Whistler! But my hard-core jump skills might. This my friends is called a “tindy grab” Although Skiers are my archenemies, this one is pretty cute… Sick view right?!

Sadly, we were only there for a few days before we headed back to Vancouver. I know, I have complained a lot already about everything being closed down, but there were a few cool things to see. Thank God for Stanley Park! Aquarium, Totem Poles and great views… Does it get any better than that?! I have never in seen Pacific White-SIded Dolphins, Beluga Whales or Sea Otters before! I was in love…  The totem poles were awesome too. Chris and I spent a whole day walking around Stanley Park. It was an amazing place and I can’t wait to go back… in the spring