I'm back in the USSR

One could get that impression when one only considers the temperatures and the treatment one gets from Canada Customs & Immigration.  But when I was 20, I was getting that same treatment from German Police. It was a Hate at first sight relationship.

When the lovely non-smiling Immigration Official (1 out of 6 working in the ~20 available booths at Vancouver airport; you can imagine the lineup; and she was grumpy at me even without me saying something like "So many lovely green booths, and almost all of them are empty") asked me whether I went Cuba alone, I told her 'No, all the other people in the plane came with me'. That kind of set the tone for the rest of the conversation ;-)  In return she left me speechless when she asked me "What did you do in Cuba?".                "Walked, swam, ate, slept, walked, ate slept, and repeated that 7 times" apparently was the right answer of the day, because I did not get to visit her lovely Bag-Searching colleagues.

The weather is actually sunny and I get the driver's seat in the Skytrain ;-)

By the next day, the weather gods must have figured out that I'm back, because the 'sunny' day is only sunny on top of Grouse Mountain and in the far reaches of East Van, but in the areas where I ride my bike, all I see is FOG. Thanks again, Mr. Weatherman !

North Van

Lions Gate Bridge

Bridge to nowhere

North Shore mountain peaks in the sun

Stanley Park

Coal Harbour