Gastown and the Steampunk Clock

(Laurel & Hardy Visit Vancouver, Part 2)

My dad and I drove from Portland, Oregon to Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and to Seattle, Washington, in May 2012.

The building with sails on top is a visitor’s center and prominade with a lovely view.

My dad and I wandered the neighborhood and dined at a fancy Mediterranean restaurant (I had a veggie deep dish with no cheese — it was a lot like pizza, in a porcelain boat containing a thin layer of crust topped with a mixture of sizzling hot artichokes, spinach, mushrooms, eggplant, and tomato). The restaurant was straight across the street from an antique store called Dorian Rae Collections (not to be confused with Dorian Grey) — breathtaking, large standing Buddhas and other Buddhist art in one big window and African art in the other.

While we dined, we abruptly heard drums. I said, “It sounds like a parade.” My dad was at a better angle and saw people standing on the sidewalk and watching something… and next thing you know, there a parade of protestors marching down the middle of the street — banners and signs — followed by two police prison vans. My dad was convinced they took the protestors to jail. According to our server and the hotel’s front desk clerk, these protests happen all the time in Vancouver. I later remembered it’s Beltane, also known as May Day, which has a tradition of working class and socialist protest.