Exploring Granville Island City Market

SUNDAY WALKS WITH RUTHAKI

It was the day of the annual Vancouver Sun Run and thousands of walkers/joggers were thronging downtown to participate.  I avoided the crowds and set out mid afternoon, caught the #50 False Creek bus in front of Waterfront Station and rode it to the entrance of Granville Island at Anderson and Second Ave.

Granville Island used to be an industrial area under the Granville Bridge but in 1979 it was developed into this buzzing market place.  Here you can take in  live entertainment, wander the many shops, relaxed on the wharf or stroll beside the houseboats and yachts.  The island is the home of the Emily Carr School of Art and there are many galleries and art studios as well as boutiques selling beautiful hand-crafted items.  There’s also an excellent variety of restaurants with an international flavour if you want to go for dinner before taking in a play at one of the several theatres on the Island.

My first stop as I entered Granville Island, was the Kids Only Market.  You don’t need to be a kid to enjoy browsing around this huge warehouse full of toys, books and fashionable kids’ duds.  There’s play areas, even a kids hair salon with cute little cars for the tots to sit in while having their hair cut.

Next door is a decorated old tram car “Woofs and Meows for Dogs and Cats”where they sell treats for pets.  Across the road the Granville Island Brewery conducts tours, and you can sit inside and sample some of their great suds.

I crossed over to take a peek in The Hanging Place were they sell cool hammocks.  Next door is the impresssive Eagle Spirit Gallery that exhibits outstanding First Nations art. At the corner square in front of La Baguette & L’Echatole Bakery, a raucous, not so funny comedian is entertaining a small crowd,  but the sound of lilting Andean music draws me along further to the False Creek ferry dock where a South American man is playing an Andean flute with recorded back-up.  The big yellow building at the end of the wharf is Bridges where you can dine or drink but the mouth-watering aroma of baking lures me to the market building.

I wander the produce and flower stalls while a West Indies singer serenades the Sunday afternoon shoppers.  I inspect the ice-heaped trays of fresh shellfish and salmon; dawdle by the artistic displays of  bakery goods and stacks of fresh-baked bread; admire the many booths displaying lovely hand-crafted items and take some photos of the gorgeous floral displays.  There’s lot of variety to choose from in the food court but this hungry wanderer succumbs to temptation and orders a big wedge of pepperoni pizza and a can of diet Pepsi.  I take my snack outside to the deck.  It’s starting to spit rain and I’ve just missed the musicians who entertain under the red canopy.  So I relax, watch the kiddies chasing pigeons, and enjoy the scenic view of Yaletown just across the way and the yachts cruising up False Creek.  It has been a pleasant afternoon, well spent.

Edible British Columbia offers Granville Island Tours ($65 per person plus GST)

604-812-9660

events@edible-britishcolumbia.com