Crepey breakfast with the FFC (Foremost Ferry Consultant)

So my friend Alan is in town. The one who is also known as The Ferry Consultant.  I just checked my blog and even though I have used the term Ferry Consultant in 8 separate posts, I never got around to providing a detailed job description.  

That term actually predates this blog by about 6 months ! It all started in April of 2012 with my first ever trip to Asia, namely the journey to Hong Kong, just a week away.  Alan, being a native son of HK, provided a list of things to do while there, which included an item about taking a trip on something called The Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour.

Star Ferry May 2012

The Star Ferry got most of the credit of my fabulous 6 days in fabulous Hong Kong, when I asked Alan as a joke, whether he knew of any other great ferry rides around the world.  











The two obscure Italian names at a lake close to the Swiss border that he mentioned (Varenna, Bellagio,Lake Como) in reply were filed somewhere in the mental drawer labelled "As if I'm ever going to make it to that neck of the woods in this lifetime".











Six month later I was sitting in a train with my Spare Mom to EXACTLY that neck of the woods that I had thought I'd never ever see.  And Alan passed the test.

The ferry ...

Spare mom loved the trip so much that people at her funeral more than 2 years later were talking to me about that trip.

... from Varenna ...

And the ONLY reason that we traveled there was Alan's mentioning of two village names. 

... to Bellagio

Both my spare mom and I enjoyed the area so much that we ended up staying in Bellagio for 3 nights instead of the planned 1 night.  Ever since that 2012 trip Alan has occupied the position of Foremost Ferry Consultant (TM). 

But I digress. This post was supposed to be about the breakfast. And NO, it wasn't creepy or crappy at all !  Me living in this town meant I had to come up with a suggestion for a restaurant for meeting and Denny's was neither good enough nor conveniently located for Alan, so I used TripAdvisor and located a breakfast place serving crepes on Robson Street.

Given that this is Canada, and given that France is known for its fabulous food, I am expecting to be disappointed by the offered fare, but the very first impression actually is a very good one.  

The waiter brings me a liquor menu at 9:30 am !   

How tres civilized,LOL. 


Naturally I order a glass of wine, in particular a White Bear Sauvignon Blanc.











And the food is fabulous too!   
I wish this place was right next to my place of living instead of Denny's (No! Eda, Regina, et. al., DON'T rip my head off, I WOULD miss all the fabulous waitresses at Denny's).

National Geographic Magazine published a list of the TOP 10 City Boat Trips in the world. Bellagio to Varenna is not on the list (no city in sight ?), but Hong Kong's Star Ferry is. So is the Sausalito Ferry in San Francisco, the Bosphorus Ferry in Istanbul, and something by the name of BC Ferries.  But then lists are never complete and I don't know why the Havanna Harbour ferry is not on that list or the Speed Boat linking Phnom Penh to Siem Reap or the ferry between Bingen and Ruedesheim.  Must have to do with the sample sizes available to the reviewers ;-)


Anyhuu, breakfasting with Alan reminds me that I'm going to a concert in 10 days. ( I might finally get out of the constant pouring rain of Vancouver)

Hong Kong 2014

A new perusal of the list of performing artists leaves me a little in shock when I finally clue in who Roger Waters is. 

Because now that I know who Roger Waters is (think Pink Floyd), I know he will be playing a certain song next week.


And I know I'll be shedding tears during THIS SONG at the concert.