The days off are coming thick and fast now and I couldn't think of a better city than Vancouver in which to spend one. We were all grateful for a sunny day in this beautiful city and Mark, Glenn, Richard and myself took a 13 block walk up to Stanley Park and rented bikes for a cycle round the peninsula.













In this shot of downtown Vancouver taken from the air as we left town you can clearly see the perimeter of Stanley park, the locals call it the island.



Richard had been harping on about the burgers from the Canadian chain 'Harveys' in his diary until someone (I believe it was Isaac, in his blog) steered him towards White Spot. Richard tried and liked and suggested it be our lunch stop after the ride. We tried and we liked.



Luckily, nothing to do with us...merely the reason for a slight delay in getting to the GA terminal, an over enthusiastic truck driver rolls his trailer.



One of the many seaplanes that live in Vancouver. What fun it must be to own one of these.



If you're a regular reader of my diaries you'll know that I'm fascinated by anything extraordinary concerning weather patterns so this was a photo opportunity if ever I saw one. A distinct squall situated over a lake so you can see the clearly defined squall line.



We arrived in Edmonton an hour after leaving Vancouver on the Embraer and were whisked straight to the venue. Another symphony hall and another dark stage when we arrived. For those who've never heard of this, a dark stage is a one-hour period, usually 30 minutes before show time when the local union decrees that it's an official tea break or whatever and no-one is allowed to so much as walk on the stage during this period. Something that we put up with in most cities in the US.



With the end of the tour on the distant horizon, I've been making a point of interviewing crew members whenever I can and here Dan spent 15 minutes talking to Colin Barton our chief stage technician who always has some interesting things to say and some wonderful stories.



The audience in Edmonton seemed much more muted than what we've been used to but of course that doesn't mean they enjoyed the show any less and that was confirmed at the end of the show when once again the place erupted with applause when they finally realize we're not doing any more encores. Then it was into the cars for the 75th time and a short ride back to the hotel for our stay here in Edmonton. We all make it to the wood paneled bar using the one and only elevator still functioning. One thing that irks a lot of travelers from the UK and Europe is the huge plasma TV screens that seem to dominate every bar across the US and Canada.They're fine for the most part but installing two of them in a beautiful bar such as this is surely a feng-shui faux-pas especially when what appears to be showing is a beach bakini gladiator/it's a knockout type game show. (BTW. 'team blonde' won...woo)