Vancouver Christmas Market and Kits Beach Playground

Over the weekend we were downtown Vancouver so we seized the chance and went into the Vancouver Christmas Market. I had been reluctant to attend because I had heard so many horror stories about the line-ups to get. No such problem for us! We arrived and walked right into the Christmas Market where it was not too crowded, but busy enough to make us feel the Christmas spirit.

The great thing about the Christmas Market is that as soon as you get inside your olfactory senses are assailed by so many delicious odours. There were just so many wonderful smells. I approached one of the booths and said to the guy inside, “Is this where the good smells are coming from?” Without missing a beat he replied, “You betcha it is, what can I get you?” I love to see people seize an opportunity like that. In reality it was not the source of the yummy smells but what difference does that make? So I ended up trying their “poutine”.

Their poutine is served on a baked potato. Unique. And pretty tasty. The black, multi-tiered roaster that they bake the spuds in is imported from the Czech Republic. The guy told me that he brought it over as a piece of his Czech-ed luggage.

There were many other taste tempting opportunities but I resisted. Many of the stands were meat heavy in their choices with bratwurst being one of the common options. There was also a stand offering a pork dish.

As I was taking a picture of the roasting pig I overheard a woman passing by say that even though she is not a vegetarian she cannot stand eating food from something with a face. I found that kind of amusing.

The one negative about the Christmas Market, other than the fact that there are a lot of stands in a small area, is that the main tent where people want to go and see the Christmas ornaments and stuff that you might want to purchase had a thirty minute long line-up. It just seemed like the tent was too small.

Overall, I loved the feeling of Christmas that filled the air; people willingly shared their eating spaces and chatted with one another and many, many people were carrying little kids or wheeling them around in strollers. The spirit of Christmas was very prevalent.

As we were leaving our girls were absolutely delighted by the old Woodwards window display that is outside the Christmas Market. The girls were literally jumping up and down with delight at seeing the display.

After visiting the Christmas Market we headed back over to Kits Beach to let the girls try out the newly renovated little kids playground. The very cool thing about the way that the playground is designed is that any kid can get at it. There is no pea-gravel or bark mulch that would stop a kid in a wheelchair.

The sidewalk leads right up to the playground area and where the pea gravel might have been in the past there is this weird spongy stuff under foot. It feels very cool to walk on.

We were very impressed with the quality of the playground and the thought that went into creating an environment that is inclusive to kids of all abilities. A great new addition to the Kits Beach area.

Overall, a great family day for us.