Well after last nights epic drink fest with Heidi, the day started off slow.  Dave got up around 9 and wandered over to Top Pot to work on his blog, sip coffee, eat giant donuts, sight the fake Gary Busey, and allow me to sleep in.  He makes a good vacation wife!  After convincing Dave that it was time we got our day going once I had awoken and showered, we decided to head down to the Aquarium.  Now let me preface what I am about to say with that he Vancouver Aquarium is awesome, and I am not a fan of uncontrolled children on the best of days.  But before we wandered down to the aquarium it was brunch time!

For some fine mid morning dining we went to Lola, which also does a lunch and dinner menu, but I was specifically told I needed to do the breakfast.  I had the pancakes with sausage made on premise and a vanilla mascarpone and real maple syrup as Dave dined on their breakfast plate which consisted of 2 eggs, sausage and garlic mashed potatoes.  To start we had a plate of their made to order donuts which came with vanilla mascarpone and a rhubarb jam.  The breakfast kicked ass, the pancakes were pancakes, but nice and thick.  The sausage though on the other hand was devine.  It really reminded me of my meatloaf I would make a home had a nice onion flavour.  If you go there for breakfast definitely get a side of the sausage to share with someone else.  My breakfast was more food then I could eat on my own, about 1/3rd of my final pancake had to go un-eaten.

Next we set off the we finally made our way down to the aquarium and the horde of uncontrolled children that were there.  If you have never been to a seaside aquarium this is definitely a place you should hit up.  You will get a good exposure to the life that lives in our local oceans, both hands on and in the tanks.  They have a small aviary where you can see some of the more exotic local birds, and to top it all off they have a couple of seals and some otters doing cute human things with their hands.  Everyone loves an otter doing cute human things with their hands!  The downside for me, was the hordes of children slapping their hands on the tanks while their slack jawed, mouth breathing parents laughed in the background.  The aquarium also wasn’t as big as the one back home in Vancouver, so with that being said if you are Vancouver way, I highly recommend you stop by it this sort of thing interests you in the slightest.

From the aquarium we just decided to go back to the hotel I was in a near comatose state and needed to have a nap.  The weather this week hasn’t been the greatest and my headaches have been getting the better of me.  After crashing for 3 hours while Dave watched the tube we figured it was time we wander over to 1st and meet up with some friends from back home in Toronto for some fine Italian dinner.  To start off while waiting for our reservation we went to Buckleys, a local bar to have a beer, while there I had an Elysian IPA, I don’t know if you’ve noticed the trend, but I tend to like the IPA!  From there we ventured 2 shops down to Travolata for our dinner.  To start we went with the Soft Boiled Eggs topped with Anchovy and pickled onion, the Geoduck Salad, and the chicken meatballs.  Next up we had the Gnocchi alla Romana, Seared Scallops, Duck Leg Confit and the Spaghetti.  The Gnocchi was definitely the highlight of the evening and we even ended up getting a second order of it.  All the dishes were excellent, and if you do visit this establishment above all else I would recommend the Gnocchi alla Romana, they are not your normal little gnocchi.  These guys are the size of a large scallop and are extremely tasty being baked in a dish surrounded by a simple tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella.  To drink I had the Scuttlebutt Amber, this was a nice full bodied ale and kept me happy all night!

Following up Travolata we went to Juju’s.  This little hole in the wall bar on the other side of the street which also happened to be open after hours which in Seattle is pretty much anything after midnight it seems.  We hung out there for an hour or so and just had a pint of another local beer the Manny’s, I believe which is an IPA.  After hanging out and shooting the shit for a while we decided to call it a night and head home.  Once again I have pictures, and they will take some time to post.  I do have pictures though of dinner and brunch that I took with my phone  (dinner were done on the phone sorry for the poor quality but my only light were 3 candles) and they will be at the bottom.  What I have from the aquarium I will post in a couple of days.  Anyway it’s late, and I’m getting pretty good at writing somewhat coherently after a night of drinking, I am off to bed, and stay tuned for the rest of the pictures.  The Sci-Fi ones are almost done!