Thursday, January 28, 2010

Granville Island--Five Senses Rejuvenated--Part II

Granville Island ignites your senses so much that to really focus on any one sense is cheating the experience.  Smell was a strong and delicious one and often a fishy one.  However, they all overlap here.  You smell the fudge and candy in the market but you also see its mouth-watering creation.  You smell soup, but see the fresh, colourful, and delicious ingredients that go into the soups, stews, and chili. 

Beyond smell and sight, you hear different languages being spoken and people calling out their orders.  Children squeal out in delight at seagulls or out of frustration that their parents have to do "just one more thing" before the family can go outside and feed the gulls and pigeons, not to mention chasing them. 

You can't go without eating (of course) and the market, not to mention, the WHOLE island, is filled with a dizzying array of tastes.  I guess you could decide not to eat there, but it's all there in front of you: fish and chips, Thai food, Italian food, ice cream, specialty coffees.  I sat with a veggie burger and it was delicious with caesar salad on the side.  The trouble with eating there, in many ways, is that the gulls and pigeons also know you are there especially when you're sitting on a bench outside.  I had one very cocky fellow, a beautiful and silver seagull, waddle over to me and just stare at me eating.  He literally watched every bite I took.  He'd cock his head this way and that, hoping for either a piece of bun or salad.  Patient guy, he did walk away but came back as if to say, "so, have you had enough?"  No, I must say I was quite selfish.  I was also listening enraptured as a young man with long hair was playing classical guitar.  I found the whole scene quite moving.  No one seems in a hurry when they are outside eating, watching the boats, or hearing beautiful live music.