Vancouver, Day 13: Biscotti, Shawarma, and More

For breakfast, I had coffee and cereal at the hostel.  I also met someone from Seattle who was in my dorm, and he offered to show me around Seattle when I got there.

After getting ready for the day, I walked over to Slickity Jim's.  They had a long wait, so I decided to go somewhere else.  After a bit of walking, I got to Caffe Rustico.  They had espresso, which was just what I needed (I woke up a bit groggy that morning).  I decided to go in.

I had some espresso.  It was very good, probably the best I've had.  The owner and I chatted a bit, and he gave me what he called the "Vancouver Special".  From what I could tell, it was a sort of latte, and it was delicious.

This is what I love about slow travel.  You get to experience life like a local, and eat in these gems of places distributed randomly in the city in which you currently, albeit temporarily reside in.  If the owners are friendly, you chat with them and learn from them a bit about what it is like to live in their city.  I would have never discovered these places as a stereotypical tourist, dashing from attraction to attraction, not thinking I have time to actually explore.

Caffe Rustico was so good, I ended up eating lunch there, which took the form of penne alfredo and a hazelnut biscotti.  I decided I'd go here again on this trip.

I met some other friendly people in the evening, so that was good.  For dinner, I went to Falafel King and ordered the lamb shawarma.  The herb salad and hummus were good, but the lamb was not good at all.  I put the rest of the meal in the "free food" shelf of the hostel refrigerator.  After that, I called it a night.