GRANVILLE ISLAND MARKET, VANCOUVER, CANADA.....DELICIOUS INTERLUDE

Today Granville Island in Vancouver (Canada) is a vastly different place to what it was in the early 1900s. A century ago the island was largely industrial, dominated by sawmills and factories. Today it is the venue for a public market that supplies the locals with mountains of fruit and vegetables, home-baked cakes and pastries, German sausage, fresh and potted flowers, bread, a huge variety of cheeses, and of course fish fresh from the oceans around Vancouver. We wandered through the market on a Saturday morning and ended up sitting in the sun under a parasol munching on hot dogs dripping with mustard and tomato ketchup while being entertained by a raucous busker. Close-by yachts and motor boats drifted past while thousands, it seemed, lolled in the sun enjoying a Saturday out on the town.Granville Island Market is not just a place for food shoppers. There is a Kid's Market designed specifically to entertain and entice the young, A South American flute player with his tiny children rolling about at his feet, held me in thrall with an unbelievably haunting rendition of South American folk music. An African American woman belted out gospel in a tiny space flanked on one side by Gorgonzola Stuffed Olives and on the other by a stand displaying a Double Chocolate Cheesecake. Galleries devoted to the arts and crafts of all nations pulled in collectors. And mingling with the crowds, clowns got up to their usual mischief.The Granville Island Market is at 1689 Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver.

From Anne at 'World Travel with Anne'