Evenings/Nights Well Spent...

I've already drafted a number of blurbs on my travels, just trying to organize my photos so that I can also provide some visual aids with them.  In the meantime I've been messaged with some inquiries -- Yay questions!  I don’t reiterate this often enough but if you ever have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.  I don’t consider myself a pro in any way, but I’m plenty opinionated so will likely have some kind of a reply for you. 

 

Today’s inquiry comes from Chris Beer, who just returned from a week’s getaway in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. Pretty nice there this time of year if I remember correctly.  He asks:

“What do you do with your evenings, when you're travelling? The time between dinner and bedtime, when most of the stores are closed and it's too dark to go sight seeing?”

Check out a noodle bar that turns into a club at night?

Nightlife greatly varies from country to country, some spots are no-brainers – ie. Las Vegas, while others really leave you scratching your head (I imagine Victoria would be one of them!)  Also options vary depending on the type of trip you’re taking and who you’re travelling with.

When I’m in bustling cities like Montreal/New York/London (England) with friends the nights are always packed, meals are often eaten a little late, and there’s always a trendy new bar to check out.  I don’t believe in travelling in packs night and day when I’m vacationing with friends, I firmly believe in doing different things in smaller groups, with your partner only, or even by yourself; but come nighttime that is when you gather to catch up on each other’s day, compare stories and purchases, and have a bit of food and drink together.

On trips where I am alone or travelling with folks who may not be up for a lot of nighttime activity, that’s a slightly different ballgame.  While I do adapt to the different cultures, if left to my own devices while on the road, I prefer to dine around 7 or 8, get back to the hotel between 9-11, and go to bed around 1am.  I’m also happy to check out late night activities, just not every night.  Some countries you’ll find the gaps are easy to fill…

The Spanish eat dinner around 10pm, so many stores will be open pretty late.  Even if you go broke at the El Corte Ingles (like I usually do) by 8pm, there’s time to wander back to the hotel to drop off your bags before making your way back out to dinner at 9:30.  In the major cities of Asia, stores open until 10 or 11pm so you can always do your shopping after you eat.  Most North American malls are open until at least dinner time, so shop until 7 or 8 then go eat, then check out what the nightlife has to offer.

Ok, so maybe you loathe shopping and want me to stop forcing you to go into malls… with a little planning ahead on your sight-seeing destinations it’s not hard to fill up a day.  Make a list of places you’d like to visit, map them out if you’re inclined.  Do a little research to see which ones close the latest and order your destinations to maximize your hours.  Again, this is prob easier to do in some cities than others, but since Chris just came back from Vancouver let’s use that as an example...  (Sorry if my suggestions are a little generic, it's been 9 years since I've been there) It’s your vacation so no need to rise that early, let’s say you’re ready to go out at about 10am, the Granville Island market will be open so head over there to look around and get some brunch.  In the afternoon you could stroll along Robson/Granville, or transit to Burnaby to check out some galleries, or go spend the afternoon in Stanley Park including the Vancouver Aquarium (or a combo of those if you’re efficient with your time), as the sun begins to set and the tourist spots close, head down to the waterfront to check out the view then over to Gastown to see the clock that everyone seems to make a fuss about (ok, I guess it is kinda cool).  By now most stores are closing but Chinatown is still open, stroll over there to check out the scene, the ugly historic bell, and maybe even have yourself some dinner.  After some food, if you’re not staying very far away, stop in at the hotel to drop off any purchases you’ve made during the day, your camera if it’s a large one, and freshen up.  Nightlife starts up pretty early in Vancouver, so come 9pm there will be a number of bars and lounges to check out.  Alternatively you can go take another peak at the view of the water at night, or go to a movie, or even to a Canucks game if they're playing and your wallet can handle the ticket prices.  One of my favourite bookstores Granville Books is sadly no longer there, but a quick search on the web indicates my other fav Golden Age Collectibles (which is the equivalent of Toronto’s Silver Snail) is still there and open until 9pm almost every night.

I think the common things to do in the evenings while on vacation usually include:  going to shows, concerts, bars, clubs, or the movies.  Some cities may have night walking tours, ie ghost tours or mystery tours.  Sometimes attractions will even have special night time events – ie. Alcatraz Prison has a night tour and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum has evenings events every Friday night.

This is a brief breakdown of what I did every night after the sun set while I was on vacation:

Night 1 – jet lag, went back to the hotel after dinner

Night 2 - full dinner starting 7:30/8pm then walked home slowly losing my way once (haha)

Night 3 – train departing at 9:30pm so I was at the station after dinner

Night 4 – Been up since 4am, I was barely awake to eat dinner much less go out after

Night 5 – Cirque du Soleil show

Night 6 – stayed in for the evening

Night 7 – early dinner then a Vienna opera performance

Night 8 – 7pm dinner at Ra’mien Bar, walked around the Ring to check out the marathon & party at Hofburg Palace, hour long stroll home after

Night 9 - full dinner around 8pm then leisurely walk back to the hotel

Night 10 – organ concert at 7pm, dinner after, then an overnight bus

Night 11 – 7-ish dinner in Old Town Square then the Torture Museum

Night 12 – early dinner in Lesser Prague, long walk to Old Town Square for souvenir shopping, then black light theatre show.

Night 13 – shopping until 8pm, bought supermarket food and cooked a really late dinner at the flat

Night 14 – shopping until almost 8pm then had a combo of store bought and self-prepared food for dinner

Night 15 – on a plane home :(

So you can see there was a good mix of things to do, no late night shopping and sadly the Budapest Castle Labyrinth is currently closed (that was one of the creepy night time things I had planned).  There were no djs or bands performing that I had to go see, and I opted to sample local wines in the comfort of my own hotel/flat instead of going out to the bars.  Nothing that kept me out extremely late (it wasn't that kind of trip), which gave me a chance to start my days earlier instead.  For the nights I got in early, I would spend my time doing one of a few things:

-planning my itinerary for the next day

-packing things up as I was often travelling the next morning

-catching up on social networking and news from home for the destinations where I had access to wifi

-watching The Big Bang Theory (I put 3 seasons onto my tablet, had I any movies I would’ve watched those too)

-reading A Game of Thrones (I have the entire series on ebook loaded to my tablet & iphone)

If anyone has any suggestions for Chris about what to do at night when traveling you are most welcome to post in the comments, I will ensure he receives your input.