This morning we did our usual McDonalds breakfast. It's a sunny warmer day. We
came back to the hotel, met Jacquie walking with her husband and invited them to
join us at VanDusen botanical gardens. We got the senior rate which was 7.25
each. It was a sunny day in the garden. We enjoyed the many, many flowers on a
walk around the garden. At one point we took a walk into a fern glade under tall
trees which was wonderful. I hope our garden turns out like this someday. We
came back to the hotel for Vladimir's talk but had time for a nice lunch sandwich
at Tim Hortons. Before Tim Hortons we went to the Bank of Montreal to exchange
money and ofund out they charge 2.50 fee for exchanges. Tim Horton said they
accept US dollars so it wasn't worth it. Vladimirs talk was a little hard to
understand but his slides were excellent. I enjoyed the stark contrast of his
before and after violet pictures, before and after the Soviet Union went to an
open society. Next up was Dr John Clark from the Univ of Alabama. He had a
detailed and technical talk of his trip to Cuba collecting Gesneriads and what
he found and how they all relate to previous Hans Wehler findings via DNA
typing. It was a fascinating lecture. For the evening we went to Steveston
Village for a nice dinner on the waterfront then had some fish and chips at a
takeout down the wharf followed by Gelato which was $9 for 2 cones. I have
developed a love for Gelato. When we got back to the hotel the dinner was over
and awards were present on the winning Gesneriads. We spent some time wandering
around and photographing the winning plants before going back up to our room and
falling asleep. We enjoyed watching the nightime trains going and coming to
Vancouver. We took some pictures and also timed their arrival and departures.
One train came about every 7 minutes.