That was a very sweet conference :). During my free half-day on Monday, I walked to locate the venue and found it right by Gastown (the original settlement that made Vancouver, now a historic site). That’s where the Steam Clock is, and that’s also where I found an amazing coffee shop that sold gelato and all kinds of desserts. Since it was just a 2-minute walk from the conference venue, I went there multiple times, sent several people over there, and also brought several desserts to the conference.
Haselnut mousseMango mousseRaspberry mousse
I also shared with others a pear-haselnut tart, a raspberry-chocolate tart, and a strawberry cheesecake.
Lavenda-blueberry tart from another bakerySpeaker’s gifts were boxes of chocolateAnd my friend from Vienna brought me that!Also, since it was the 30th anniversary of Postgres, we had two gigantic birthday cakes!
This year, I felt way more “in the right place” than in Montreal last year. I do not know whether to blame the conference or myself :). Below are the pictures from the conference social media or taken by other people.
“DBA confessions”What is Postgres Compatible? with Jimmy Angelakos. Since this discussion was based on the results of a half-day event we ran in Riga, Jummy called it “Riga Consensus,” and I liked it!After “Women’s Breasfast”I am posing by the poster of my college together with his co-author.With Monica
I saw very little in Vancouver, but I liked what I saw. I liked the look and feel. I liked the bike lanes and the number of people biking to work early in the morning. I like that the traffic lights have a very short duration – that makes you less likely to try to cross on the red light. Somehow 60F which would feel chilly in Chicago, felt nice and warm in Vancouver. I would never dream to be outside in a t-shirt when it was just a little bit over 60 F in Chicago, but here it seemed fine. Moreover, I caught myself thinking that it felt more pleasan than 80F in Chicago on the day of my departure.
This half-day on Monday, when I wandered around, turned in different directions to explore the streets, and stopped at tiny coffee shops to sample desserts and gelato, was really magical. I felt it very clearly that being absolutely alone was the only way to completely relax, and that was a new feeling. I am OK attending events alone, and going placea alone, but in the past, I slways regretted when I visited a new place, and Boris was not with me to share these discoveries. This week in Vancouver, I felt differently; it felt increadibly good not needing to coordinate my moves with anybody. I saw an art gallery which was open; walked in, walked to the ticketing desk, read the current exhibits descriptions, changed my mind and walked out; all of this without checking on how a person next to me felt… and it was priceless.
Same as last year in Montreal, I am wondering why Canadian hotel rooms are of normal size? Even if you do not stay in the room much, it feels great to have space!
The hotel plazaThe night view from my window
There is a pool, a hot tub, and three separate gym rooms :), and there are many people starting from 5 AM (I was waiting to catch a moment when there would be no one around so that I could take a couple of pictures.
Monday afternoon was the only time, not just during this trip, but for many weeks, that I had all for myself. And it felt great.
My flight to Vancouver was departing at 6 AM, and usually I leave the house 3 hours before departure. At that time of the day, I could not rely on public transport, so I planned to Uber-ing there. However, I decided against leaving the house at 3 AM: I was moving West, so I would have a long day anyway, and also, the AA lounge opens at 5 AM. With all of that, and with hopes that the early morning ride would be faster than the average one hour, I set my alarm clock for 3:20 AM. I took a shower the night before, and my bags were packed, so it shouldn’t have been more than 20 min, and I don’t understand why it took me more than 40. And when I placed a request for Uber, it took them more than 15 minutes to locate the driver. I started to panic, but the driver told me we had plenty of time, and he was right – we arrived at Terminal 3 at 4:40 AM. However, there was another unexpected problem: there was a construction going on in Terminal 3, and the Priority entrance was closed! They only left TSA pre-checks, and there were plenty open, but I never got it, because Priority was always faster :).
Even though they do not ask you to take the liquids and electronics out of your bag anymore, the line was so long that it took the same time as the Uber ride! (Plus the time I was running around to figure out where to go without the priority entrance). I ran into the Lounge five minutes prior to boarding, but still had time to have breakfast:
I knew that was my only chance to eat until I landed in Vancouver, because they do not serve any food (even for purchase), even on the long flights, and I had two long flights with a very short connection in LA. So I did what I almost never do: I put an apple and an English muffin into my backpack. Well, at least they served coffee on both flights! (Some flights don’t do even that!)
I landed at Vancouver on time. I heard a lot of praise for Vancouver, but I was a little bit cautious about having high expectations. After all, people are going insane about San Francisco, and I like it “objectively,” as a tourist, but I do not love it.
I loved it. It clearly reminds me of Seattle: I know they are geographically close, but I was not even thinking about it st first. I can’t tell what I liked, it was just in the air.
On the train from the airport to the city center – it takes a little bit over 20 min
I was thinking, as I often do, why things are so normal everywhere else? Why can you just step out of the airport terminal, get on a high-speed train, and get to the city center in so many cities in the world, but not in Chicago? Or when will our Blue Line start to resemble these high-speed trains? Yes, I know that in many US cities, we do not have even that!
I wanted to mention again how much I loved the hotel I stayed in Montreal. The room was very spacious and exceptionally well-designed, with a comfortable desk and an additional table, and just plenty of room. Also, they actually didn’t change the towels if you don’t drop them on the floor! Most hotels say they won’t, but end up changing anyway. And I loved the gym.
The only thing I didn’t like was the absence of a normal (not continental) breakfast. At the conference venue, we had fruits(yay!) and pastries, and that was it. I do not mind such breakfast occasionally, but not for the whole week. Unfortunately, although the hotel front desk could make you a cappuccino any time, day or night, or any other caffeinated drinks, the food was just yogurt, eggs, bagels, and croissants.
Exceptionally good croissants, but I wanted some real food :). The breakfast place across the street, although open at 7 AM, didn’t have the kitchen start until 9 AM, so once again – great pastries, but that’s it.
By Thursday, I was ready to walk to a place which potentially had breakfast food, about a 20-25 minute walk from the hotel, but then I remembered that the Women’s breakfast was scheduled for this morning, which I had to attend. I hoped that they would serve something else than at the conference breakfast, but alas!
I gave this hotel the 5-star review, but I was extatic to return to our office breakfasts this week!
Hettie's Reflections 