No raining on my parade

We woke up on Sunday morning to the most intense downpour I have ever experienced here.  It was the kind of deluge for which the phrase “sheets of rain” was invented.  But within 15 minutes, not only had the rain stopped, the clouds had cleared to make way for the sun – a good thing, since we had plans to spend the afternoon outdoors.

Yes, Sunday was the day of the big Rogers Santa Claus parade in downtown Vancouver.  We made our way (through the puddles) over to Georgia Street to stake a spot for the 1 p.m. event.  While not nearly as crazy as June’s Pride Parade, the show was still a lot of festive fun.

The two main themes of the parade were Christmas (obviously) and music, music, music.  There were TONS of groups performing along the route – bagpipes, carolers and marching bands galore (some all the way from Washington state)!  I found something quite humorous about hearing each play their version of “Frosty the Snowmen” (you haven’t lived until you’ve listened to that on bagpipes).

Other highlights included:

Mounties marching in full dress (with mascot!).

The cheesy Tim Horton’s float (Canada’s most popular donut chain).

The dancing Chinese dragons.

A public bus dressed up as Rudolph.

The parade lasted a good two hours, after which we were both shivering from the constant, chilly breeze.  But a big thank you to the sun for shining down on us for the afternoon; I’ll gladly take the (relative) cold over getting drenched any day.