Acacia Fillo Bar & Cafe ~ Vancouver Coffee Shops Part 9

In the West End, along busy Denman, is a coffee shop and cafe with its origins in the highlands of Bulgaria. It is a small place and if you aren't careful you might miss it, and that would be a mistake. Located between Delany's Cafe and that wonderful culinary delight called Fatburger, is Acacia Fillo Bar and Cafe, and it's a neighbourhood gem.




Family owned and operated by Vera Eftovska-Ivanov and Ziggy Ivanov, this is an inviting place, with excellent service, good coffee and some interesting dishes from Bulgaria, including the fillo based concoctions called banitza and burek. The Ivanovs started Acacia in 2006, after the successful start up of Urban Catering five years earlier.


The orange juice is freshly squeezed by hand and well worth the price, as are most other things. Much of the cafe's appeal for me is the sense of community it offers; this is a place where people get to know each other, where regulars are greeted and appreciated.

Photos by Jim Murray.

Copyright 2013.

Festival of Lights ~ too many lights

The night before snow fell in Vancouver, we went to the Festival of Lights. Along with thousands of other people. It was cold, crisp, dry and crowded.














Every year, more and more are attracted to what seems to be becoming an increasingly commercialised event. Not that there's anything terribly wrong with that, though it isn't quite what I have in mind when I think of VanDusen Garden.

The lights are a spectacle and if a person can get away from the crowd, it can be quite breathtaking, though sometimes the brightest lights are reserved for the merchants of donuts, hot chocolate and more.















Hand warming devices are provided throughout the venue as this friendly visitor discovered. That would be the visitor on the left.

The spectacle that is the Festival of Lights has ventured into a tacky, tawdry kind of place. It doesn't reflect the peace and natural beauty the Garden offers throughout the rest of the year, the tranquillity that exists in simply spending time in quiet reflection. At this time of year, with crowds and noise everywhere, with the frantic hum of consumer spending imposed upon us at every turn, we could all use a little bit more of what the Garden really represents.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2013.

Let it snow... in Vancouver?

Almost one year ago to the day, we left Dawson City after three months in Yukon. The day we left it was colder than minus forty and there were snow crystals in the air.

Today, we awoke to snow, here in Vancouver. It happens once or twice a winter, creating chaos throughout the metro region, with traffic and confusion alike. Is this school open, or closed? Is the bus running on time ? Will my commute be one hour or two?

The rest of Canada laughs at us on the left coast. A few centimetres of snow and we don't know how to drive, or walk, or get anywhere. We have enough trouble in the rain, and you would think we would know how to do that...

Photos by Jim Murray

Copyright 2013