Latino Night!

Tonight I had a night of dinner, dancing and drinks with Charly and his friends, Ada and Ivan. I invited Jas too but she couldn't make it for dinner due to a work function and would meet us later in the evening for drinks at Latin Quarter on Commercial. I wanted to take them to Latin Quarter to see and listen to the live Latino band (his friends are Latino) and to test out the Sangria cos the last time Jas and I were there (many years ago!), the Sangria was terrible! We started the night off at the Cactus Club on Lougheed cos Charly and I couldn't agree on a restaurant and I have been craving for a bellini for the longest time! My brother had stopped by the house so I hitched a ride with him to Cactus he was heading out to Surrey to meet his friends but he ended up coming in for a few beers. His friends weren't quite ready yet and he had an hour or so before he could head out there. Everyone got along great and there were some really interesting conversations at the table. Of course, my brother was not giving us his full attention cos there were way too many hot waitresses on the floor! After dinner, a couple of bellinis and a few smokes later, we decided to head over to Commercial drive. I made reservations for 9.00pm and we still had a bit of time before our reservations so we decided to go have some dessert, gelato of course! We walked up Commercial drive to this new gelato place and they all ordered gelato but I did not (too full from the bellinis!) and we slowly walked back to the restaurant. They had to finish their gelato before heading in cos I'm pretty sure you can't bring food into the restaurant. Once we got inside, I realized we got one of the best tables in the restaurant! A table right beside the huge open windows looking out on to the drive. Easy access for smoke breaks! Just a hop over ;-) Wow, how nice was that?!?! Everyone had a great time, lots of dancing, drinking and enjoying each other's company. Charly's friends are really nice and so much fun! Although, the sangria was a disappointment and the owner was a bit rude cos he didn't come by our table to greet us or thank us for coming. But when I did finally speak to him (closer to the end of the night and he was pretty wasted!), he did not take the criticism too well when I told him the sangria needed more work! But besides those minor mishaps, we all had a great time, enjoyed the music, the dancing and the good company! Even though I don't dance (esp to Latin), it was nice to have Ivan teaching me some moves on the dance floor. I need to learn to loosen my hips and maybe after a couple more dances, I'll get the hang of it. Or I could take some dance lessons at the community centre :) It was very nice to meet Ada and Ivan and we are def going to do this again but it's too bad I won't be coming back to the LQ. The band is fantastic and the atmosphere (generally) quite relaxed and friendly. Ada mentioned a Latino cruise (in July) so I might go with her cos that sounds like a lot of fun even though I am a bit terrified of the water. But for now, I really enjoy little places like this and it's too bad that I will have to look for another place like the LQ. But I am sure I'll find something, Vancouver is full of small and fun restaurants like this!

Enjoy the photos and YES I really did have a blast!!!