Thursday, September 16, 2010

Vancouver, BC

I’ve always wanted to visit Vancouver for some reason. Not really sure why. It just always seemed like the type of place that I would like and would find interesting. The Olympics this past winter brought the city tons of attention, but there really isn’t anything there that you would necessarily describe as an attraction.




Regardless, we wanted to check it out and get a feel for the city. And what better way than to walk the entire thing…



Our day began by jumping on the commuter train and heading into town without any issues, besides the fact that the train system there is kinda confusing… Regardless, we hit the visitor’s center to get some city maps and plan out our walking trip. But before getting under way, we had to go check out the waterfront…





We then headed to the huge park on the western end of the city.  Tons of sweet buildings and sculptures...







We walked past a harbor along the way too…




Went through some gardens and then got good and lost in some northwestern pacific rainforest…






Eventually we made it to the other side of the peninsula that makes up downtown. This side was mostly beaches and bike paths.  Heading back into the city proper, we came across some more cool buildings and an interesting sculpture…






The walking continues. Eventually we made our way over one of the main bridges to the south and got a bird’s eye view of some of the city, as well as an island covered with markets…





We grabbed some lunch in a park and then continued down the waterfront. Great views of the city across the bay…





We had thought that we were walking towards the Olympic Village. But when we got to the general area where it was supposed to be, there really wasn’t anything to tell us we were right… So it could have been this…



Or, more probably, this area…






Then further down the waterfront until we were back in the city. Megs had read about an authentic Chinese garden in what is purported to be the largest Chinatown in North America. So we went and checked that out…






By then it was the middle of the afternoon, but we had literally walked miles around the entire city already and seen everything we could think of that looked cool on the map. Megs has a hidden fetish for suspension bridges and found that there was a large one outside of the city. Plus, we knew that we had to catch a flight early the next morning in Seattle, WA. So, new plan! Go check out the bridge and then head back to the US tonight rather than battling heavy traffic in the morning…



It was a good plan. Part of it worked out.



We got back on the train and found Rocky patiently still waiting for us at Walmart. I’m always convinced that, whenever we leave the RV at a Walmart during the day, we’ll return later to find it gone… I suppose it would probably be waaay too much of a pain for a tow truck to take it away anyhow.



Anywho, we made it to the north of the city and found the entrance for the suspension bridge. We then found that they wanted like $30 bucks to walk across it!! I guess that included entrance to a museum and whatnot, but still!! Ridiculous. So, suspension bridge fail. We couldn’t even find a vista to get a look at it from afar…



Our trip back through the city and over the border was pretty uneventful though. I guess a month between trips to Canada was enough for us to be off of the border patrol’s shady persons radar. A few hours later, we were safely installed at a Walmart, close to the airport for our morning flight to Boston for the wedding of a close family friend!! And we’ll get to see the mother too!!



I’d say that Vancouver definitely lived up to my expectations. It was a really fun and vibrant city. Seemed really young actually. We found out later that many former Hong Kong upper class members had decided to move to Vancouver when the province reverted back to Chinese control some years ago. Maybe the influx of money, along with the Olympics, is why there were cool new buildings everywhere.



It was strange though. From what we could tell, the vast majority of the buildings in the city were residential. Which begs the question, what do all those people do for work??? We would ask around in the following days and the first guess of everyone was always the same… Drugs. Alrighty then. Didn’t seem like it when we were visiting, but the rumor is that the city is one of the gateways to North America.



Regardless, it was a great city. If I had to move to Canada, I am pretty certain I’d choose to live in or outside of Vancouver. A great feel to the city. Great, forward thinking architecture. Beautiful country surrounding it. What else could you ask for?

2 comments:

  1. I was getting confused about where you were and why you hadn't been posting, but then I checked the actual blog vs. my reader...this post just showed up in my reader 2 days ago, but you wrote it weeks ago. Weird. However, it doesn't look like there's been an update recently. Hope you're having a blast.

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  2. Ahh Vancouver - they film like everything there. I really liked all the pictures of the sculptures! Some of them were awesome (the man sitting made up of letters) and some were really creepy (all the smiling people). Can't wait to hear about CA!

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