Vancouver, British Columbia

International travel is fun and interesting but it is often challenging as travelers, particularly language-deficient Americans, encounter otherwise normal situations with which they are unfamiliar. My friends and I certainly speak from experience .... fun experiences looking back but, nevertheless, some were difficult at the time. Traveling to Canada, then, is almost 'cheating', getting all the fantastic benefits of international travel without the angst. We and our neighbors to the north share a language, drive the same cars and practice the same traffic laws, and, mostly, eat the same foods. With the exception of curling, we even enjoy the same sports .... football, baseball, soccer, and hockey.

Taking this route after several trips to Europe, my wife and I enjoyed three days in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the early summer of 2009 and several months before the 2010 Winter Olympics. We found we enjoyed the 'ease' of the city but, more importantly, we asked ourselves a day into our visit why we had not visited the city previously. How had we missed all Vancouver offers?

We traveled to the city on Amtrak, boarding in Mt. Vernon, Washington, and departed the train for immigration and customs clearance at the route's terminus in the city's Pacific Central Station. We had chosen a hotel in a Vancouver suburb, Coquitlam, to take advantage of lower costs and the ease of using the Skytrain, the metropolitan area's light rail system with two 'east-west' routes and another 'north-south' route scheduled to open only a few weeks after we visited.

Striking out early on a Sunday morning to explore the city, the fourth largest port in North America, we rode Skytrain to the Pacific Central Station and immediately decided to follow the crowds toward the sounds of live music.

The Telus World of Science is on the banks of False Creek, just two blocks from the station. The center opened for Vancouver's Expo 86 and is a striking geodesic dome 155 feet in height designed by American Buckminister Fuller. It is a great place for families to learn from the many unique and constantly changing exhibits and demonstrations.

On that day, though, the visitors to the Center were dwarfed in number and enthusiasm by those participating in the adjacent Dragonboat Fest, an extremely well organized and colorful rowing competition between about one hundred crews in traditional Chinese boats. The crews seem to represent friends, neighbors, offices, and companies. No professional boat people .... just friends out for a good time! There was a lot of cheering and chants and food and liquid refreshment booths of every description. What a great way to begin a day in the city!

From the Dragonboat Fest, we walked north about 10 minutes into
Vancouver's Chinatown. Many restaurants were not open that early on a Sunday but, nevertheless, we found several interesting little arts and crafts shops and the typical souvenir shops open. That's always enough to make my wife happy. We also enjoyed a quiet walk through a traditional Chinese garden memorial to Sun Yat Sen, the Chinese hero who is credited with ending the reign of Chinese emperors in the early 20th Century. I knew the garden was special when a busload of Chinese tourists arrived and the air was filled with the clicking of cameras as they joined us in strolling in the park. We also chanced upon a series of plaques on one of the oldest buildings in Chinatown which commemorated the history of Chinese immigration to the city, much of which was painful as they often encountered bitter racism, resistance to their presence, and, too often, violence. That unfortunate history is contrasted with the remarkable diversity in the city today. The overall impression of Chinatown must include 'RED' as every building and sign seemed to be red or trimmed in red.

Continuing westward we wandered onto Water Street in 'Gastown', an old part of Vancouver on the harbor credited as 'where Vancouver began' in 1867 with the building of a saloon. The area had fallen into disrepair in the Depression but was rejuvenated in the 1960s. Today it is a busy shopping area, particularly for the thousands of passengers from the cruise ships which dock nearby. Legend claims Gastown received its name from its founders who chose to name the area for one of its primary and long winded proponents known as 'Gassy Jack'. A prominent statue of Gassy Jack reminds all of his importance.

Water Street is narrow but had its share of shops tourists will enjoy. I remember several which offered Cuban cigars and another Persian rugs, both denied to Americans, of course. The rug store knew its clientel because a sign offered 'Discreet shipping to America'. We happened upon a small, expectant crowd gathered at a Water St. corner and decided to see what was up. At the top of the hour, a 10 foot tall 'Steam Clock' on the corner erupted with clouds of steam and whistles. Imagine .... a clock run by steam.

Many cruise ships sail Alaskan waters in the summer, often beginning or ending their usually week long cruises at Canada Place in Vancouver. The 'Lookout' is an observation tower two blocks away visible from anywhere in the city and overlooking the entire city. The Lookout was opened in 1977 by American Astronaut Neil Armstrong and is 430 feet above street level. We enjoyed its panoramic view on a beautiful spring day, complemented by plaques along the walls which described the city's history. A restaurant above is 553 feet above street level and revolves 360 degrees every hour.

We had identified Anglican Christ Church Cathedral from the Outlook so we decided to find it on the ground. We arrived just as a service was ending and we enjoyed sitting in a pew and watching parishioners chat with the male and female ministers as they slowly left the church. The church was built in 1888 and its beautiful wooden ceiling and emphasis on wood throughout its interior reminded us Vancouver is in the midst of an area in which timber remains an important contributor to the local and national economy.

We chose next to walk to Granville Island and realized about half way into the walk we should have taken a city bus because we had to walk over a very long, windy bridge. Nevertheless, we made it safely. The Island was originally filled with old warehouses but today these are remodeled cafes, galleries, arts and crafts shops, and a farmers market very active on a Sunday afternoon. It was great fun to stroll within the market, watching people's watching energetic street performers, listening to live music, or having a drink or ice cream cone in an open air cafe. Granville Island was scheduled to be the site of Vancouver's annual celebration of 'Canada Day' on July 1.

After dinner overlooking a Granville Island marina, we walked the length of the south side of False Creek back to the Skytrain station adjacent to Pacific Central. Our walk mixed us with joggers and those walking their dogs along a broad walkway beside upscale town homes with the city's skyline ever on the north side of False Creek, including General Motors Place where the NHL's Vancouver Canucks play and the adjacent BC Place where the Canadian Football League's BC Lions play. BC Place seats 60,000 and is scheduled to be the site of the 2010 Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies. We also walked beside the Olympic Village under construction for the athletes who will compete in the events scheduled for Vancouver venues. The village will be expanded after the games into a development of 5,000 residences, shops, and cultural activities.

We began our second day in Vancouver with a walk into Stanley Park. The park is within one mile of downtown and contains 1000 acres at the west end of the harbor. The park is very automobile, bicycles, skates, jogging, and walking-friendly with many well-maintained trails which cross the island. We noticed several bike rental shops near the park's entrance and the number of bikers in the park as we walked certainly demonstrated they should be profitable.

Every few minutes, small pontoon planes returning from sightseeing flights all over southern British Columbia roared over the park just prior to landing in the harbor. As we walked along part of the 5.5 miles of seawall which surround the park, our attention was constantly drawn back to the tremendous view of the city's entire skyline and waterfront. A display of full-size replicas of native totem poles is the most visited spot in the park and an aquarium and Children's Farm draw many visitors, too. The park is also home to the Vancouver Rowing Club and Yacht Club and several very large yachts were docked in the club's marina. A reserve military base is located on very small Deadman's Island, originally a cemetery for early Vancouver. I would not want to be the night shift duty officer! Finally, a naval cannon of the Napoleonic era is permanently sited near the north end of the island and is fired nightly at 9:00pm, in the 'old days' allowing ship's Captains to set their clocks.

Returning to the park entrance, we chose to continue our walk onto Denman and Davie Streets in the city's 'West End', each street lined by a mixture of unusual shops and restaurants representing Vancouver's widely diverse immigrant communities. Our stroll was one of interesting sights, sounds, and smells as we decided where to have lunch, finally settling on a Greek restaurant across the street from the city's major hospital.

The world's attention will be drawn to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics but the city is a great place to visit anytime.