Ok, I
hesitated before deciding to do a post about Vancouver. Why? Well, I have only been there once – many
years ago – and was only there for 4 days – mostly in business meetings. So I can't honestly say that I know much
about the city. What I did see though
made me want to go back – which I still haven't managed.
It was warm
when I visited which was a blessing because I certainly don't have the wardrobe
for extreme cold. But I did notice that
the buildings in the city were connected at the basement level and I found out
that in cold weather you can drive into a parking garage and go around and do
your shopping without ever emerging above ground! A bit mole-like for me.
There is a
large and vibrant Chinese community in Vancouver (as there is in Auckland
too). This makes for great specialty
shopping and food.
People from
Vancouver seem to know a bit about New Zealand as well. I was blown away in a shoe shop when the shop
assistant demanded that I say 'Sydney' so she could tell whether I was
Australian or Kiwi. That is one pretty
reliable way of sorting the sheep from the goats. Most Aussies will say
Seeeeedneeey.
It turns
out that quite a lot of NZ troops did R&R in Vancouver during WWII. And of course both Canada and New Zealand are
part of the Commonwealth and have Queen Elizabeth as their Head of State.
Nice to see a Canadian city on your list. It is the biggest city in British Columbia and very important to our economy. It is a beautiful city to visit, with a lot of things to do and see. The Expo in 86 and the winter olympics have really put it on the world map!
ReplyDeleteI was actually in Vancouver on my 40th birthday with my hubby!! I think Vancouver has the largest China Town in North America. I loved visiting the Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden.
ReplyDeleteThe underground system is interesting! When I lived in St. Paul Minnesota, the main way of walking around downtown was through a "skyway" system. Basically the second level of all buildings, much better than being underground I think!
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