Saturday 29 March 2014

Vancouver


 
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. 
Stanley Park Vancouver
 
What else?  Well there is a great park right in the middle of the city – Stanley Park.  The harbour is pretty and you can drive about ½ hour out of the city and go skiing – not many large cities can say that!

3 comments:

  1. 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!

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  2. I 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.

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  3. The 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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