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.
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!