A year in Vancouver!

A handsome face is a silent testimonial…

And really what can I say about the sheer beauty of the Capilano River, suspension bridge that crosses it and the treetop walk way on the far side.

I have been thinking about this trip for a few weeks now, it has been appealing but put on the back burner on a couple of occasions due to events that have seemed a little more time sensitive. Anyway, today was the day I was going to get there, come what may. That is until I woke up to grey skies. I was a little dubious but packed a bag for the day determined to continue with my plans. Then the rain started… and didn’t stop.

Now, disappointed just about starts to fill in how I felt. Not because I was going to miss out, there is after all, always next week- well I’m going to Whistler to watch the annual Canadian Cheese Rolling, but the week after is looking good, it was more the sinking feeling that goes with knowing you have been planning something for a few weeks and now you have to rethink. I was fairly determined to do something new today and continue with the “getting to know the city” streak I have going. So, I decided to check out more indoor options. The list was narrowed down to the Aquarium, the Rembrandt exhibit at the art gallery, Science World and if the rain eased off Granville Island. The list became shorter still when the rain continued, ruling out Granville Island, Science World looked very child friendly (not that this will stop me going) and had some more interesting exhibits arriving in September and the art gallery was cheaper if booked online for a future week. So, by process of elimination the Aquarium was top of the list, and I set off for Stanley Park.

Turns out 80% of Vancouver had the same idea, and people were queuing outside the Aquarium for about 90 minutes waiting to get tickets. The thought of fighting for a parking spot and then standing in the rain was enough to put me off this plan too. I figured if I was going to be out in the rain, and I thought I could see a chink of blue in the distance, I might as well be moving as queuing and Capilano was the place to be. So, original plan back in place I headed over the bridge to North Van. By the time I had parked the rain had stopped and the temperature was heading up.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge was first constructed by George Mackay (of Stanley Park creation fame) and opened in 1889 to cross the Capilano River. It covers a 450 ft gap across the canyon and hangs 25 stories high, apparently just the right height to look into Lady Liberty’s eyes should the NYC statue ever be dropped into the Canyon. The park continues with a treetop walkway and a small exhibit explaining First Nation Carvings. A pleasant few hours were spent wandering through the tress, looking at the dazzling views and generally enjoying the outdoors.

The next stop was Stanley Park- again, and was entirely unplanned. On the way back from the bridge there was a sign pointing to the Festival of India, and as this is a mix of tourist and local that seemed like a good place to stop. As ever, a lack of parking was an issue and it took a while before a space was found on Davie Street and the day continued with a walk around English Bay and back to the festival. Really, what could be more pleasant than watching the waves creeping up the beach and lapping up to the shore? The sun was now out, people were enjoying the beach and everything seemed to hang in that stress free, relaxed moment. Having walked from the Inukshuk Statue- moved to Vancouver from the Northwest Territories after the World Fair Expo in ’86 and originally used as a symbol of hospitality it has now been adopted for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics- and round the Festival of India (I know- the guided tour a few weeks ago may not have been the best idea) I was about ready to head home. Possibly a little too much on the tourist trail, but I was aiming to mix and match it really didn’t matter.

I did however, manage to squeeze in one last and totally unplanned activity for the day. The World Police and Fire Games were closing today and I managed to see some of the closing ceremony. I am beginning to see some of the issues the UK had compared to other nations. Most teams were there in coordinating track suits, or dressed in uniform, the “UK’ didn’t really seem sure who they were. Some had shirts saying England, some had UK, some had Team GB and the banner announcing them didn’t seem sure if Northern Ireland was included or not, Scotland seemed to have generally, if not entirely decided to separate themselves out, and Wales were dressed as daffodils- green petals and yellow flower shaped head dresses. I have to commend them for effort…

The last treat of the day was a flyby and aerial acrobatics display by the Snowbirds- the Canadian Forces aerial demonstration team, I still don’t know how they manage to coordinate all that in the air, and at the speeds they travel. I do know it was a great day and an awesome way to end it.

Next week, cheese rolling, and entirely new experience…

A year in Vancouver!

I only spout poetry when my feet hurt…

And having managed a fair amount of walking this week, I have to say my feet were starting to ache. Having managed a cursory tour of Vancouver already, on bus, I decided to venture slightly further afield and walk around a few of the slights and places I had previously driven through.

Wednesday evening saw unusually high temperatures for Vancouver and it was the turn of Team UK for the firework spectacular in the HSBC Celebration of Light. Over two weeks four teams each take a turn at setting fireworks to an appropriate piece of music. I have say I think I was ready to shed a tear when the National Anthem was played and the stirring opening bars of Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches could be heard. The fireworks were amazing, you wouldn’t have expected anything else, and the whole place was buzzing. All around the bay you could see the sky light up and people on all the beaches, tower blocks and hotel windows watching. If the weather holds out for the weekend then I think I may well be in the same place on Saturday night to see the final entry in the competition for this year- The turn of China I think.

http://celebration-of-light.com/#

This weekend is a public holiday, so getting in the holiday spirit I thought I’d head back to Stanley Park, one of the largest urban spaces in North America and a fact I didn’t know until the weekend, some 20% larger than NYC’s Central Park. While I didn’t manage to cover anywhere near the 22 miles of trails that it contains I did manage a stroll along the Seawall to the Totem Poles, an aborted attempt in the late 1880s to recreate a whole village. Most the ones in the park today seem to be more recent reconstructions, yet they still manage to show a wide range of symbolic creatures and my favorites even manage to retell a story. The link to the local history being somewhat appealing.

I didn’t walk too far, but I did wander round to the lighthouse, which was a lot smaller than I had expected based on previous pictures I have seen. More of a light tower really, and since the light house keeper lived in a cottage and travelled there every day, I guess that is exactly what it was. More of a token effort than the big lighthouse you hear if in stories.

The “Girl in Wetsuit” statue is also situated in the park. It was initially a gift to the city by the sculptor Elek Imredy and despite the assertion that the statue bears no link to “The Little Mermaid” in Copenhagen I would have to disagree. The pose is almost identical, and to my mind it is just a slightly more modern interpretation of its more famous counterpart. And very much at odds with the reconstruction of the figurehead from the USS Empress of Japan which sits nearly opposite. This was installed to commemorate the trade of Vancouver with Asia. Stanley Park is an eclectic and thoroughly absorbing place, I can see I’ll be spending a fair few weekends in various points of this park as the year progresses.

My local endeavor for the week was to be a farmer’s market being held in Burnaby, it is hosted once a week from the end of June to the middle of October and this week I thought I have a brief wander around and see what was going on… Having first run around Central Park (not quite NYC) but a local park in Burnaby with a selection of marked out 5K trials I was ready for something a little different. However, I got a little distracted by the “World Fire and Police Games” which are currently taking place in and around Vancouver and I didn’t quite manage to make it to the market. The track and field events were taking place in the park while I was there, and I was impressed to hear that anyone could manage 3m 85cm in the long jump! I was also put slightly to shame by the runners who were doing 2k thru 5k warm ups before their events and seemed to look a lot more relaxed and fresher than I felt, and mine wasn’t even a warm up.

This week I feel I have managed a nice mix of activities, and I look forward to seeing what next week will bring, I may try the farmer’s market again….