For some reason, probably me not listening properly, I thought that April lived in Vancouver. Actually she lives south of Vancouver in a suburb (technically a different town), which is about an hour trip by public transport. So going into Vancouver isn’t done every day just for fun :) It actually isn’t that far, but being used to having buildings around you the whole way (like most trips in South America) it felt far the first time.
As you can see by the pictures, the weather didn’t play along. This didn’t deter us though :) We headed to the cruise liner terminal, apparently the biggest one in the world. There is an interesting mix of businesses and shops at the water’s front. Gastown is one of the main areas that visitors go to in Vancouver. And it is apparent in the feeling of the place. Red brick sidewalks (pavements) and all the buildings have a retro feel to them. I would say that Gastown is the most inviting area in Vancouver. Probably the most expensive too :) And no major North American city is complete without a Chinatown. April had a surprise in stall though. Coconut buns can only be purchased from a Chinese bakery. Not expensive, but REALLY good. Mmmm.
April knows how people try to only show you the good side to their city. She was intent on showing me all the sides. Good and bad. So we headed to East Hastings where most of the vagrants and druggies hang out. To try to stop the spread of diseases, the government had controversially set up mini-clinics where you could get clean needles, syringes and even a place to “shoot up.” They say that the government doesn’t condone drug usage, but just wants to ensure the safety of the citizens. Definitely one way of looking at it, even if all the tax paying citizens don’t necessarily agree.
We ended the day off by taking a ferry to North Vancouver, just because we can :) North Vancouver is not known as the best place to live. I guess this is according to local Vancouverites. By this time the weather had cleared up and we got a great view of the city.
There are many trees in central Vancouver – Classic yellow cab – Orca statue made from Lego!
Float planes are typical Canadian as most of Canada is unreachable by road – The ferry terminal. Big enough?
Canada is very environmentally conscious. Electric busses are just one example. – Famous steam powered clock in Gastown
The narrowest shop in the world! (Guinness world record) – April at play with Vancouver in the background
2 comments:
Good memories :-) Just one correction and one addition. North Vancouver is known for being a very nice place to live. Vancouverites like it because it's right in the mountains and the houses are big and beautiful (and expensive!). However, it is also known for raining...A LOT! Rain isn't something that you can shirk from in Vancouver. If we waited for nice weather to do things outdoors, we'd be waiting a long time.
And my fun fact about Vancouver's Chinatown (I don't know if I told you this while you were here) is that it is the largest Chinatown in Canada and, historically, one of the largest/oldest in North America. That's all!
Aha, thought I might have gotten something wrong there :) Thanks for the correction. Don't want to miss-inform people :)
Didn't know that about Vancouver's China town. I guess that's my "useless fact for the day."
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