Vancouver

One of my favourite photo's that I took - see link at the bottom to view album.

Well as if the Lake District was not enough my Mum and I flew out to Vancouver to on 14 September . . . with Zoom airlines - a good deal . . . left Glasgow Renfrew @ 15h05 and arrived in Vancouver @ 16h30 the same day - flying West - 8 hours difference between us so it was roughly which was roughly 00h30 local time - so what did that make it about a 9 hour flight - it was all systems go on board the flight - 3 films dinner and a snack just before landing - wait might have been 4 films can't remember - didn't watch them was involved in 2 scrabble games . . . lol.

No great schedule ended up doing the following:
Day 1 - got lost ended up taking trolley tour of Vancouver well worth it as an overall orientation . . .
Day 2 - Indian Arm cruise
Day 3 - Granville Island & - Raincity Grill
Day 4 - Gastown
Day 5 - Chinatown & Grouse Mountain
Day 6 - Whistler
Day 7 - walk around Sylvia hotel area - where we stayed

My overall impressions - loved it - once again weather was, on the whole fantastic - we went up Grouse Mountain on a day when you couldn't see a cloud in the sky - it had rained the day before . . . could not have picked a better day . . . cruise day was a bit overcast - but it was quite warm most of the time . . .

A very diverse society - everything has to be bilingual - clothes labels even have to have S/P small & petite . . . Vancouver has 40% of the population which is Chinese . Took us a day to work out local transport system - there was a bus terminus close to our hotel could take either a No. 5 or No. 6 to get downtown - fare was $2.25 and covered you within 1 zone for 1 and a half hours - you could use bus, train or water bus in that time . . . difficult to judge but was comparable to local fares but obviously more integrated . . . something that is lacking here. Bus drivers were very helpful and in most cases were my tour guides in the city i.e. how to get from A to B - they often suggested alternative busses or routes for us -and my Mum who is getting on now appreciated not having to walk further than we had to . . . Food in supermarkets seemed slightly more expensive - but too be honest don't know my way around . . . alcohol similar or slightly cheaper a bottle of Dewar's just over $20.

But when your on holiday whose counting . . .lol.

English Bay was really lovely and was a popular gathering spot for watching the sun set . . .every evening. It also very close to Stanley Park a major recreational area in Vancouver.

Met the mystical Victor randomly on Thursday evening in the street . . .lol - then we went for breakfast the next morning a busy coffee shop - there were only two seats vacant - next to someone we had met the night before . . . yes Victor - strange how the world works - so the question is had we not met him the night before would we have in any event met him the next day????

Some links suggest, in passing by Victor: (thanks Victor)
The Calcium Bomb
Nexus Magazine

A very populous city - in some ways something like Hong Kong I imagine - all the high rises - spread over quite a large area . . . . making for very high density living . . . they are lucky to be surrounded by water and of course the park . . .

So once again here I am waxing lyrically about a place that I obviously hardly know but somehow made quite an impression on me in a rather short space of time . . . Vancouver photo's - enjoy