VANCOVER
On Tuesday 24th June
2014 we travelled along Highway 1 heading towards Vancouver. The drivers seemed
to drive within the speed limit and in the correct lane; there was no flashing
of lights or horns beeping! Back home we live in the ’sticks’ where we only meet
tractors or ’milking’ cows holding up the traffic, so it was with some
trepidation we entered Vancouver. However, unlike the UK the towns
and cities in Canada are mainly built on a grid system with the street names
clearly marked at right-angled junctions;with the Driver listening to the
Navigator and magnificent team work Bob’s worries were misplaced and the Hertz
garage on Granville Street was found easily!
We now had four nights in Vancouver staying on Davie St in the Sandeman Suites. We could not fault the hotel and it was ideally situated to get to most areas.
Opposite
our Hotel Sandeman on Davie Street was a supermarket, Bob went in buy
something, whilst Cyndi waited outside in the sunshine. On hearing shouting, Cyndi turned around and
saw a man who was shouting “Stop, Police!” to another man who immediately ran off.
The ‘Policeman’ gave chase and the whole incident became surreal! The
traffic came to a standstill whilst the two men dodged between the cars; at one point
the ‘Policeman’ caught the sleeve of the other man who then dexterously slipped
out of his jacket and ran off. By this time some of the passers-by were
shouting at the ‘Policeman’, one of whom he placed under arrest!
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| High rise in Vancouver |
After unpacking we set off for a
walk down Nicola Street to Howe and Burrard Street to find the (tourist office)
Infocentre which is near Canada Place on the waterside. Here there are
sensational views of the city’s port, the high-rise skyline downtown and the
majestic mountains to the North. We saw tankers heading into the harbours and a
number of small sea planes landing and taking off. We stopped for food al fresco at Stefano’s the thoughtful waitress heard our British accent and brought us some HP
brown sauce to accompany our meal.
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| Canada Place |
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| Marina with view of Vancouver skyline. |
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| Tanker- busy waterway |
We walked into the area known as
Gastown named
after John ”Gassy Jack” Deighton who in 1887 set up his saloon with a barrel of
whisky and a knack for story-telling!
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| Gassy Jack
Gastown is a mix of diverse shops and
creative communities, with plenty of high-end shops, restaurants and galleries,
including Native Art. According to The
New York Times, it is “Vancouver’s most dynamic neighbourhood”, it was certainly
colourful and had a vibrant atmosphere, with the Steam Clock www.gastown.org being of particular interest to tourists. We sauntered up Howe Street to Davie Street
via a delicious Tim Horton outlet.
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| Cycling around Stanley Park nley Park |
Cyndi was a little nervous with the numbers of cyclists to
start with but soon got to grips with cyclists saying “passing left”. The one
way system certainly helped prevent accidents as it was popular with both
cyclists and in-line skaters. Bob decided that it wasn’t worth the risk to the
public or Cyndi to let her have a try at the in-line skating! We rode past playing fields, wooded areas and past beaches and had a great half day in the sunshine on the bikes.
In the
afternoon we walked along the English Bay to Hornby Street and caught an aqua bus
to Granville Island .
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| View of downtown Vancouver from water taxi! |
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| View of downtown Vancouver from Glanville Island |
The
island is full of quality craft shops, food outlets and a very cosmopolitan market
selling a wide range of Asian food. The
atmosphere was very aromatic with the pungent smells of spices and buzzing with
the noise of tourists.
Street performer with his Chapman sticks
We spent a very pleasant hour eating our lunch in a
square, under the shade of a tree; it was very hot that afternoon, listening to
a talented street performer playing an instrument known as a Chapman
Stick.
During our visit to the tourist
information Centre we had picked up a leaflet about a Chinese garden and
thought a visit would be interesting. We walked along the Vancouver waterside
passing the stadium where the City's ice hockey team play and found the garden
known as Dr Sun Yat-Sen
Classical Chinese Garden in Carrall Street, Chinatown.
The entrance price included a
guided tour and complimentary tea. We had a young Chinese girl as our guide who
although heavily accented spoke very good English.
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| Our guide |
She explained that the
garden was the first of its kind to be built outside of China and that the Architects
had designed it to be as authentic as possible. Fifty-three master craftsmen
had come from China with 950 crates of building materials. They had built the
buildings and gardens using traditional methods without glues, nails and
screws.
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The gardens were designed to
have a complete balance of yin and yang; to be harmonious with the elements and
at peace with nature. To that end paths were designed to be purposeful and
blend in with the surroundings; even holes in walls were designed so that they
gave a peaceful view.
Tranquil view through wall
Tranquil view through wall
All the senses were used in this garden from the perfume of the carefully chosen plants to the ripple of water over stones.
Peaceful shaded view
Worn Stone
Even the pond was thoughtfully designed to reflect the sky and surrounding greenery; to further engender a calming ambience Koi were swimming in the waters!
Pond thoughtfully designed to reflect the sky and greenery
Our guide explained that Chinese
scholars took many years to learn the meaning of and to write Chinese symbols.
We all had an attempt at using the traditional pen and ink but it was an art in
itself not to have the ink running down the page.
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| Trying the art of Chinese writing |
The whole Garden www.vancouverchinesegarden.com was a
place of peace, tranquillity and utter calmness hidden away from the frenetic
world outside its walls- well worth a visit!
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| The M. P.'s creed? |
We returned to the hotel via
Gastown, visiting a First Nation craft outlet. We were “entertained” by a
further episode of Law and Order from our balcony- we heard sirens outside and
watched as the drama unfolded! Outside the same supermarket two Police cars
arrived, sirens blaring, lights flashing. The Police with batons rushed into the
shop; a further lone policeman arrived on a bike followed by a Medical rescue
van. A handcuffed man was led out and put into one of the vans – we never did
find out what had gone on in the supermarket.
This makes it seem like a rough
area but far from it; there was clearly a wide mix of people from well -heeled
to those living on the streets, but at no time did we feel threatened and
everyone was pleasant and helpful!
Friday turned out to be damp and
dismal, taking the advice of a colleague, Margot, back at the National Botanic Garden of
Wales www.gardenofwales.org.uk we
caught a bus to the Anthropology Department
of the University of British Columbia. This in itself was worthwhile as we were able to see other parts of Vancouver off the 'Tourist' route.
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| Museum of Anthropology |
The Museum of Anthropology was
founded in 1949 and is Canada’s largest teaching museum. The entrance fee
included a variety of guided walks given by knowledgeable volunteers. They
explained about the artefacts such as the canoe and baskets; why and how they
were made. They explained about the First Nation people their history and in
particular about the Haida. We were shown replicas of their houses, examples of
their totem poles.
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| Huge Log House and Totem Pole |
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| Totem Pole with symbols |
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| Bodies were placed on top of this funeral Pyre |
The various symbols were explained particularly the
importance of the Raven to their culture. The carving work on display was
amazing, especially that of Bill Reid, as was the use made of natural materials for basket -making, or animal skin for clothing. .
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| Bill Reid's fabulous Raven carving
This is a superb museum and to
do it justice you need more than a couple of days; we only had the one! There
is so much to see and do in Vancouver you could spend your whole holiday just
in one place but we had to move on to Vancouver Island on Saturday morning.
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