Canada's Best Kept Secret

Ahh, Vancouver.


I recently had the pleasure of spending 8 glorious days in Vancouver, mostly for work, but thanks to Aeroplan, Gregg was able to join me for an extended weekend right in the middle. I've only been to Vancouver once as an adult, and lucked out on that trip with 2 beautiful days of sunny weather. This time around, I am both shocked and amazed to report that the weather was on my side once more. In eight days, despite the weatherman's daily ominous predictions, I saw but one sprinkle of rain and one brief cloudburst that occurred while I was at work.

I must say, Vancouver has a different, almost un-Canadian take on winter. Bulbs were sprouting, the grass was green, and flowers were blooming everywhere. In February. In Canada! I had no idea this utopia existed, but I could definitely get on board with it.

My hotel was just off Robson Street, a main street downtown which bills itself as "a commercial mecca which includes premier fashions stores, fine dining, services and all the amenities a tourist or local might need". That might sound like a bunch of PR spin, but I have to give credit where credit is due. It's a really great area - sort of like Queen St. W. meets the Danforth meets Yorkville - lots of great shopping, lots of great food, and lots of great people watching. Of course, the Vancouver version features more Starbucks than I ever imagined existing in such a small area - there's even one corner with a Starbucks on both sides of the street, and they're both bustling with Lululemon clad Vancouverites eager to get their organic, fair trade caffeine fix.

We spent Saturday exploring Granville Island, which is an island (obviously) just over the bridge south of downtown. It has a mix of condos, parkland and a little shopping and art/design district, somewhat reminiscent of the Distillery District in Toronto. (Well, minus the cobblestones.)
There's a large public market with such an outstanding variety of gorgeous looking and wonderful smelling fresh food - from fish to meat to sweets to spices to homemade pasta and everything in between - it was upsetting not to leave with bagfuls of deliciousness to enjoy later. Alas, it was not to be with only a microwave in the hotel room, but I am quite certain that should we ever move to Vancity, it will be within close proximity to this culinary gold mine.

On Sunday, we made our way to the ever popular Stanley Park. It's huge, lush and green, even at this time of year and following the somewhat recent windstorm that levelled areas of it. As we had another unprecedented day of beautiful sun and 14 degree temperatures, we spent the day on foot and walked the Seawall path from the hotel along the marina, which leads right into the park. It's a two lane path with one side for those on foot and another for those on wheels, and both sides were getting plenty of use in the beautiful weather. After a few kilometres of walking, we ended up at the Vancouver Aquarium and I convinced Gregg to check it out. I'd never been to an aquarium, and it was super cool. We saw the beluga whale show, the dolphin show, and even some sharks and jellyfish.


But the best thing about Vancouver for me was the urbanity. When I left Toronto, I was getting downright sick and tired of urban life. So many people, so many cars, so many crowds. As it turns out, 7 years can get a person used to things like that. I do enjoy the slower pace of Calgary, and hadn't really realized that I missed the bustle of a large urban metropolis, until I got back into it. I enjoyed my daily walk to and from work past all the freaks and chics; shopping in boutiques instead of malls; stopping for a drink in a quirky little no name restaurant; walking through urban residential neighbourhoods and seeing people out and about. Spring was in the air, in February!

So much so, that I just had to bring home a little piece of Vancouver to remind me of the eternal spring-i-ness. It's even spring colours. :)

Ahh, Vancouver.