Vancouver, Eh?

Saturday

We grabbed our passports and made it to Vancouver by 9:30 am! We parked the Subaru in a garage for the weekend and walked the whole town. It was cloudy and sprinkling, much like Seattle. First things first, we headed to an information center to get a city map and maybe get some recommendations on must-sees. Fun find number 1, the man at the information booth was the zamboni guy in Happy Gilmore!

Granville Island to Vancouver

We decided to walk along the Seawall  to Vancouver’s first park, Stanley Park! Though neither of us had heard of it before, this is a world-famous park. In fact, the totem poles of Stanley Park are the most-visited tourist attraction in all of British Columbia. It had beautiful views of the mountains and of the city, historic totem poles, and 22km of walking!

Totem Poles of the First Nations Indians

In Seattle you see Starbucks on every corner, but in Vancouver you see Sushi on every corner. We mistakenly ordered a yam roll for lunch, but were pleasantly surprised and definitely recommend trying one. We stopped in a Blenz coffee shop to look over our new map, and met a local named Derick. He talked to us about Canada’s free healthcare, how America’s election will affect Canadians, and the next village we should go check out – Davie Village.

Express yo self

Davie street took us away from the upscale shopping district into a down to earth, welcoming cultural community. Davie Village is known as the gay pride district of Vancouver.  They had some interactive art exhibits to enable people to express who they are and how they want to impact the world, and encouraged us to take part. It was really neat to see and be a part of the energetic crowd.  We decided to take a break from car camping and give Angelina her first hostel experience, so we crashed at the Cambie Hostel in the heart of Gastown. (For another post on town exploration read about Leavenworth here)!

One of these is not like the other

Sunday

Clear skies and lots of sunlight! We walked over to the Canada Place Convention Center and took in a clear view of the mountains. While standing there taking some pictures of the snow-capped mountains a Bald Eagle flew right over us! A little piece of home flew up to us in Canada! They don’t often flap their wings, but instead soar through the sky. The Bald Eagle is the only eagle unique to North America. He made a couple loops in front of us and then vanished just as quickly as he appeared.

You can see the focus in this guy’s eyes

We then headed over to Christ Church Cathedral. The church (dating back to 1895) was built in the Gothic style with a ceiling made of cedar planking and ceiling beams and floor constructed out of old growth Douglas Fir. It was one of the first buildings in Vancouver. We stayed and experienced an Anglican mass getting to listen to a beautiful choir and booming organ.

Santa Parade

After grabbing a quick bite from Tim Horton’s (they love em here) we quickly headed back out to get a spot for the Santa Parade, which had more than 3,500 participants. This year’s parade featured more than 50 marching bands, choirs, festive floats, and community groups. Each year the Parade attracts 300,000 spectators to downtown Vancouver.

Granville Island Public Market is the place to go to experience all the delicious tastes of Canada! Little did we know, the city of Vancouver was called Granville until it was renamed in 1886. The island is home to 275 businesses and facilities and generates more than $215-million each year. You won’t find any corporate stores in the heart of the island, only local businesses (but a Starbucks is lurking right on the edge).  The Island is definitely worth a visit and it’s an easy walk from downtown Vancouver, or you can catch a bus or aqua bus if you prefer.

Granville Public Market

We wanted so badly to drive up to Whistler, which is only about an hour and a half from Vancouver. But alas the weekend was over. Until Next time Canada!