Vancouver
Trip Start
May 07, 2008
1
83
90
Trip End
Jan 06, 2009
Vancouver,
British Columbia,
Canada
Monday, January 5, 2009
Well, now in Vancouver, we grabbed a cab outside the station and went to our first recommended Hotel. Online, the prices looked reasonable. It was central and fairly modern. However, the receptionist didn't hesitate to tell us that a double ensuite room would cost us $250 per night!!! Per night???!!!! We questioned her 'walk in' rate and explained the very low internet price we had seen. She insisted the rooms were $250 and this was the rack rate. She was obviously trying to rip us off, so we said goodbye and walked out (David: Clearly that trick doesn't work everywhere.) Now we had to hail another cab and go to our 2nd recommendation. Little did we know this was only around the corner but this Hotel was a fraction of the first Hotel's cost and they were all very welcoming and friendly. Our Hotel was situated right in the middle of the City and our room was on the 28th floor so the views were absolutely fantastic.
The next day we decided to walk around Stanley Park, so named after Lord Stanley who, in 1888 was the Governor General of Canada. This park is a massive 1000 acres big and 10% bigger than Central Park in New York! With a big lake beside the sky-scrapers and a harbour with seagulls and bobbing boats, frozen streams with hungry ducks, little stone bridges, a dense forest of trees and a regular stream of joggers panting along the lakeside paths
View from our room
. The park looked extra pretty because of the snow. It was bleak in winter but you can imagine it in Summer being absolutely gorgeous and springing to life with flowers, sunshine and sparkling drinks consumed by the lake. It's a real retreat. One lone Chinese man sat on a snow-laden bench just calmly watching the world go past and many excitable dogs yanked their owners along the treacherously icy paths. Lonely Planet recommends a plethora of activities in Stanley Park from a Carriage ride through the park...but....that's only available March-Oct....well, there's always the beautiful Lost Lagoon Nature House...no....that's only open May-Sep.....well, we could go on the miniature railway for a laugh?......no, that's only open May-Aug...! OK OK OK !! surely the children's Farmyard is open??? Nope..also only open May-Sep!!! Vancouver is bleak in winter....We walked and walked and walked some more beside the lake and soon we got to the Totem Pole area where a mass of them stood proud. Originating from North America and often made of cedar wood which is a natural resource found within the local forests, totem poles are fascinating objects. I love the American-Indians and their totem poles are not just a bit of wood covered in weirdness!! but instead depict family history, myths and legends and important events of the time. I don't believe there are any rules on how they are decorated or how they are carved. Each one is so individual and representative of each tribe or family
Sunset view from our room
. These totem poles were beautiful and even more so surrounded by the snow. In the middle of the ocean sits a statue called 'Girl in a Wetsuit'. It is supposed to be a copy of Copenhagen's Little Mermaid but because the park were not able to obtain a licence to put a copy of her here, Stanley Park erected an alternative version of her - in a wetsuit!!! She is beautiful and sits meditatively looking out towards Lions Gate Bridge.....with seagulls on her head!
Talking of Lions Gate Bridge, this is another wonderful attraction in the park, built in 1937. A massive steel suspension bridge over the river, with its supportive 'legs' buried deep within the dense forest beside the river. The height is approx 100metres and the main length is approx 470metres, where traffic rolls along - apparently 60,000 cars pass along it daily!!? We strolled through the winding forest paths and watched black bushy squirrels scramble about in the snow and at the top of the forest hill we found ourselves at Prospect Point Lookout. This was a stunning area on top of the hill where you could look out to the ocean and surrounding land.
The next day, was a Post Office day. We had to post our final parcel back home, full of souvenir brochures and tat, basically! Then, as the weather was so freezing cold and so bleak we went to the cinema to see Benjamin Button - ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT FILM!!! Afterwards something very creepy happened to me. I went to the cinema toilets. I was the only one in there
Vancouver Harbour
. While I was washing my hands, I saw in the mirror a long tall shadow suddenly emerge behind me and I thought "where did they come from?!" and spun round expecting to see someone behind me. But there was no-one. But just a tall dark shadow gliding past my eyes in front of the cubicles and then it vanished. My heart stopped. I rinsed my hands in a zillisecond and legged it to David waiting for me outside and I told him what had happened while I desperately tried to stop myself bursting into tears. It was the weirdest thing ever. I will never forget it. David, bless him, tried to explain it away as some electrical / visionary eye-defect / mind-playing-tricks experience. I wasn't convinced. I knew I had seen a spirit. Whether you believe in ghosts or spirits or not. What I saw was NOT a faulty wired lightbulb! (David: My best three theories were either: an insect walking in front of a lightbulb casting a long shadow; a dodgy contact lens; or a ghost!)Vancouver was wonderful. Unfortunately though, because of the freezing cold weather, a lot of attractions were unavailable. So, we walked around the streets, went shopping and walked everywhere. A City is a City is a City is a City wherever you go. There are skyscrapers. There are taxis zipping everywhere. There are bus queues. There are people rushing home after work. There are flashing "Walk Now" signs. There are homeless people fast asleep with polystyrene cups outside shops. The people were very friendly and cars were extremely considerate of pedestrians. There were also Starbucks on every corner!! Not an exaggeration - how many Starbucks do people need?? And there was noise. 24/7. (David: I also watched an episode of the latest Top Gear at this time, the one where they go over the Golden Gate Bridge. Jeremy Clarkson said exactly the same thing as me when seeing it: "It's a bit like the Humber Bridge, but smaller". So, there you are... if you want to see the Golden Gate Bridge on the cheap go to Hull and bung on some red tinted glasses.)
On our final night, we caught the train to Toronto. It was to be a 4-night-5-day journey through the Canadian Rockies and on across the wastes of Canada, on a sleeper train. It would be really good fun and something I have always wanted to see and do.
Love us xxx
