TravelVoice Journal - Vancouver BC – All you’ve heard and more!

Located at the southwest tip of the province of British Columbia on the west side of Canada, the surrounding evergreen temperate rainforest and an abundant amount of rainfall keeps the city perpetually clean and green. The beautiful gardens both private and public, are impossible to ignore. Historically, the city is very young. In 1886, nearly one hundred years after visits from Spanish explorer Navarez and British explorer George Vancouver, the thriving settlement, first known as Granville, became the city of Vancouver. Activities and attractions abound: Even with the plentiful rainfall, Vancouver residents and visitors alike enjoy a variety of outdoor activities like sailing, skiing, exploring and walking through the historical districts of Gastown and Chinatown and the new/old warehouse district of Granville Island. When it rains there are museums to keep visitors entertained and dry, or you can do as we did and jump on tour bus and visit many of the cities major attractions including Queen Elizabeth Park, Stanley Park, The Lions Gate Bridge. The commentary was excellent and it’s a perfect way to familiarise yourself with the location of an abundance of attractions including the BC Museum of Anthropology (home to excellent First Nations artefacts), Maritime Museum, the Centennial Museum, H R MacMillan Planetarium, Vancouver Art Gallery and Science World. I trust that what follows will give you an insight into a city that’s made a memorable impression on me.

Vancouver BC – All you’ve heard and more!

by Trevor Sinclair

As we touched down in Vancouver in the rain I began to think that the stories I’d heard of those wonderful mountains north of the city creating a majestic backdrop were a myth. In fact it was two days before their existence was truly confirmed. I gazed from our 30th floor suite at the Westin Grand and instantly dubbed Vancouver ‘the city of glass’, noting glass towers and copper-topped skyscrapers ringing two newly-developed waterfronts. “Now”, I thought to myself, “I know why Vancouver continues to retain its image as one of the most beautiful cities in the world”, its physical attributes assure a solid future as visitors marvel at the dramatic mountain-scape plunging to the sea.

Located at the southwest tip of the province of British Columbia on the west side of Canada, the surrounding evergreen temperate rainforest and an abundant amount of rainfall keeps the city perpetually clean and green. The beautiful gardens both private and public, are impossible to ignore.

Historically, the city is very young. In 1886, nearly one hundred years after visits from Spanish explorer Navarez and British explorer George Vancouver, the thriving settlement, first known as Granville, became the city of Vancouver.

Activities and attractions abound: Even with the plentiful rainfall, Vancouver residents and visitors alike enjoy a variety of outdoor activities like sailing, skiing, exploring and walking through the historical districts of Gastown and Chinatown and the new/old warehouse district of Granville Island.

When it rains there are museums to keep visitors entertained and dry, or you can do as we did and jump on tour bus and visit many of the cities major attractions including Queen Elizabeth Park, Stanley Park, The Lions Gate Bridge. The commentary was excellent and it’s a perfect way to familiarise yourself with the location of an abundance of attractions including the BC Museum of Anthropology (home to excellent First Nations artefacts), Maritime Museum, the Centennial Museum, H R MacMillan Planetarium, Vancouver Art Gallery and Science World.

I trust that what follows will give you an insight into a city that’s made a memorable impression on me.

Vancouver – Spectacular by Nature

With the Pacific Ocean lapping at its feet and BC's Coast Mountains to lean on, I cannot just describe Vancouver’s setting as spectacular, but picturesque and most beautiful. Natural beauty notwithstanding, the young city established in 1886 is growing up. Newly placed brick foot paths ring developing waterfronts; glass and steel skyscrapers tower among historical districts and everywhere you walk, either wild or ornamental parks separate residential communities, business squares and blocks upon blocks of high-rise apartments.

Historical districts in the heart of the city include Gastown and Chinatown. Chinatown's streets are decked with colourful fruit and vegetable stands and submersed in mouth-watering aroma drifting from noodle kitchens and crispy barbecue displays hanging in butcher shop windows. During summer the tranquil Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden features soothing Asian music. It’s such a contrast to the summer's noisy night markets that sell dried seafood right alongside stuffed children’s toys in the barricaded streets.

Gastown, named after saloon owner Gassy Jack, or John Deighton, is as funky as its name implies. The brick and stone-faced 19th century buildings have been transformed into upscale office space, trendy gourmet restaurants and gift shops selling Canadian memorabilia and First Nations artefacts. Make sure you see the unique whistling steam clock on the corner of Water and Cambie Streets, take your time for the stroll along cobblestone streets lined with ornate lamp posts and just picture life as it was.

Vancouver's downtown is a small peninsula surrounded on three sides by water. During morning and evening peak hours, the city is one big traffic jam with everyone trying to get out across four bridges. If you have a car stay away from downtown during those dreaded commuting hours, or better still leave your car in the hotel car park and explore on foot. Pedestrian havens include Robson Street, Robson Square, Denman Street and Davie Street. Fashionable Robson Street has a sophisticated well-healed feel. Cuisine with distinct European flavour is served in ethnic-style restaurants and a string of small boutiques sell expensive European clothing. Robson Square is a multi-block complex that connects Vancouver's elaborate law courts to Vancouver's old courthouse, now the Vancouver Art Gallery. Entire galleries are devoted to the paintings of BC's beloved Emily Carr at Vancouver's art gallery. On a sunny day the courtyard is filled with office workers, shoppers, backpackers and tourists. Lunchtime crowds munch on fruit and sandwiches to the tunes of Dixieland, blues or jazz performed by a local band, much to the surprise and delight of passing shoppers and tourists.

If you’re up to exploring something a little funkier, the Commercial Drive area is a bit edgier and alternative, tattoos and body piercings abound. The gay district around Davie Street has plenty to offer including a plethora of internet cafes so you can keep in touch with home, and reasonably priced restaurants where the locals eat. One “must do” for breakfast or lunch is the Elbow Room Café, where everything is served with a decent amount of attitude!

Denman Street, frequented by locals is mostly a street of casual cafes and services that cater to the thousands of residents that call the West End home. It seems so many people in the sidewalk cafes are watching people sipping coffee watching them. Its proximity to Stanley Park draws quite a few backpackers and it’s not unusual for pedestrians to come in all ages, and indeed, forms of dress. Older residential homes in the surrounding districts are stucco and the high-rise apartment blocks give Vancouver its picturesque skyline. Further north toward the water, the famous sails that appear in almost every picture of Vancouver's waterfront drape the massive complex that includes the trade centre, the cruise ship dock and the Imax Theatre. The nearby Marine Building at Hastings and Burrard Streets was once the tallest building in the British Commonwealth. Because of its ornate stone and marble face and trimmings, it is a place to savour and explore within and without.

Glorious sights outside the downtown core include Queen Elizabeth Park, Stanley Park and Granville Island.

Stanley Park, the largest city park in Canada, is a haven for Canada geese, ducks, squirrels (eight pairs of grey squirrels were given to the park by the City of New York in 1909) even an occasional deer. City dwellers who want to keep one foot in the wilderness can stroll over 404 hectares on criss-crossed paths and trails, or just settle back with a good book and treat the park as your favourite comfy chair. The seawall allows a brisk two-hour unique walk, or faster run or bike ride and areas like the Lost Lagoon, named by Native Indian poet Pauline Johnson, makes you pause and ponder. A loud old English sea cannon goes bang every evening at nine o'clock. Just over a hundred years ago the gun was placed in the park, originally to remind local fisherman of the fishing time limits. The park is also home to the famous Totems at Hallelujah Point. The figures on the totem poles, called crest, are part of a family’s inherited wealth and pride. The crests and stories associated with them are considered property and owned by First Nations lineage groups. They express a family’s relationship to its origins, its land, its inheritance, and its honour.

There’s a great view of the Lions Gate Bridge from Prospect Point, the highest point in Stanley Park at 211 feet above sea level. Original named Chaythoos or High banks by the First Nations People, here you are at the halfway point around Park Drive with an unequalled panorama of the north shore mountains and English Bay to the west. The bridge was built by the Guinness family to allow access to their property developments on the north shore. It opened in 1939 and now features a sparkling necklace of lights which were added in 1986 for the Coty of Vancouver Centennial Celebrations.

Granville Island Market, one of the busiest spots in Vancouver, was once a mud flat on False Creek. Today, it's an explosion of vegetables, fruit, meat and seafood, along with galleries, artefacts and clothing stores, all displayed in warehouse settings.

I’ve always thought the real way to get a feel for a city is to travel with the locals who are just going about their daily business. As we were booked on the 6 o’clock Pacific Starlight Dinner Train departing from BC Rail in North Vancouver, I thought “done”. In Vancouver the perfect way to mix it with the locals is to take the Sea Bus to the north shore, a short ferry ride jam packed with business types, in fact I think I carried the only camera.

The Pacific Starlight Dinner Train revisits the travel era when candlelit tables were draped in linen and meals were served on fine dinnerware. From an era when dining cars were top class, the train features nine vintage carriages including a kitchen, two dome cars and six coaches. The “Indigo” is an observation car built for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad in 1948, the dome lounge-car “Twilight” for the Santa Fe in 1949, the super-dome “Stardust” for Milwaukee Road in 1955, and the “Rainbow” as a club car in 1937.

We dined on a Seared Vegetable Medley, Pastry Wrapped Guinea Fowl, Sesame Crusted Salmon and Pan Seared Sirloin as the train wound its way through, hugging the coastline enroute to Porteau Cove. Just out the window, some of BC’s most scenic views: panoramic landscapes, snow-capped majestic mountain peaks and foot-lapping shorelines as we rode into twilight past Horseshoe Bay and Howe sound. Porteau Cove (derived from the French phrase porte d’eau meaning “water gate”) is a favourite for scuba divers with its variety of marine life and sunken ships.

Back in the refines of downtown accommodation, we settled in for a quiet night-cap, and the sparkling night views that the balcony of our suite at the Westin Grand offered. Our room was equipped with web-tv, (the first hotel in Canada to do so) so keeping in touch and checking email was always just a click away.

The Westin offers superb suites and dining, and the staff are some of the best I have found anywhere in the world; constantly remembering your name as you pass in the foyer or elevator, and the bartender in the Lounge remembering the drinks you’d ordered the night before, all added to the customer service, probably better described as obsession.

The hotel restaurant “Aria” – steals your tastebuds into new dimensions with wonderful flavours in dishes like Lemongrass Crab Chowder, Warm Spinach Salad with Caramelised Balsamic Shallots and Crisp Pancetta, Roasted Lamb Sirloin with White Bean Aioli-Potato Flan and Spring Vegetables, or Roast Alaskan Black Cod with Clams and Parsley Saffron Broth.

Everything at the Westin Grand just gave me the feeling I was staying at Vancouver’s hippest all-suite hotel.

There surely is never a shortage of things to see and do in Vancouver from hiking the Grouse Grind at Grouse Mountain to skinny-dipping at Wreck Beach. Whatever takes your fancy, you’re sure to find it here.

For further information visit:

Tourism Vancouver

The Canadian Tourism Commission

The Westin Grand

BC Rail

Trevor Sinclair
July 2002

Oh Savannah

Trevor Sinclair
June 2003

By Trevor Sinclair

My oh so patient partner and I arrived in Savannah after an extremely tedious drive from Atlanta. Trucks, eighteen-wheelers, trucks, trucks and more trucks. If I’d known more I would have flown. With ticket prices under $50 it’s gotta be worth it. The drive along the Interstate is very lush green and somewhat pretty, but it’s not as though there’s anywhere to stop, apart from finding the most wonderful fresh fruit in the small town of Dudley…somewhere off the freeway past Macon.

Vancouver BC – All you’ve heard and more!

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