Vancouver
It’s been a while since I updated.
Enjoying the sights of Vancouver at the moment. Over here for a conference and decided to add a few days of holiday beforehand.
It’s a cosmopolitan city, moreso than I was expecting. Like London, the language of commerce is English, but that is rarely the language being used by the people around me Downtown. Some are tourists, but the locals here are of every flavour.
I’ve done a lot of walking. The first full day I did a circuit of Stanley Park, by the shore, with a dip into the forest within. Great to have that nature so close by the highrise. Also greatly enjoyed a visit to the large aquarium, a diverse range of animals and all looking well kept. I walked to Gastown, mentioned in all the tourist guides, and true to form it was full of tourists, and not really a highlight.
I walked across Burrard Bridge to take in an evening of Shakespeare - a modern version of ‘As you like it’ set in the 1960s with a backdrop of Beatles songs. Surprisingly effective. On route I could see up to the mountains, disappearing into the haze of smoke drifting in from the terrible wildfires that have ravaged parts of BC and NWT.
Yesterday I delayed my trip up the mountains, as they were still so hazy, but relented later in the afternoon as conditions improved. The aerial tramway car gave spectacular views of Vancouver, increasingly hazy as we neared the top. In my youth I’d have been too afraid to take a chair lift, but I took the one to the peak of Grouse Mountain (I think a recommendation from one of bdouville’s earlier trips?), enjoying the silence of the forest below. Great views around, despite the haze, though not ideal for photography.
Vancouver is also very diverse in an LGBTQ+ way. At least in the number of flag icons seen. I hope that it is more than virtue signalling by commerce, and suspect (from the people I’ve seen around) that it is a real reflection of life here. Perhaps a deliberate contrast to those countries where repression is still rife.
Off to see Granville Island this morning and then travel to my conference an hour or so East. A follow up post to come.
Enjoying the sights of Vancouver at the moment. Over here for a conference and decided to add a few days of holiday beforehand.
It’s a cosmopolitan city, moreso than I was expecting. Like London, the language of commerce is English, but that is rarely the language being used by the people around me Downtown. Some are tourists, but the locals here are of every flavour.
I’ve done a lot of walking. The first full day I did a circuit of Stanley Park, by the shore, with a dip into the forest within. Great to have that nature so close by the highrise. Also greatly enjoyed a visit to the large aquarium, a diverse range of animals and all looking well kept. I walked to Gastown, mentioned in all the tourist guides, and true to form it was full of tourists, and not really a highlight.
I walked across Burrard Bridge to take in an evening of Shakespeare - a modern version of ‘As you like it’ set in the 1960s with a backdrop of Beatles songs. Surprisingly effective. On route I could see up to the mountains, disappearing into the haze of smoke drifting in from the terrible wildfires that have ravaged parts of BC and NWT.
Yesterday I delayed my trip up the mountains, as they were still so hazy, but relented later in the afternoon as conditions improved. The aerial tramway car gave spectacular views of Vancouver, increasingly hazy as we neared the top. In my youth I’d have been too afraid to take a chair lift, but I took the one to the peak of Grouse Mountain (I think a recommendation from one of bdouville’s earlier trips?), enjoying the silence of the forest below. Great views around, despite the haze, though not ideal for photography.
Vancouver is also very diverse in an LGBTQ+ way. At least in the number of flag icons seen. I hope that it is more than virtue signalling by commerce, and suspect (from the people I’ve seen around) that it is a real reflection of life here. Perhaps a deliberate contrast to those countries where repression is still rife.
Off to see Granville Island this morning and then travel to my conference an hour or so East. A follow up post to come.