“Vancouver is the city of stunning natural beauty, vibrant culture, and undeniable charm.”
Unknown
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
The first leg of our trip to Vancouver, Canada was from the Atlanta International Airport. I'm glad that we listened to advice to arrive 3 hours early for an international flight. We ended up having to take a shuttle from the main airport to the international terminal which was a good 20 minutes from the main terminal. All went smooth with our arrival to the international airport and to the West Jet terminal gates. They were very efficient and before we knew it, we were on our flight. The first leg of our flight was to Calgary, Canada where we ended up having a 3-hour delay. After getting some food and liquid refreshment from the Amex lounge, we boarded our next flight to Vancouver. This flight took us over the Canadian Rockies where we saw beautiful mountains that were snow capped. So much beauty.
When we arrived in Vancouver, we were able to take the train from the airport to downtown Vancouver. Our walk from the station was only two blocks long and was an easy walk. This train was very efficient and super clean and as an added bonus was the cheapest way to get to downtown. After walking the two blocks to our hotel, we settled in our room and met up with friends for a lovely dinner at the hotel and later on we took a walk to the port. The port was only about two blocks away also and was beautiful. We checked out where our ship was leaving from in two days and looked in awe of the mountains and harbor.
Joe and I had never been to Vancouver so it was quite a treat to get to have time to explore this city. After a nice breakfast, we headed out to explore the town. Our friends, Sue and Steve, joined us in a walk to Stanley Park along the waterfront. The waterfront is a beautiful area that passes parks, marinas, and stores and is a great place to walk, run, or ride your bike. We even got to see them setting up for filming an apocalypse type movie with a crashed car near the waterfront.
This park has great walking, running, biking trails that go on for miles in this 1001 acre public park. The park is surrounded by Burrard Inlet and English Bay and is one-fifth larger than Central Park in New York City. This park features many beautiful forest trails, beaches, lakes, children's play areas and even a lovely huge heated pool. There is a small totem section and the Vancouver Aquarium is located in the park. How nice having this green space so close to the city, This is a great place to visit.
After heading back towards our room for a small siesta, we ended up going out to eat for lunch and then to do some more exploring of this magnificent city. We headed to one of Vancouver's iconic landmarks, the Harbor Center which is located in the Heritage district of Vancouver. This is where you can get on an elevator that takes you 553 feet above this beautiful city to get fantastic 360 views. We were blessed with great weather and clear skies. We really enjoyed our time on “top of the world” and seeing what Vancouver looked like from the sky.
From there we headed to Gastown, a historic neighborhood in downtown Vancouver known for its shopping, nightlife, and restaurants. Some of this area is closed to traffic making it a perfect place to stroll around. It's a National Historic Site and is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city with its original residents dating back to 1867. An interesting fact about Vancouver is that underneath the city streets, there is a series of steam pipes that are all connected to a generating plant at Georgia and Beatty Street. This system provides most of the downtown core area with heat and also provides steam for the whistles on the Gastown Steam Clock.
This iconic steam clock was built in 1977 by horologist Raymond's Saunders and a metal work specialist named Doug Smith. Every quarter hour the clock whistles and shoots Steam from five whistles, making a steam version of the Westminster Chimes. Each hour is marked with a toot from each whistle announcing the hour. This is a big attraction for all the tourists to see. This is a lovely and vibrant area to walk in the city and a great place to stop and have a nice meal or just get a drink in one of the outside courtyards.
We loved this bustling west coast seaport city that is surrounded by mountains and water. We found the architecture stunning. This city has a lot of wow factors as you walk through the parks and view the tall buildings. It is so impressive. This city has been rated as the most livable cities in Canada and the world even with it being one of the most expensive cities in Canada and the world. Forestry is still the number one industry in Vancouver with tourism running a close second. One of the largest film production centers in North America is now located in both Vancouver and nearby Burnaby giving Vancouver the nickname of “Hollywood North”. This city has so much to offer and we only got to see a small section of it. We hope to return here and have some more time to explore. Vancouver is most definitely the jewel of Western Canada.
Till next time. Bye for now.
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