Vancouver: One of the World's Best Places to Live

We woke up in Victoria and checked the ferry schedule to Vancouver (Vancouver is not, as you might assume, on Vancouver Island). A ferry goes between the two cities every hour, so we weren't concerned about buying tickets in advance... until I checked this morning and noticed that the next four trips were no longer available. I booked the earliest one I could (1pm), but we decided to just head to the ferry once we were ready anyway in case we could go on standby for an earlier boat. Good thing we did, because we were able to drive right in for the noon ferry instead. And while we were waiting, what did we buy? Mini donuts, of course. The donut-eating is really getting out of control. Tom bought a smoothie to try and increase the healthiness rating of this impulse second breakfast.

The ride to Vancouver was nice - this ferry felt more like a cruise ship which was good in many ways (no motion-sickness for me, more room for us to spread out). We got to Vancouver around 2pm, drove into downtown and parked, and began our typical exploration on foot.

We were a little concerned about getting to Vancouver two days after the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup because violent and destructive riots had broken out in downtown. We were pleasantly surprised at what we saw, though. Even though it was shocking to see such behavior from a nation that is typically regarded as peaceful and non-violent, we saw that many regular citizens - not just public employees being paid - came out to volunteer their time to clean up the city. Storefronts whose windows were broken had inspirational and hopeful messages written across the plywood facades. Everyone was working hard to identify the rioters and restore Vancouver's public image... and I don't feel like many places in the U.S. would have had such an active involvement from everyday citizens.

First, we walked to Gastown, a touristy but cool district in downtown. It's the oldest neighborhood in Vancouver - established the same year Canada became a nation (1867). It sort of has an old-town European feeling with its Victorian buildings and brick streets. We even got to see the old steam-powered clock go off - it plays the same chimes as Westminster Abbey in England.

Then, we walked to the waterfront and Canada Place, a giant building/port where the cruise ships come in. This is a neat area because you can also see seaplanes taking off and landing nonstop, and there is gorgeous scenery right across the water - lush green mountains and Stanley Park (which I'll write more about later). Canada Place also has some restaurants, art and historical tidbits along the waterfront walk, and... the site of the Olympic Torch from the 2010 Winter Olympics! It's not lit anymore, but it's still cool.

We walked west along the waterfront and came into a more residential area. Vancouver's skyline makes it seem like a giant business district, but many of the tall buildings are actually condominiums and apartments, and the proximity to parks and water makes them really desirable. You can live right in the heart of things but still have a peaceful, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood. This area is really cool, and with the business district on one side and a gigantic natural park on the other, it's location is prime. It's not surprising that Vancouver is ranked as one of the best places to live in the world - #1 on some lists, in fact.

Stanley Park is literally about the same size as the entire Vancouver downtown. It's bigger than New York's Central Park and has a 6-mile loop along the seawall for runners, bikers, and rollerbladers. Much of the park is still a natural forest, and there are trails all throughout the park. There are also totem poles on display from coastal British Columbia and Alaska, and a sign next to them says that totem poles are unique to this area... even though people typically associate them with all Native Americans. We walked around part of the park, saw the totem poles, and then started the walk back to our car. We walked nonstop all afternoon, and our feet were really hurting by this point, but it was worth it!

We got back to our car and headed to our hotel in a suburb of downtown. It was a HoJo Boutique hotel, and after we'd checked in, they brought a basket of fresh fruit to our room! It was a really nice place with a friendly staff. We walked across the street for some great Indian food for dinner and called it a night.

In the morning, we had a delicious, hot, complimentary breakfast and then headed for the U.S. border. Little did we know, there was a 60-80 minute wait to cross into the states... it hadn't even occurred to us that we'd have a wait since every other time we've crossed a border it's been at odd times or via a ferry. Saturday morning is apparently a bad time. We inched along for over an hour before we finally crossed into Washington.

Up next: lots and lots of driving... we're making a beeline back east!