Looking through my home directory this evening I came across some notes I made about my experiences in Canada (sadly now over three years ago!). Here’s what I had to say:
Vancouver
A lovely city, very laid back, with “big city” amenities, without all the usual noise, dirt, etc.
Places to stay: The downtown HI is good but lacks atmosphere. Jericho Beach is great if you want to hang-out on the beach for a few days, but it’s a bit of a pain to get into downtown. GVB is clean, central & has a very friendly atmosphere, plus they organise trips to the pub every night! Highly recommended.
Night-life: Good party town (something of the ‘Amsterdam’ of N. America!). The Stone Temple on a Thursday night has hi-balls (shot+mixer) for $1! [Unfortunately I doubt this is still true!]
Stuff todo: For the ultimate ‘Canadian’ experience, you have to go rollerblading in Stanley Park. The views from Canada place are superb & the Lookout tower was surprisingly interesting.
Places to go:
- Whistler: The town lacks any character what so ever, but views from top of mountain are superb.
- North Vancouver: There’s a great indoor market at the sea bus terminal. Capilano Suspension Bridge was a little disappointing but worth seeing (go to Lynn Canyon Prov. Park for same sort of experience on a smaller scale & less comercialised). Climbing Grouse Mtn is a lot harder than it first appears — it’s a very steep climb — but rewarding if you are up to it.
- Seattle: Pretty downtown skyline & generally a nice place, but not a “must see” tourist destination. The Underground History Tour is excellent, as is (so I have heard) the Experience Music project. The HI hostel on Vashon Island is a very cool place to stay, but getting there without a car was a pain.
If only you’d put these comments up two years ago I could have actually used them on holiday. Slacker ;P
Did you actually make it to the top of Grouse Mountain? We got about a quarter up apparently, before we decided the whole thing was insane and came back down for ice cream. I’ll save up for the over-priced cable car next time
And what’s the GVB? Was that the HI hostel near Pita Pit? Why haven’t they exported those pitas over here yet, I’m dying without my daily pita
Yay for holidays
> Did you actually make it to the top of Grouse Mountain?
Yep – of course – once we got half way up it just seemed easier to keep going!!
> What’s the GVB?
Global Village Backpackers. It was near the dodgy end of Granville St I think, but quite nice.