Vancouver, BC

Granville Island is one of my favourite places to go when in Vancouver, and I try to go every time I’m there, even if it’s just to visit my aunt, whose office is there. The whole atmosphere is really laid-back and relaxing, and is a great place to just hang out. Granville Island is a neighbourhood consisting of parks, offices, a public market, art school, shops, restaurants, theatres, galleries and hotels. It’s great to go and walk around, interacting with all the people and looking at all the kiosks, and food stalls full of fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and fishes, and other different foods. It’s one of my favourite places to go for lunch because you’re almost guaranteed to find something that will suit your taste buds. My aunt and I visited on a sunny afternoon, sometime around lunch, and it was packed with visitors and tourists and people that work in the area. We went into the public market and looked at all the vendors selling their products, also keeping an eye out for what we were going to eat for lunch. I settled on Mexican, she settled on Russian. It was so good, and inexpensive. We took our food outside and sat at a table overlooking the water, and basked in the sunshine, enjoying our meal. It was a great afternoon, as it was warm, and only had fluffy, white clouds in the sky. We watched the aquabus go back and forth with tourists taking rides on it. We also watched the hundreds of seagulls try and sneak food from all the lunchtime patrons. It was lovely.

Outside, on the deck of the public market, is a little performance area, complete with bleacher-like steps for the audience to sit on. On a day as nice as the one we had when we were at Granville Island, you’re almost guaranteed to encounter some kind of show happening. The day we were there was no exception. Although I don’t know what it was about, the audience was a having a great time, as evidenced by their loud laughter. Once done our lunch, we decided to continue our journey around the area, browsing all the stalls, and working off the food we had just eaten so we could go back for dessert J. After awhile, we figured it was time to get an ice cream cone, which we enjoyed in the same place where we had eaten our lunch. The same seagulls were still there, mooching off the visitors, and trying to escape the children that thought it was funny to chase them. It was really funny to see.

The one drawback to the area is the lack of parking. On a nice day, it is nearly impossible to find parking, so if you drive, make sure you drive slow, and be ready to pounce if you see a spot open up. More likely than not you will end up parking in some kind of paid-parking garage. We ended up doing this, but the nice thing about it was that it was patrolled, so we had the ease of mind that someone was watching what was going on in that area.

English Bay is beautiful. I’d seen it before, but had never taken pictures of it. The only problem is, I didn’t have my camera with me when I went there. The day of my aunt’s departure to Brazil, I decided to go with her to the airport. One of my other aunts had agreed to drive her there, so I decided to tag along. After seeing to it that my aunt got on the plane, my chauffeur aunt and I left. Neither of us had any plans for the rest of the day, so we decided to hang out and look around. Herein lies the problem- I hadn’t taken my camera because I only thought we’d be going to the airport. So, when we stopped at my aunt’s place so she could change her shoes, I asked her to get her camera in case there were any photo worthy experiences. There ended up being a couple, which I took pictures of with her camera. The problem is, I don’t think she has the pictures anymore. She ended up having some problems with the camera, which may have ruined my chances of getting the pictures from her L. So, that beautiful, busy evening that we spent at English Bay has no pictures to remember it by.

The area around English Bay is great. It’s full of apartment buildings and little restaurants. The only complaint, and I’m sure this is a complaint of many people, especially of those that live in the area, is the lack of parking. It is extremely hard to find somewhere to park, as we circled several streets looking for a place to stop. Eventually, though, we did find a spot. After looking around a bit we ended up at a little Greek café, and got a seat out on their sidewalk patio. It was the perfect evening to sit outside, as it wasn’t raining, and the air wasn’t too cool, seeing as it was right by the water. Loads of people were walking by on the sidewalk, and it was fun to watch all of them. Along with all the people came all the different languages that they were speaking, as Vancouver is quite a multi-cultural city, plus a lot of the people around there were tourists.

After eating, we continued to walk around the neighbourhood, looking at all the apartments, then walked on the beach and down the seawall. The views are amazingly beautiful, and if you’re lucky enough to be there on a clear evening, you will see some of the nicest sunsets you’ve ever seen. I was lucky enough to visit English Bay twice on my trip. And yes, the second time I was there, I had my camera.

On my second visit to English Bay, I learned that a little further down the beach is where Bard on the Beach takes place. One of my aunts had been there to see a play earlier in the summer, under the big white tents. She said it was great. I had heard about it before, and had always wanted to go. Too bad I hadn’t been there a little earlier in the summer.
I recommend everyone go to English Bay. It is a beautiful, relaxing place that’s in a great neighbourhood.

Probably best known for its cobbled streets and the steam clock, this is a great place to visit. Gastown, originally named ‘Granville’ was established the same year that Canada became a nation (1867). 19 years later, in 1886, Gastown was incorporated into Vancouver. Despite a rough patch during the 1930’s, it’s been a thriving, popular part of Vancouver ever since.

Gastown is inhabited by tourists, residents, and office workers. It’s a very busy area to be in, with lots of people walking the streets, looking at the many shops and tourist stores that make up a lot of the neighbourhood. You’ll also find many restaurants and nightspots, and really great looking buildings, some of which are residences, some of which are offices.

My favourite restaurant, which we ate in while visiting the area, can be found in Gastown. I recommend The Old Spaghetti Factory to anyone I talk to. It is so great (I’ve written reviews of it in other blogs).

Gastown is by the water, with the easiest way I can think of to get here is by getting to Waterfront station (probably by the sky train) and then walking from there. Gastown’s main streets are Water and Cordova.

Being here was a dream come true for me. Before changing my University major to Sociology, I had started my major in Anthropology. As many times as I had been to Vancouver in the past, I had never been here. So, I made it a priority to make it up to UBC to visit the museum on this trip. I was so excited the day I decided to head up to the campus. My aunt actually wanted to come with me, and I thought it would be fun to explore with her, but I quickly realized that it would have been better if I had gone myself, as she did not care for all the art and artifacts. There was some of it that she didn’t mind, but, overall, it just wasn’t her cup of tea. I, on the other hand, could have spent hours on end there. I was in heaven. I found it all so fascinating. Here, you are able to see totem poles and other wood carvings, masks, clothing, weapons, dishes, jewellery, newspaper articles, transportation, and other things. The major focus is on First Nations and BC‘s cultural communities, however, you will find other cultures, from all over the world being represented. In fact, there are over 535,000 objects in the museum.

I took pictures of many of the masks, which I hope will help me in my career. I’m thinking that I’ll be able to use my pictures as examples when teaching different units, or as examples for different art projects. If not, they’re great conversation pieces, as the masks are amazing. They are bright, vibrant works of art, sometimes a little disturbing or scary, but beautiful just the same.

Outside the museum there are numerous totem poles as well as two Haida houses. It is quite interesting to see real totem poles and see how tall they are. We often see totem poles in textbooks, but seeing them in real life is always quite amazing.

School wasn’t in session while I was here, but it was quite busy anyways. The museum is on the grounds of the University of British Columbia and is beautiful. The campus is huge, with own little university town. The museum is set back amongst trees, and it’s a beautiful spot. It has an almost rustic feel to it. Behind the museum is a big open field, and it is there that the Haida houses, along with about 10 totem poles, can be found. Around the whole exhibit is a path that makes it easier to view the totem poles up close.

After talking to some of the employees of the museum, I learned that there was quite an array of visitors there the same day I was. There were many tourists in there that day, along with some students taking summer courses, and then, of course, said the employee, there were the regular people that visit once a week. Everybody seemed to be enjoying the exhibits (except my aunt) as much as I did. I found this a great attraction to see.

Cost: $9.00

The easiest way to get here is get to waterfront station (probably by sky train) and then take the sea-bus over to this North Vancouver market. It’s the same idea as what the public market at Granville Island is, however this one isn’t nearly as great as the Granville Island one is. This one has different stalls set up, selling fruits and vegetables, and also has little shops selling different products, however it doesn’t seem to be as popular, and doesn’t seem to have the same laid-back feel that G.I. public market has. This is just my opinion, though.

I do give credit where credit is due, though. And I have to say that I had one of the best pavlovas I’ve ever had before, in my life. And, I do admit that it may even be better than the one I make. It was good.

Going to the PNE on opening day is something I will never do again. I knew that I was going to go sometime on my vacation, however I didn’t know when that was going to be. It turns out that two of my aunts wanted to go, too. So, we all decided that we would go together. The one hitch was that with their two different work schedules, the only day we could all go together was opening day. So, that’s what we did, along with upwards of 25,000 other people. Needless to say, it was packed. We spent the whole day there, arriving at just after 12pm. It turns out that if you got there by 12:00, it was free admission. We didn’t get in for free, though, because we got there at 12:05. It made no difference, however, as we still had fun. There was so much to look at. We got to take in the ‘Super Dogs’ show at the Coliseum, which was packed. It only lasted about ½ hour - 45 minutes, but it was fun. Those dogs can do pretty great things. There was also other shows offered, but it was hard to make it from one venue to the other with so many people there. Also, all the shows were free, as the price of admission gave access to them all. We also saw a diving show, and a ski jumping show. That was really cool, as most of the performers were Olympic hopefuls. We saw some pretty amazing BMX performers. They were doing some brave, and dangerous, tricks. All the different shows attracted a lot of people, so it was smart to go early to get good seats.

Being there for a full day meant we had to find somewhere to eat….and there was a lot to chose from. In the mid afternoon, we all wanted a snack, so we stopped at a kiosk selling mini donuts. You cannot go to a fair without getting mini donuts! Oh did they ever hit the spot. I was also incredibly thirsty, and ended up paying $4 or $5 dollars for a bottle of water! Yes, the stuff at the PNE is not cheap. For dinner there was even more to chose from, as there were many kiosks offering food. I opted for fish and chips, but there was everything from Greek, to Russian (mmm, perogies), to Mexican to Pizza. And, like always, it tasted great, as it always seems to when you’re at an outdoor event like this.

Although it was really busy on the day we went, we really lucked out in terms of weather. It was a nice, sunny day, with no rain. I’m sure organizers and employees were hoping for great weather, and they got it. Also, the concerts occur nightly, and I’m sure the acts would rather perform in good weather, so it was good for them. The night that we were at the PNE, Nearly Neil was performing (a Neil Diamond tribute) who I’ve seen perform once before. He is really fun to watch, even if you don’t care for Neil Diamond’s music. All in all, we had a really fun day.