I took a mini-vacation to Vancouver (BC) yesterday. Apparently, it’s an international city, and yet, people get it confused with the Vancouver in Washington state. With that in mind, here is the warning: All named instances of the word “Vancouver” is in reference to the city of Vancouver and the surrounding area. That is, the city that is named “Vancouver” located in the country of Canada, in the province of British Columbia. Commonly abbreviated as “B.C.” similar in the Christian calendar, but with a different meaning. There fore many times it is known as Vancouver BC. Vancouver as in the city of Vancouver located in Canada. More specifically, the area known as “Greater Vancouver.” And BC as in the western Canadian province known as “British Columbia” and not “Before Christ,” as it is used in many western calendars. Now that we are all clear on that, here’s some highlights, in rough chronological order:
The Way There - Woke up with well enough time before the train, despite staying up late, and a roommate’s drunk friend. Didn’t want to pay for a taxi, so I took a half-hour walk to downtown Bellingham. Wanted to get some breakfast too, and luckily a Starbucks was nearby and open.
On the train - Amtrak is so much smoother than Greyhound. The ride either was very scenic, or we were stuck in the middle of a forest. When we saw Vancouver (or was it Vancouver?), we took a long way around the city, and backed into the train station. That seemed to last for a half hour or so.
SkyTrain - Vancouver’s totally automated elevated rail line that runs through downtown and later splits into separate routes. Very cool, expedient, and just overall a great way to get around the city (as I would learn the hard way later). It was very crowded, but since so many people use it, it must mean it’s good!
Canada Place/Waterfront - The downtown terminus of the SkyTrain. I did not get off at this stop though. This part reminds me of Seattle, especially the big freighters sitting in the bay. The major difference though, is instead of seeing trees, greenery, and some houses on the other side, you see some trees, greenery, some houses in the far distance, and a very urbanized area.
SeaBus - And the most convenient way to get to that area and back was the SeaBus. It’s very slow, but for the first few times riding it was cool. And you got a nice closeup on the huge tanker. It’s so convenient that, I couldn’t find a bus in North Vancouver to go back over the Lion’s Gate Bridge and had to take the SeaBus after looking for 15 minutes (yes I know routes such as those exist, but I couldn’t find the street).
Stanley Park/Aquarium - Route 19 travels from the Metrotown Station to Stanley Park. Apparently it is a very long line. This, and many other routes in Vancouver are ran by electric trolleys. I thought Seattle’s trolleys were nice, and they still are, despite the age. But Vancouver’s fleet is much more recent (2006), and therefore look very nice, and is completely low-floor. Of course, they still retain all the cool features of a electric trolley bus. Stanley Park is huge. I walked by a memorial dedicated to the Japanese-Canadians who served in World War I, II and the Korean War. The Aquarium was expensive, I thought. But it had some interesting exhibits. Saw the belugas, but time constraints made me leave.
Japanese Bookstore - Got back on the 19 to downtown, and got off somewhere, pretending to be knowing where I was going. Saw a Japanese bookstore, and checked it out. It was really neat in the fact that I could pick up some books and understand a tiny portion of what some of them said, but not really understand any of it at the same time. Almost bought a manga, but I felt cheap if I just bought one of them, and none other. Therefore, I chose not to buy any at all.
Vancouver Urban Jungle - I wanted to explore Chinatown. Thinking I could navigate the streets easily as a tourist, I walked from that bookstore heading in the direction I thought was… umm… the way to Chinatown. Needless to say, I got lost quick. Passed by Robson Street, the domain of route 5, and a street wholly dedicated to shopping. Lots of people.
The Final Hour - It became apparent that I was lost. It became stupidly obvious when I ended up on Robson Street again. But I already knew I was lost by then. My simple strategy was just to head back to Canada Place, cause that’s not hard to find right? It wasn’t that hard to find. I always had the idea of where it was, thankfully. By the time I got to the SkyTrain station, it was about 5 o’clock. My train leaves at six.
Leaving is Sad - Planned to eat dinner in Vancouver, but got too lost for that. There was a McDonald’s in the train station, but that just seems cheap if I ate there. Bought some junk food before going on the train.
Back in the States - It was good to be back in Bellingham, but I wished I could of stayed in Vancouver longer. This can mean only one thing, I’ll have to plan a return trip someday. Don’t know when, as college beckons and threatens with bad scores and F’s. Went to a place called “Pita Pit” for dinner, and just relaxed and did laundry for the rest of the night.
Watched the M’s win - Okay, I didn’t see that, but they did win yesterday. The win helped justify the trade for Erik Bedard. The overall impact though, won’t be seen for a while.
And that was the mini-vacation in a nutshell. Given the opportunity, I would definitely go again. Maybe it’s just because it’s new to me, but Vancouver felt a lot more interesting than Seattle. And as student of Japanese, I found that there was more of a presence of Japanese people and culture there. In Seattle, it was Uwajimaya, and Ichiro, and some others that escape my thoughts. Vancouver is also more densely packed, so it’s urban areas were larger. Despite the high population density, there are a lot of parks. Not just parks, but very nice looking parks. And, unlike other skylines, I can’t really identify one building that stands out in the Vancouver skyline. It doesn’t bother me at all, but it’s something I found fascinating.
