Build up to the Winter Olympics 2010
Trip Start
Nov 21, 2009
1
27
Trip End
Jan 18, 2010
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Vancouver itself, doesn't immediately excite you, certainly the scenery is impressive; downtown towers against a backdrop of mountains, I found that with time it grows on you. I can see why people rate it as one of the most desirable places to live; it's really nice! It maybe lacks the edge of some of the bigger towns around the world but has the edge when it comes to outdoorsy type lifestyle. They have an abundance of this! From beach walks, to hikes through mountains, winter sports, water sports, parks and gardens, you name it, they've got it! It's a very laid back lifestyle revolving round the outdoors, whenever it's not raining, they get plenty of it!!
On my first day, we took the trip up to Whistler, which has to be one of my best road trips ever, only exceeded by Great Ocean Road Australia, which remains my favourite. The roads are something out of Top Gear where they test drive the high performance cars through windy mountain roads. The drive was stunning with scenery all around; gleaming snow capped mountains, dense alpine forest, craggy rocks overhanging the road. Perfect! (Popular Candian speak).
Whistler is a cracking ski resort with the two mountains Whistler and Blackcomb towering above the resort. There was lots of activity in town with many bars, cafes, restaurants and the hotels were starting to fill up in readiness for the games. There were plenty of snow runs to choose from for all levels you could easily spend a week here and not get bored! I kind of wish we did an overnight stay rather than just a day trip.
Vancouver itself is a compact city, split into bite sized neighborhoods, all within walking distance, each very different. Downtown and Yaletown are the main shopping area; Gastown is restaurants and bars; Chinatown is Chinatown (enough said); St Kits posh residential area with nice beaches; Granville laid back area with great shops, markets, Art galleries which was one of my favourite places! Stanley Park is an amazing park surrounded by 9km of seawall that is popular with runners and cyclists. There is so much to see and do here with many different walks traversing through the forest! Definitely a highlight! The only area which needed a little attention is downtown which seems to have a little bit of a drug problem. There would be zombie type characters wandering about asking for money. However, this was pretty localised and didn't bother me too much!
Despite the rain, Vancouver was a great place to end my trip, I wonder how long it'll be before I get itchy feet again...
