Vancouver In Bloom—A Sight Worth the Wet Season
Vancouver In Bloom—A Sight Worth the Wet Season
If this city had a face, I’d make out with it. Seriously. It is that beautiful, clean,
historic, futuristic, and friendly.
Vancouver is a recently-discovered wonderland of travel
destination. Before the 1986 World’s
Fair Expo and the 2010 Winter Olympics, it had been a cruise ship souviner shop
stop.
Now, the number one business for Vancouver? Tourism.
Number two? Entertainment/movies/television
filming (behind only Los Angeles and New York).
The city is funky yet lady-like. Great art museums with everything from
historically rich British Art to the “First Nation” residents…I love that
term….better than “Natives” or “____”…The First Nation residents. I anticipated hokey totem poles and there are
some, but very few. Lush gardens like
the Queen Elizabeth indoor garden, the Vancouver Island (a hour and a half
ferry ride—it does have great food and shopping but do remember this is a three
hour investment on a shuttle boat!), Bushart gardens which were once an empty
quarry for cement. I had heard of the
40,000 cherry trees in bloom and they are everywhere—I guess I imagined
Washington DC where the trees are all lined up together but in Vancouver the
trees are everywhere—and the taxi cab driver wanted to make sure I saw all
40,000 of them so we drove down these great residential streets. The call of nature of the blooms had been
answered all at once—it was a fluffy town.
With many homes looking familiar from movies ranging from “X Men” to
“Jumanji”.
I asked what food would be typical Vancouver and was told,
“Chinese”…that’s more than a third of the population. The food is odd—best bet? Beef-brought in
from Calgary. The open fish markets
(yes, against the law but impossible to stop make you NOT want fish). The markets really push two food items: maple syrup and smoked salmon. I never saw a maple tree but gosh they even
put its leaf on their flag and name sports teams after it—but you only see it
in the eastern part of this huge huge country….salmon is everywhere—and there
are excursions to go see salmon hatcheries…I did not meet anyone who had signed
up for that—said it was nothing but a sales pitch tourist stop. I hate those.
Here’s the list of the best things to do:
--360 degree view of Vancouver with rotating
restaurant…(hint: don’t eat the
kraut….in fact, don’t ever eat kraut.)
--gardens
--museum
--shopping. Buy
Tilley’s (A Canadian company that makes travel wrinkle-free/wash in the hotel
sink/dry in the morning clothes) There
are great Tilley’s-only stores in Vancouver and a wonderful one in Victoria,
but online shopping kind of ruins buying travel clothes when you are already on
a trip.
--sports, theatre, comedy shops
Handkerchief trees
Like Tulip Trees Magnolia Trees
Bloom 2 weeks
Tourism is becoming the backbone of Vancouver's economy.
Tourists added $2.5 billion in spending to the city's economy in 1998.
Since the world discovered Vancouver during the 1986 World
Expo, the number of tourists coming to the city each year hovers around the six
million mark. In fact, in the year prior to hosting the World Expo, Greater
Vancouver played host to about 3.8 million tourists. During 1986 and since, the
number of visitors has not fallen below 5.7 million.
The city has also capitalized on its proximity to America
to the south and the low Canadian dollar (U.S.$0.65 = Can$1 in 1999), drawing
American tourists with bargain prices.
The city is well situated to funnel tourists heading to
popular destinations, like the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island to the west.
With two ski mountains just minutes from the city and two world-class resorts
just hours away, Vancouver also enjoys a brisk winter tourist season.
The bulk of tourist activity, however, is during the
spring, summer, and fall months when precipitation is minimal, and temperatures
are comfortable. A walking tour of Gastown, Chinatown, and the smaller
Japantown highlights the early history of Vancouver. On route in Gastown is a
statue of John Deighton, nicknamed "Gassy Jack" for his talkative
nature and for whom the neighborhood of Gastown is named.
Also of interest is Gallery Row, between Sixth Avenue and
Fifteenth Avenue on Granville Street where a number of private galleries show
internationally celebrated local artists.
The Vancouver Art Gallery in the heart of downtown
Vancouver houses a permanent collection that celebrates the art of famous
British Columbia artists such as Emily Carr (1871–1945), a contemporary of
Canada's famous Group of Seven (a group of artists that believed Canadian art
must be truly inspired by Canada itself). The building, once Vancouver's
courthouse, was built in 1911 and transformed into an art gallery in 1983.
I knew immediately that I would like her. She was to be my next seat buddy on a tiny
twin engine biplane as we flew from Seattle to Vancouver.
She smelled like a old school teacher’s lounge (strong
coffee, Jolssl Mill soap from London—great products---smoker sometimes they
smell good and we joked about how we had been on lawn mower larger than the
plane—I told her there was no polite way to say this but we were going to get
to know each other whether we liked it or not; she said she wasn’t shy, loaned
me a pen for the Immigration to Canada, and we were cramped together, the
little fold down table in the plane she said was just for show.
The child named Marshall behind me kept asking his dad when
were we going to ‘blast off’….and Laura and I nervously laughed at that about
the first 8 times; after that it become annoying.
Other travel notes for Vancouver:
· Third largest city in Canada
· Museum in old courthouse
· Water fountain out front is full of wedding
bands—after divorce court, tradition is to throw your wedding band in the water
fountain.
· Known for 2010 Olympics—retractable cable-pulled
dome stadium; largest in the world.
· Terry Fox statue—ran across Canada on one leg for
cancer research (I have book and DVD) Steve Nash, basketball player is from
Vancouver and directed and produced a documentary.
· Chinese immigrants were paid $1 a day to work on
the cross country Canadian railway; if they served in military, they were given
citizenship.
· Chinese swoop design copied by Nike—supposed to
swoop out evil spirits.
· Open air fish markets—supposed to be closed but
law ignored in China Town.
· Carnegie Library—full of homeless—Canadian cities
put their homeless on buses headed for Vancouver (warmest city)—lots of
panhandlers and homeless.
· 130 miles from Seattle
· Starbucks founded in Seattle
· Many, many Starbucks in Vancouver.
· Cherry blossoms were blooming early April; white
azaleas.
· Howard Hughes lived in the Westin Hotel and moved
out one day shy of six months (he would have had to pay citizenship taxes for
six months’ stay)
· “First Nation” is their original natives
“Canadian Indians”
· Lots of green glass to blend in with the water
· Cedar trees are 700 years old.
· Heron nests in trees are massive nests/messes
· Named after George Vancouver, not English but
Dutch, Built up Granville Island
· Stanley Park is largest downtown park in North
America, larger than Central Park.
Stanley = 1001 acres; Central Park = 780 acres.
· Stanley Cup—Hockey—named for man who never saw a
Stanley Cup game. Donated Park and got
name on NHL.
·
Origins
After Lord
Stanley of Preston was appointed by Queen
Victoria as Governor
General of Canada on June 11, 1888, he and his family
became highly enthusiastic about ice hockey.[3] Stanley was first exposed to the game at Montreal's 1889 Winter Carnival, where he saw the Montreal Victorias play the Montreal Hockey Club.[4] The Montreal Gazette reported that he
"expressed his great delight with the game of hockey and the expertise of
the players".[3] During that time, organized ice hockey in Canada was
still in its infancy and only Montreal and Ottawa had anything resembling leagues.[3]
Stanley's entire family became active in ice hockey. Two
of his sons, Arthur and Algernon, formed a new team called the Ottawa Rideau Hall Rebels.[5] Arthur also played a key role in the formation of what
later became known as the Ontario
Hockey Association (OHA), and would go on to be the
founder of ice hockey in Great Britain.[6] Arthur and Algernon persuaded their father to donate a
trophy to be "an outward and visible sign of the hockey
championship".[5] Stanley sent the following message to the victory
celebration held on March 18, 1892, at Ottawa's Russell
Hotel for the three-time champion Ottawa
Hockey Club:[3][7][8]
I have for some time been thinking that it would be a
good thing if there were a challenge cup which should be held from year to year
by the champion hockey team in the Dominion (of Canada). There does not appear
to be any such outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the
general interest which matches now elicit, and the importance of having the game
played fairly and under rules generally recognized, I am willing to give a cup
which shall be held from year to year by the winning team. I am not quite
certain that the present regulations governing the arrangement of matches give
entire satisfaction, and it would be worth considering whether they could not
be arranged so that each team would play once at home and once at the place
where their opponents hail from.[7]
Soon afterwards, Stanley purchased a decorative punch bowl, made in Sheffield, England, and sold by London silversmith G. R. Collis and Company (now Boodle and Dunthorne Jewellers), for
ten guineas, equal to ten and a half pounds sterling, $48.67 US$, which is equal to
$1,259 today.[3][9] He had the words "Dominion Hockey Challenge
Cup" engraved on one side of the outside rim, and "From Stanley of
Preston" on the other side.
Originally, Stanley intended that the Cup should be
awarded to the top amateur hockey team in Canada, to be decided by the
acceptance of a challenge from another team. He made five preliminary
regulations:[3][8]
1. The winners shall return the Cup in good order when required by the
trustees so that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it.
2. Each winning team, at its own expense, may have the club name and year
engraved on a silver ring fitted on the Cup.
3. The Cup shall remain a challenge cup, and should not become the property of
one team, even if won more than once.
4. The trustees shall maintain absolute authority in all situations or
disputes over the winner of the Cup.
5. If one of the existing trustees resigns or drops out, the remaining trustee
shall nominate a substitute.
The first Stanley Cup Champions: The Montreal Hockey Club
(affiliated with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association)
Stanley appointed Sheriff John Sweetland and Philip D. Ross (who would serve in his post an unsurpassed 56 years) as trustees of the
Cup. Sweetland and Ross first presented the trophy in 1893 to the Montreal
Amateur Athletic Association on behalf of the
affiliated Montreal Hockey Club, the champions of the Amateur
Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC), since
they "defeated all comers during the late season, including the champions
of the Ontario Association" (Ottawa).[10] Sweetland and Ross also believed that
the AHAC was the top league, and as first place finishers in the AHAC, Montreal
was the best team in Canada.[11] Naturally, the Ottawas were upset by
the decision because there had been no challenge games scheduled and because
the trustees failed to convey the rules on how the Cup was to be awarded prior
to the start of the season.[11]
As a result, the Cup trustees issued more specific rules
on how the trophy should be defended and awarded:[12][13]
- The Cup is automatically awarded to the team that wins the title of the previous Cup champion's league, without the need for any other special extra contest.
- Challengers for the Cup must be from senior hockey associations, and must have won their league championship. Challengers will be recognized in the order in which their request is received.
- The challenge games (where the Cup could change leagues) are to be decided either in a one-game affair, a two-game total goals affair, or a best of three series, to the benefit of both teams involved. All matches would take place on the home ice of the champions, although specific dates and times would have to be approved by the trustees.
- Ticket receipts from the challenge games are to be split equally between both teams.
- If the two competing clubs cannot agree to a referee, the trustees will appoint one, and the two teams shall cover the expenses equally. If the two competing clubs cannot agree on other officials, the referee will appoint them, and the two clubs shall also pay the expenses equally
- A league could not challenge for the Cup twice in one season.Stanley never saw a Stanley Cup championship game, nor did he ever present the Cup. Although his term as governor general ended in September 1893, he was forced to return to England on July 15. In April of that year, his elder brother Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby died, and Stanley succeeded him as the 16th Earl of Derby.[6]Top 5 Attractions' PanoramasVancouver's Olympic and Paralympic Village is located on the southeast side of False Creek and offers stunning views of the city's downtown skyline and Coast mountains.
Located under the south end of the Granville Street bridge, Granville Island offers a feast for the senses.
During the winter season, Grouse Mountain provides great downhill skiing and snowboarding for locals and visitors alike.
Canada's national icon and a hub of activity.
One of British Columbia's most famous attractions, the Whistler/Blackcomb resort is a luxurious slice of paradise just two hours drive from Downtown Vancouver.
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