Pretty day all day in Vancouver today. But if you looked outside, it would be hard to say what the temperature is. I noticed it all day long. Some people on the streets are wearing hooded sweatshirts and flannels. Some are wearing t-shirts and shorts. The clothes I brought for Alaska are long on long sleeves, but I dragged out a short sleeve shirt.
Went for a long walk this morning, then came back and watched the end of the US Open. That was some exciting golf.
Then I took one of those hop-on hop-off bus tours that take you all over the city. It was a good way to get an overview.
The bus drivers on these tours give you the highlights of the city. They also point out their favorite restaurants and shops. These line up pretty much with the restaurants and shops that advertise on the map of the tour that you get.
There are a lot of high rise condos going up in Vancouver, ala Charlotte. One driver pointed out a building going up called the Shangri-La. At 63 stories it will be the tallest in the city. The penthouse has been sold to Jean Claude Van Damme fot $15M. Maybe I should have learned karate.
One of the drivers pointed out that Vancouver is very diverse ethnically, and around 1/3 of the population is Oriental. This same guy pointed out a little later that, even though Vancouver is consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world, there is a bit of a dark side. He said that Vancouver has less crime than “most of the major port cities in the world.” I’m thinking claiming that your city has less crime than Marseilles is damning with faint praise.
The driver went on to say that one of the most notorious crimes in recent years was a hijacking of a tour bus full of Japanese tourists a couple of years ago. The robbers took all their money and jewelry and fled, but the Vancouver police caught the criminals within a few hours. The driver paused, then added that the police had some significant help. They had several hundred pictures of the criminals to work with.
About 1/3 of the passengers on the bus groaned. Another 1/3 didn’t get it at all. The other 1/3 sat there with their cameras, being inscrutable.
Went for a long walk this morning, then came back and watched the end of the US Open. That was some exciting golf.
Then I took one of those hop-on hop-off bus tours that take you all over the city. It was a good way to get an overview.
The bus drivers on these tours give you the highlights of the city. They also point out their favorite restaurants and shops. These line up pretty much with the restaurants and shops that advertise on the map of the tour that you get.
There are a lot of high rise condos going up in Vancouver, ala Charlotte. One driver pointed out a building going up called the Shangri-La. At 63 stories it will be the tallest in the city. The penthouse has been sold to Jean Claude Van Damme fot $15M. Maybe I should have learned karate.
One of the drivers pointed out that Vancouver is very diverse ethnically, and around 1/3 of the population is Oriental. This same guy pointed out a little later that, even though Vancouver is consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world, there is a bit of a dark side. He said that Vancouver has less crime than “most of the major port cities in the world.” I’m thinking claiming that your city has less crime than Marseilles is damning with faint praise.
The driver went on to say that one of the most notorious crimes in recent years was a hijacking of a tour bus full of Japanese tourists a couple of years ago. The robbers took all their money and jewelry and fled, but the Vancouver police caught the criminals within a few hours. The driver paused, then added that the police had some significant help. They had several hundred pictures of the criminals to work with.
About 1/3 of the passengers on the bus groaned. Another 1/3 didn’t get it at all. The other 1/3 sat there with their cameras, being inscrutable.
3 comments:
Vancouver looks beautiful! I love big cities that are on the water. I remember some neat boat rides in Chicago we took one time.
Can youbelieve this NBA Finals game?! Go Celtics! Im sure you are watching it!
Once again, I have really enjoyed all of your excellent commentary and great pics. Job well done! Thanks for doing it!
See ya tomorrow!
Love,
Jo
Vancouver has a great park. I rented a bike and enjoyed riding all around the park and the water front. Everyone else went shopping. It's a beautiful city but we did take a walk where we could have easily became either a crime victim or a pedestrian death statistic.
Big Al. I know exactly what Dave is talking about....and yes Nancy, Mark and myself went shopping and lunching...ok Dave we know you have to work off all that energy you have. Glad you got to experience Vancouver. We loved it. The area Dave was talking about had loads of homeless people...pretty scarry,but we finished off the night with some wonderful sea bass and a nice bottle of wine for dinner. Glad you are home safe and sound..that was most important to me. Give us a call when you get here.
Love Nickie
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