Our Favourite Vancouver Walks
By Coleman
Seaside Walk – Canada
Place to Stanley Park Entrance
Seaside Walk – Stanley
Park
You could spend an entire day circling
the Stanley Park
seawall. It’s 9 kilometers long and
jam-packed with scenic viewpoints and activities. For
starters it has an incredible view of the
city, totem poles, Lions Gate Bridge, North Shore Mountains, Third
Beach, and Second
Beach which has a playground and heated outdoor pool.
On the inside of Stanley Park you’ll find the
Vancouver Aquarium, miniature train, playgrounds, and a gazillion
hiking
trails. If you’re thinking it you may be
biting off more than you can chew, take a short-cut at Lumberman’s
Arch, or
better yet, rent a bike or take your scooter.
Lion’s Gate Bridge
One thing I can never
figure out is why more people don’t walk across the Lion’s Gate Bridge. The view is awesome, and it looks like the
Golden Gate Bridge (without the fog).
Seaside Walk – West
End to George Wainborn Park
I remember walking
along this stretch of seawall with Mom and Dad and thinking, “Where did
all
these people come from?” It turns out
the West End is one of the most densely populated areas in North
America. Mom said she once saw a guy there
riding a
bike with a python wrapped around his neck. Whoa,
things could get interesting. Besides the
people, the scenery is amazing: sailboats
zigzagging in the harbour, gigantic
freighters, sunsets like the ones you’d normally only see in Hawaii,
and, you
get to walk under two big bridges. Just
saying, I’m not a big fan of walking under bridges:
too many birds flying above you, and what if
it collapses at the exact moment you’re underneath it.
Seaside Walk –
Yaletown (David Lam Park to Science World)
This is way before my
time, but Yaletown sits on the exact spot where B.C. held it’s
Transportation
Expo in 1986. I’m not even sure if they
had cell phones back then. Anyway when
Expo was over, the land got developed into high-rises, but the seawall
was left
as is or was, whatever the case is. On a
sunny day you can’t beat it: the water
in False Creek glistens; sometimes you see yachts, sailboats, maybe
even dragon
boats. Dad says he’d like to retire in
Yaletown; but Mom says they aren’t groovy enough. She
has a point.
Seaside Walk – Science
World to Granville Island
You absolutely cannot
lose on this walk: Science World and
Granville Island are two of my favorite places. It
probably goes without saying, but if you start at
Science World be
sure to watch the balls weave their way down the gigantic maze machine
parked in
front. Further along the Olympic Village
is cool, because that’s where the athletes stayed when they competed in
Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics. Dad
says it’s a “green” community. It
doesn’t look green to me; grey maybe. The
view of Vancouver along this seawall is amazing;
photo-worthy for
sure. Granville Island is a show-stopper. Whatever you do, do not let this opportunity
for fun slip through your fingers.
Granville Island
It doesn’t get any
better than this. The Kids’ Market at
Granville Island is every kids’ dream: games,
adventure zone, toy stores—need I say more? My
Mom has a real soft spot for Granville
Island. The Public Market has every
fruit and vegetable known to man. The
artisan shops are cool too—especially the glass blower.
While you’re there see if you can spot the
turtles sunning on the rocks in the pond, and if it’s hot remember to
bring
your bathing suits because there’s a water park. If
Granville Island gets too busy for you,
because it does get busy, you can take a break and go for a walk along
the
seawall.
Seaside Walk –
Granville Island to Kitsilano Pool
Once you get past
Granville Island, keep your eyes open for the fisherman selling fish
from their
boats (warm weather seasons). Dad can’t
pass up the spotted prawns, which I find a little too busy with all the
tentacles. What I do like however are
the unbelievable kites people fly at Vanier Park. Some
of these people even enter competitions
they’re so good. In the same area are
the Vancouver Museum, Pacific Space Centre, and the Vancouver Maritime
Museum. When you get to the biggest
outdoor pool I’ve ever seen, you’re at the end of this walk; but if you
can
talk your parents into a swim, it might just be the start of another
adventure.
Point Grey Road
My Mom and Dad like to
play this pretend game whenever we walk along Point Grey Road. It’s called, “If win the lottery, which house
would we buy?” Point Grey Road has some
of the snazziest homes in Canada. Last
time
we were there, Mom was trying to figure out which one was Chip Wilson’s
(founder of Lululemon). Apparently she
read in the Metro that his home was valued at 54 million dollars. Is that all? I
heard the city closed to vehicle traffic the section of
Point Grey
Road between McDonald and Alma, which I guess is good if you’re walking
or
riding your bike.
Jericho Beach, Locarno
Beach, Spanish Banks
I don’t know why
anybody would go for a walk when they’re at a beach, but my Mom does. Everybody else will be fishing, flying a
kite, digging in the sand, or swimming except for Mom, whose happily
walking up
and down these beaches. Make sure you
bring your bathing suit, and see if you can sweet-talk your parents
into having
dinner there, so you can watch the sunset.
Vancouver Financial
District
I don’t know if you’ve
ever noticed this, but people who work downtown tend to dress better
than
people who don’t work downtown. There
must be a lot of important businesses downtown. Dad
says all the big banks are downtown, plus a bunch of
accounting and
law firms, not to mention all the mining and forest product companies.
Entertainment District
There’s a lot more to
Granville Street than just shopping. If
you like nightlife and are old enough to get into bars you might want
to check
it out. Some places, like the Commodore
Ballroom and Orpheum Theatre, have been around so long my Mom and Dad
even
remember going there. Lucky I wasn’t
around to see it.
Robson Street
Robson is one big
shopping street where people like my sister love to go.
It goes all the way from B.C. Place to
Stanley Park, and has the Vancouver Public Library in between, which,
by the
way, was built to look like a coliseum. The
main hard-core shopping district starts at Granville
and goes to
about Bute Street. From there it becomes
mostly restaurants.
West End – Denman and
Davie Streets
Denman and Davie are
two of the busiest and colourful streets in Vancouver.
There’s a good reason for this: they
border the West End, which has about
45,000 people living there. Restaurants
are everywhere. My favourite is La Belle
Patate, specializing in none other than poutine. Jen
can’t wait to try Coney Island Custard, a
brand new place selling frozen custard. This
part of town is gay friendly, so some of the shops
might sell stuff
you wouldn’t normally see everyday.
Gastown
Did you know Gastown
is where Vancouver first started way back in the early 1800’s? It’s too bad that only a few of the original
buildings are still standing, because the Great Fire in 1886 burned
down
everything else. Some of the streets are
still made of cobblestone. If you go,
look for Blood Alley and the steam clock. Try to guess what Gaders Mews
was
used for. Gastown now is mostly
boutiques, souvenir shops and restaurants.
Yaletown
I remember going to
Yaletown with my family. For some reason
Dad wanted to see the Mini Cooper store. I
guess he forgot how big all of us are. He
said a lot of the buildings in Yaletown are made from
brick because
it used to be a Canadian Pacific Railway repair depot.
Now it’s one of the trendiest areas in
Vancouver; loft apartments, boutique stores, bars, restaurants, and
offices. While you’re there look for the
CP Roundhouse
Community Centre. It has Engine 374,
which pulled the first passenger train into Vancouver way back in 1887.
Chinatown
Vancouver has the
second largest Chinatown in North America. What’s
neat about it is that it was built by Chinese
immigrant people,
so it’s more like the life they left behind in China.
Whenever we go there Mom and Dad always make
a beeline for a bakery. Dad likes the
barbecued pork buns (baked not steamed) and Mom likes the egg tarts
(Portuguese
style). There are lots of other things you
can buy in Chinatown. How do live
eel,
and snakeskins sound to you? Keep a look
out for the narrowest commercial building in the world.
Don’t forget Chinese New Year usually comes
round the end of January and the Night Market starts in June.
Kitsilano – Fourth
Avenue
Shopping isn’t exactly
on my top 10 list, but eating sure is. Mom
and me make a deal whenever we hit Fourth Avenue: I
let her shop without me pestering her, and
she lets me pick out where we eat. Mom
likes Fourth Avenue because it has one-of-a-kind stores you won’t find
in
malls. A number of shops cater to the
young, active, energetic, outdoorsy crowd that Mom likes to think she
belongs
to. When it comes to eating, there are
plenty of restaurants to pick from. I’m
a creature of habit so I tend to pick the same places over and over
again,
which drives Mom crazy, but a deals a deal as they say.
Commercial Drive
I don’t know what it
is about Commercial Drive but it seems to attract a lot of different
people. Not only do you have Italian,
Asian, Latin American, East Indian, and African influences, you also
have what
Mom calls the new hippie generation. If
you feel like eating you’ve come to the right spot.
Belgian Fries is my favorite, but there are
plenty more restaurants to pick from. Also
kids will be happy to stumble across the playground
at Brittania
School.
Shaughnessy
Residential Area
Mom says I’m like a
squirrel: I like collecting nuts. Shaughnessy in October is NUT heaven. There are chestnuts and acorns literally lying
everywhere on the ground. While Mom and
Dad are google-eyeing at the expensive homes I’m busy collecting nuts. It works out. Now
if I could only figure out what to do with them later
(the nuts I
mean).
Queen Elizabeth Park
Queen Elizabeth Park
is so pretty newlyweds get their wedding pictures taken there. It has a sunken garden with exotic and native
plants, and a Conservatory filled with weird plants and birds. The view at the top is amazing:
you can see all around you from 152 meters up
in the air. Once your parents finish
oohing and aahing at the sights, try leading them over to the
recreational area
where all the fun stuff is: tennis,
pitch & putt golf, and Frisbee golf. Hey,
what about just running down the grassy hill?
Little India – Main
and 49th Avenue
If you’re ever in the
neighbourhood, and have some time to spare, stop and have a look around
Little
India. We went once to buy samosas, and
ended up leaving with a bag of special Indian curry spice, two meters
of silk,
some take-out butter chicken, and 20 multi-coloured bangles Jen
couldn’t stop herself
from cascading up and down her arm the whole way home.
University of British
Columbia
My Mom has finally
made me see the light--school can be fun. We
took our bikes and scooters to U.B.C. and had a blast.
It was the weekend, so not many students were
around. I saw the indoor and outdoor
swimming pool, Museum of Anthropology, library, and the buildings my
Mom and
Dad used to go into. Mom said when she
went to university, students had to share one mainframe computer that
they
never actually saw. No wonder she has
such a hard time with laptops. One
thing’s for sure, I’ll be in top shape if I go to U.B.C.
It’s so big you have to walk at least a mile
every day going from one building to the next.
West Vancouver –
Ambleside Beach to Dundarave Beach Seawalk
There are so many neat
activities kids can do here, parents might actually forget to go for a
walk. You can swim, build sand castles,
ride waves, play in the playgrounds, fish, look for crabs, play pitch
&putt
golf, eat ice-cream, and last, but not least, walk.
Mom says the view is spectacular, and she’s
right. On any given day, you might see
tankers, fishing boats, sailboats, seals, eagles, and way off in the
distance
U.B.C., even further Nanaimo.
Fairy Tale Lane
Mom and Dad like
walking along Fairy Tale Lane because they like looking at expensive
dream-come-true
they’ll never be able to afford. Me, I
like it for a different reason: there’s
a train track running alongside the road, and sometimes the train comes
by so
close you can almost touch it. Did I
mention the road is perfect for riding your bike or scooter: flat and only the odd car goes by.
Capilano Pacific Trail
To be honest, trails
aren’t my favorite. I mean, you see one
tree, you’ve seen them all. Mom talked
me into this one, because she said I’d get to see lots of cool stuff,
and she
was right. You get a behind-the-scenes
view of the Capilano Suspension Bridge, stare down the steep rocky
sides of the
Canyon, maybe even see some kayakers paddling down the river, watch the
salmon
trying to jump up the fish ladder at the Salmon Hatchery, and, if you
make it
to the top, see water cascading over the Cleveland Dam.