This journey starts on the west coast of Canada in a city on the Pacific Ocean, in British Columbia, in Vancouver. We had two days to see something or anything of this vibrant and interesting city. What can you possibly do in 2 days with jetlag running through your system – in a city with so much to offer that you go dizzy at a mere glance at the guidebook. But as the travelers that we are we pulled ourselves together and did a “walkabout” – diligently choosing 3-4 things within walking distance of Vancouvers West End.

Stanley Park

Vancouver is a green city, a young city, a city of immigrants, minorities, big business and bicycles. It is also for walkers – and walkers have plenty to walk to and for. City planners and politicians have made good choices for human habitat in this city. One of them is Stanley Park, another is the water – the sea, the bay, the lakes and ponds – all of which is made easy for walkers and other soft targets in traffic to get around in. Another stroke of genius is the way that the tall skyscrapers fit into this haven of green and blue. The windows are tinted a greenish blue by law so as to reflect the surrounding water.

To the north of the West End stands the enormous Stanley Park with its ponds, its walking and cycling paths, the boat societies and clubs, its temperate rainforest, the totem poles as a tribute to the native Canadians and the spectacular views on all of the surrounding sides of the park.

This is North America´s largest city park. With an area of 404 hectares it is slightly bigger than Central Park in New York – and it is the heart and lungs of Vancouver. However it does, as does much of the two great Americas, have a darker history than all the beauty which meets the eye of the traveler today. The Indian tribe originally living here was exterminated by chicken pox brought in by the white man, and the village houses on the land were torn down when the park was created. Tribute is payed to this darker past by the erection of the famous collection of totem poles at the eastern end of the park.

Water to the west

Water to the east

Water to the north

Note the yellow sulphur and the red Danish ship! Grouse mountain was unfortunately covered in clouds.

Totem poles from the surrounding forests. They are one of the most visited sites in all of British Columbia.

A volunteer guide at the gates –

Animated by the beauty of the totem poles, we wanted to explore the history of the First Nation art in Vancouver and came upon the name of Bill Reid. Bill Reid came late to his art, he was a radio host at CBC radio in the 50´s before he started to discover the past of his mother’s tribe, Haida, on the Queen Charlotte Islands. His grandfather was here a renowned wood carving artist and in time Reid became the most well known Haida artist in Canada. The small Bill Reid gallery lies across from the imposing Vancouver Art Gallery.

Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art

Reid created totem poles…

…and jewelry in silver and gold

He painted on cloth…

…and made large bronze wall sculptures, this one depicting what is created from of the tongues of man…

A smaller version in onyx of Reids perhaps most famous carved sculpture The Raven and the First Men – the legend of the creation of the first human beings being “born” out of of a giant shell and coaxed into the world by the raven – the raven being one of the most powerful symbols of strength in the Haida legends. Whether humans were born out of the sea or emerged from the dust of the earth is a matter of belief – this sculpture makes its own powerful statement. The larger original in yellow cedar can be seen in front of The Museum of Anthropology.

After this artful experience we walked down to the harbor….

….and took one of the small colorful ferries over to the food market on

Granville Island

Granville Island was once full of another kind of business – coal storage, cement plant and a ship yard. Most of this disappeared in the 1970´s and today only parts of the cement plant is left. The rest of the buildings were converted into arts and crafts, theaters, restaurants and a large food market.

The cement plant

Color and crafts

Food

…..pasta galore

… and gay cakes

….and last but not least a taxi driver having lunch – and no, you are not in India, you are in Canada!

Davie Village

Back on the mainland we decided to go through the gay quarter of Vancouver – complete with pink busstops and rainbow colored crosswalks.

Steps leading up to….

….this exotic restaurant

….and alas yes, there are more and more homeless people in Vancouver. It is green, it is blue, it is multicolored, but maybe that does not matter to everyone, at least not to this man sleeping among the hearts in the gayest part of town.

We end the walkabout back in the West End, and also our two days in Vancouver, on a smiling note – the popular bronze sculptures A-maze-ing Laughter by Yue Minjun. As an inscription on one of the benches states: May this sculpture inspire laughter, playfulness and joy in all who experience it.

The wayfarers