Destination: Stanley Park

I mention over here that I’m hosting a couple of cool cats that some of you UW-L folks probably have a connection with.  But along with hosting people who are trying to see the city, comes the responsibility of making suggestions and even playing tour guide a bit.  So I figure, why not plug my favorite spots to take my visitors?  What could possibly be more relavant to this blog?

I’m inclined to say that mode of transit is almost as important as the destination.  I obviously advocate for bike travel for many reasons but most importantly because you experience your surrounding more intimately than any other mode of travel.  Seeing, smelling and touching the city on the way is integral to the overall experience.

The first place I took my current surfers and I think I’d take about any visitor is Stanley Park (wiki).  This should come as no surprise considering just about every Vancouver city guide  will direct you straight to stanley park without passing go in the first 10 pages.  If it doesn’t, it’s wrong.

Per wikipedia, Stanley is a 405 hectare (1,000 acre) monster of an urban park extending from the north west end of downtown Vancouver.  Most of the park is forested with an estimated half million trees, some of which reach as tall as 76 meters (250 feet).  Looking up and up and up (and up) to see the canopy above is truly an experience in itself.  Few outdoor experiences are as large and in charge as exploring a temperate rain forest.  Perhaps best of all, an 8.8 kilometer (5.5 mi) seawall path circles the perimeter of the park, which is used by 2.5 million pedestrians, cyclists, and inline skaters every year.  I’ve lapped it maybe four times since I’ve been here and can’t foresee it getting old any time soon.  It’s one situation where I really wish I had my hands wrapped around the handlebars of a cruiser rather than my shiny hybrid.  The nearby Lost Lagoon sports a fancy fountain and is actually where my current silly facebook picture comes from.  The southern edge of the park hosts nice little a pool which I mocked initially and then ate my words when recalling the drawbacks of swimming in the ocean (salt water is icky).  Cricket games, festivals, an expansive aquarium and many festivities lurk within the park but that’s for money having travellers.  Maybe I’ll be able to get back to you on those happenings later (fingers crossed for the aquarium.  Ahem Kathleen).

Though I’ll include some pictures from each of my trips, though wikipedia’s gallery is far and away better.

In other news…

This week it finally time to dive into the job search seriously, which I think adequately explains my lack of posting.  Turns out it’s more exhaustive of a process than I remember.  Overall, I’ve applied for upwards of 30 positions all within the IT support realm.  This coming week I’ll be doing a lot of the same but in the weeks following I’ll have to open a few other options and allow for something less than ideal.  The aforementioned idea of persistence job hunting might end up having more truth to it than I hoped

Business aside, I still feel very much on vacation and the temptation to spend the day at the beach or park has overtaken me more than once.  I intend to  blog about a few specific places I’ve hit around town but for the purpose of this post I’ll just throw up a few pictures I’ve taken while spelunking about random places.

One difference I’ve taken note of is the amount of park use here as opposed to the midwest or maybe even the States as a whole.  Weekends at parks are absolutely packed, making it considerably difficult to do a playground workout or even find an open bench.  Still it’s quite nice to see happy people using the public space.  Huge barbecues and picnics are everywhere.  I’ve seen soccer, ultimate, volleyball, baseball, and even a little bit of a cricket game in action.  Akido lessons, yoga, and various musical instruments often find their way to the parks.  Lots of variety.  Gotta love that variety!