Vancouver
:
heart of a contrasts and harmony country
In estuary of Fraser river in exceptional area, between sea and mountains, Vancouver nestling there. This idyllic little world with his simply indescribable beauty definitely deserves travelers praises: "three most beautiful cities in the world? Rio, Paris and Vancouver!"
In the middle of a breathtaking nature
A
cult destination for exceptional travellers, Vancouver is beyond classifications and tourist tendencies; it is neither Venice nor Istanbul . How to explain that such a paradis is still only known by travel lovers? Every details however make it an absolute wonder: its Pacific coast interlaced with innumerable fjords, bays and islands, its snowed mounts with rivers where half population live (either 2 million people), its natural reserves and gigantic forests. A picture of preserved virginity of Canada.
Only in 1791, a Spanish Conquistador permeates the estuary, still peopled by Natives. Then, in the course of the gold rush of 1858 appeals many prospectors from the south who settle along the river and its tributaries. Vancouver came out of ground only with the completion of transcontinental railroad in 1887 to become today the first harbour of North America. As Istanbul where everything was built around the Strait of the Bosphorus, in Vancouver it's the Fraser River which constitutes the primary link between its history and its growth. Today, in spite of a rather polluted water caused by paper factories, the biggest salmons reproduction center in the world (12 million fish on average per year) settle on the riverside!
Preserved from time which generally denatures, the surroundings of Vancouver are very well served by the road 99, through mountain villages, ranches and firms, towards a fabulous pure air, fauna and flora territory... at less than one hour from downtown. Various cross bars also exist, ensuring of the regular shuttles between several islands, as well as the famous SkyTrain (elevated railway) to peripheral villages. To take the most of Vancouver, it's knowing how to escape for the day: discovering the omnipresent nature, carved for the pleasure of anglers, as skiers or kayak, rafting, climbing lovers, in any season. Hikers and riders, ornithologist or those whose relaxation is the single motivation are perfectly delight staging in a ranch or a thermal spa.
Opening on outside and asserted wellbeing
Vancouver way of live is especially delightful and peaceful, according to every survey! Just a look and you get it: an overcoming contrast between the snowed tops on a side and the ocean on the other, without to me ntion the moderate climate and the strong sunning the summer. Wherever you stare, it's a wonderful picture. At feet of the city, the immense bay abounds in steamer and pleasure boats. Hardly further the beaches, parks and gardens where a multiethnic population strolls and meets.Out in Vancouver ? Excitable, trendy, cultured with more than four thousand restaurants, coffees and pubs, and more than one hundred fifty cultural exhibition places. (See our suggestions).
As the biggest town of North America, enriched by successive waves of immigration, Vancouver has got its own " Chinatown " as well as an Italian and Greek district. Downtown, don't miss Granville Island , peninsula in the middle of the city famous for its large market place and the Harbour Centre tower with its panoramic view or Gastown, the old neighbourhood with its representative steam clock. Tangle of lanes and paved passages, this little city in the City is both charming and having character but also trendy: art galleries, fashioned shops, theatres...
More than one simple stopover between the Far East and Europe , for fortunate tourist or businessman, Vancouver is a destination to choose deserving well better than a "small turning". Come to take a breath without leaving or almost, a city in constant boiling.
Metro pushes transit for Surrey, not UBC
Metro Vancouver's chief bureaucrat wants TransLink to bump a proposed rapid transit line to the University of B.C. to the bottom of its priority list, and instead boost services in the fast-growing ...
No paper on Monday
The Vancouver Sun will not publish on the Labour Day holiday Monday. Read Tuesday's paper for all the weekend news, features and sports, or follow it all online at vancouversun. com.
TransLink switching HQ to New Westminster
The regional transportation authority said Friday it will move its headquarters from Burnaby's Metrotown to the site of a former Labatts brewery in New Westminster.
B.C. sues to recoup costs from hot-air balloon crash
British Columbia is suing several third parties in efforts to recoup health care costs relating to a fiery hot-air balloon crash that killed two people and injured several others in August 2007.
Lives and luck converge on a lonely stretch of highway
On the subject of chance, or probability, or fortune so astounding as to be laughable, consider the case of Tom Aitken, of Chilliwack. Aitken is 44. He drives a shuttle truck for a living. He is also ...
Police warn SFU criminologist to watch his words
A top RCMP officer has issued a "thinly veiled threat" to strip funding from Simon Fraser University if its lead criminologist doesn't stop criticizing the force.
Girl, 16, killed as car smashes into tree
A 16-year-old Burnaby girl has died and three other teenagers were injured in a single-vehicle crash in Port Moody Thursday. The four Burnaby teens, two males and two females 16 to 19 years old, had b...
North Vancouver Boyz video strikes YouTube gold
A music video parody created by four longtime North Vancouver residents has struck a chord on YouTube. North Vancouver Boyz, a send-up of pop star Katy Perry's California Gurls, has been viewed more t...
