canada place is vancouver's flagship building along the harbour. it is a cruise ship terminal, hotel, conference centre and tourist trap. you can walk all around the building, which juts out into the harbour (resembling the shape of a large ship itself - sails included!), giving you excellent views of the harbour and beyond which is what drew us there. in fact, the views from canada place take in stanley park, north vancouver, the port, and the mountain range that sits behind it all. i think those mountains are the north shore mountains, of which one is grouse mountain, but i'm not 100% sure which one to be honest!
stanley park is a big park, i mean really big - it is 8km around the perimeter, and is a major attraction in vancouver. one notable attraction inside stanley park is vancouver aquarium which we visited. we really loved the array of marine life to see inside. my favourites were the beluga whales which are just so cute (see picture below for evidence of said cuteness). we also saw sharks and otters being fed (not together!) and went into the aquarium's 4D experience theatre where we were sprayed with water from the whales on screen and jolted in the back by the snakes!
unfortunately we did not walk the 8 kilometres around stanley park but we did drive around it (twice - by accident), getting out and walking around various points of interest. we did not have time to see all of the park, but we did see prospects point with its excellent views across the ocean, english bay with its pretty beach, and the totem poles which provide an attractive tribute to the areas heritage.
we also stumbled across this art installation which gave us a bit of a giggle (as it intended to i reckon!).
jam and i visited gastown, the oldest part of vancouver, and went to maple tree square where an old maple tree once stood (under which the name vancouver was decided by the city's founders i believe) and now in its place, the statue of gassy jack, one of the cities liveliest historical characters, stands proudly. around the corner is the iconic steam clock which is said to be the world's first steam-operated clock and chimes every quarter of an hour.
after our walk around gastown we made our way to the vancouver police centennial museum, located in the town's old morgue, where we learnt about the city's police history. we also went to chinatown where we strolled around the dr sun yat sen chinese garden. we hopped back in our car and made our way across the bridge to granville island, a lovely island with a huge public market and a variety of shops as well as more gorgeous views of the vancouver landscape. we treated ourselves to some raspberry flavoured almonds (made with real organic raspberries no less!).
a short drive from granville island is kitsilano beach. the beach offered a plethora of outdoor activities; we saw people playing tennis, playing volleyball, walking, dog walking, jogging, cycling, rollerblading, playing basketball, and even a couple of brave souls having a quick dip! and it was really, really busy. it was just great to see everyone being so active. the beach is stunning and covers what i think is the most amazing thing about vancouver, from one location in a 360-degree sweeping glance you can take in parks, forests, beaches, mountains, the city and the suburbs. it's just so varied.
for dinner we had booked a table at 'the eatery', a japanese restaurant specialising equally in sushi and craziness. jam had previously been on the website and decided within 10 seconds it would be an experience worth having. the place was decorated completely - ceiling and walls - in colourful tackiness. there were video-game character stuffed toys dangling above our heads, and countless portraits of (mostly dead) celebrities with the company's favourite 'miso horny' slogan covering their eyes. the menu was extensive and there were probably around 50 special sushi rolls to choose from, all named after superheroes, cartoon characters or pop culture icons. bizarre and very tasty!
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