As many of you know, I just came back from a week in Vancouver to have a drink with KSK’s own resident Canadian, Trevor Risk. Oh, and there were some Women’s World Cup games too. First off, I want to say thanks to Trevor, WhyEaglesWhy, and the other kommenters who were kind enough to give me pointers and inside tips on where to go. My brother’s family and I had a wonderful time and we came back absolutely in love with this city. If any of you have an opportunity to go, by any means necessary, please go.
In an effort to pay it back/forward(?), I’m writing this post to let you in on some of the highlights and lowlights (actually, I don’t think there were any) from my trip.
Where to Stay
We did an Airbnb condo right on False Creek Village. Our building is the one in the background of this picture:
The location was perfect. They have built up (and are continuing to build!) condos and apartment buildings where the old athletic village from the 2010 Olympic Games was located. As a result, the neighborhood was very nice and modern-looking. It also seemed pretty safe and it provided many transportation options such as
How to Get Around
These little boats were pretty cheap as we did the all-day pass and they took us pretty much everywhere along False Creek, which is on the southern edge of the city centre (it’s contagious, I tell you!):
Once in downtown, we basically walked. The whole downtown core is extremely walkable even for an old fart from LA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_UpLtGEWoY
The other option we took was the wonderfully clean and civilized SkyTrain.
Where to Drink
I met up with Trevor on my first night in Vancouver. Luckily, he lives really close to where we were staying, so he picked a place within walking distance for both of us. It was a hidden bar located on top of an Italian restaurant. The bartender was a very cool friend of his and made terrific drinks. As Trevor explained to me, Vancouver liquor laws are very weird. For example, one cannot just open a bar. One has to buy an existing bar or restaurant with a license as no new licenses are being issued. Also, one cannot buy alcohol in grocery stores or mini-markets. One has to buy it directly from a store that is run by the government, which results in outrageously expensive booze. Trevor, your mescal is on its way!
As far as where else to go, my advice is to contact Trevor. He is way cooler than I will ever hope to be and he knows every place and everyone. And bring the man some US-bought booze!
Where to Eat
I swear to you that every single thing we ate was delicious! Well, maybe not everything.
They really were not bad. Just different. As WhyEaglesWhy suggested to me, and I am passing on to you, I recommend you eat Asian food. There is a large Asian population and they know how to do things right. Our version of Asian food started with this:
Japadog also had dessert:
Speaking of dessert, we stopped by Cartem’s Donuterie
and Lucky’s Donuts at 49th Parallel Coffee:
Speaking of coffee, a big THANK YOU to WhyEaglesWhy for pointing me to Caffe Artigiano. Their Spanish Latte (with condensed milk) was to die for:
We also took advantage of Vancouver’s food trucks and had some delicious curry and Thai food. We also had delicious seafood at several places as well as some pretty damn good Italian. Honestly, not a bad meal was had.
Now, to work off the meals, we did some exercise by biking around the city. There are many rental shops and the rates are pretty reasonable. What makes it super worthwhile and special, though, is that the city is extremely bike-friendly. There is a dedicated bikepath all around the water:
My nieces loved biking so much that we ended up renting bikes three days out of the seven we were there! BTW, much respect to Old School Zero for riding his bike for such long distances! After Day 1, I was thinking the bike seat below would be a better alternative for my poor battered ass area:
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And now, to what I believe is the crown jewel of this city: Stanley Park. We went biking through the woods and it was amazing. You completely forgot you were in a metropolis of millions of people.
It is located right on the edge of the peninsula and has a bike path that goes all the way around as well as bike and hiking paths that run through the inside. Just absolutely gorgeous:
I also have to add, and really I feel like I’m stating the obvious here, but the Canadians were really nice and friendly. Everyone we met was very cool. Not one asshole in the bunch.
I feel like I could go on forever and you’re probably be thinking I’ve drunk some Canadian Kool-Aid, but I did drink a Canadian Energy Drink:
I know the city has issues and I could see some on the surface and heard about some from Trevor. But hey, nothing’s perfect. And this city is a hell of a lot closer to perfect than most cities I’ve ever been in. It gets a lot of things right. It’s a very modern city that is very environmentally aware and also encourages physical activity through innovative and forward-thinking infrastructure.
So, to sum up:
And if you do go, I’ll be happy to give you more info so as to make the most out of the short time you have there. We were there for a full week and I could have stayed longer if it wasn’t for work responsibilities, friends, and loved ones back home. If only I could get them to move up there…
One more picture:
[…] years ago, I went to Vancouver with family to watch some of the Women’s World Cup when it was held in Canada. Not only did I […]
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Fucking great; this place is on the damn list.
http://global3.memecdn.com/I-Came_c_103275.jpg
How long did it take to wash off the Labatts and maple syrup bukakke?
Excellent write up, Balls.
I didn’t realize that there was a city with more donut shops than L.A.
I think this is some kind of Pavlovian reaction but halfway through this I started to wonder how Peter King’s version of this would have gone.
“Had a delicious Shock-Top at the brewery just outside of my condominium.”
“Stanley Park was good, but had a little more leaf litter than I expected.”
“The aquabus is a good way to get around, but the color scheme was a rip-off of my daughter’s wedding, (5,000 word digression goes here), and there is no quiet car.”
“The barista at Cafe Artisano kept botching my order for a triple laradachinno and insisted on some bilingual latte.”
But it sounds like a fantastic vacation, especially because PK wasn’t there.
Am I the only want who wants to go back and read all of Balls’ “What I did on summer vacation…” essays?
I clicked on the green GO sign but it didn’t take me to Vancouver. Link must be broken or something.
Nice! Glad you had a good time, and especially that you liked the coffee. Seriously, in a city this awesome with a million things to do, the #1 thing I tell people is drink that coffee. I neglected to tell you to go around the Stanley Park seawall, so I’m glad you found your way there. It’s gorgeous. Also…AQUABUS!
Excellent. I don’t think I could put together such an eloquent and concise review of my own city, let alone one I visited for a week. You should work for Lonely Planet or Trip Advisor.
“I don’t think I could put together such an eloquent and concise review of my own city,”
Challenge accepted. Look for my exciting review of Willimantic, CT, coming soon!
Actually, that would be great. I challenge everyone to do that with their own hometown/neighborhood. Mine would be like this:
“Hyde Park is nice community located on the South Side of Chicago, where- What’s that? Too many murders? But it surrounds the prestigious University of Chi- What? You value your life too much to go to the South Side? That is a bit racis- Nevermind. Have fun in Wrigleyville.”
My friend is working for University Of Chicago. They just moved up there last fall. He said it’s awesome because at 5 everyday there’s a cop cruiser on almost every corner in his neighborhood.
Sounds like not much has changed. Most of the shootings happen further west and south. On this map, Hyde Park is the south side neighborhood highlighted in white (heh, nice work, Tribune) on the lake with minimal shootings. Lots of robberies in the old neighborhood, though. Tell your friend to lock up his shit.
http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago/shootings
Vancouver is fucking awesome. Has the cultural feel of New York City, but without the pee smell or, like Balls noted, the assholes. I swear to Jeebus, the fucking babies don’t even cry there.
My trip was part of a circle I drove through Oregon, Washington, and BC as a divorce/36th birthday present to myself. On the ferry from Washington to Victoria, BC, you could tell the canucks because whenever their cell phones rang, they didn’t speak until they walked off to a corner so they didn’t disturb anyone.
God, how I love that country. You hosers better win that WWC, eh?
Awesome write-up, Balls.
Goddamnit. Stupid trip to France, taking up all my trip-to-Vancouver-BC money!
I’m definitely going. This is great Canadian propaganda, traitor. Where are the poutine pictures?!
Would you believe that I actually missed eating that? We kept joking about how we should eat some, but there was always something else catching our eye. Although I do regret not ordering the duck fat poutine from one of the food trucks…
You know, duck fat fries aren’t always my favorite, especially from food carts. Same with truffle fries–it takes a delicate balance. Just give me some good potatoes, fresh oil, and some beef tallow or bacon fat, and then salt the motherfuckers.
Or, you know, cover them in gravy and cheese curds. BECAUSE AMERI… CANADA!
Call it what you want, if you combine gravy and cheese into anything, I’d call it sexy!
You’ll get no argument from me. I’ve made it from scratch for friends before, and I’m pretty sure all of them left satisfied. By golly, I’ll do it again, too.