Initial thoughts on Vancouver

It's day 4 of Bartcation 2016, and I find myself sitting at a neighborhood JJBean coffee shop in the heart of Coal Harbor. To my right, a delightfully attractive lady does the sudoku in the paper while taking a break from her office tedium. To my left sits my sublime decaf soy latte; the remnants of the leaf design in the foam having fully faded away.

It's cloudy, cool, and drizzling on and off. Today was supposed to be my day to check out Stanley Park, but that isn't going to be happen. As if by some sort of divine intervention, Vancouver is making me come back in the near future.... and leaving me something else to do in case experiencing it's treasures a second time wasn't enough.


Vancouver is a most peculiar mixture of Chicago urban efficiency, San Franciscan ethnic and cultural diversity, British influence, Canadian charm, and Pacific Northwest ambiance. The Chicago tones hit you immediately as you exit the subway station in the city's urban core. All around you are towers of varying heights. First business towers, but as one walks west towards the end of the peninsula, they evolve into Coal Harbor's residential towers. How do you tell the difference? Business towers have tinted class, while residential ones do not.

While the towers themselves suggest yet another top 5 American city, their logos sternly point out this is Canada. Where one would expect to see a Citi and JPMorganChase logo, it's ScotiaBank or Royal Bank of Canada. The grand dame of the city's hotel scene isn't a Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons, but the Fairmont. Tim Horton's appears just as frequent as Starbucks, and after a night of drinking, you turn to poutine and doner kebabs for drunk munchies (why doner isn't more popular in the US is beyond my understanding).

Like most Canadian major cities, there are elements of British influence despite the fact that the two countries have been disconnected de facto since 1930, and de jure since 1982. High tea at the Fairmont is still an institution, as is ordering early grey from any neighborhood Tim Horton's. Businessmen sport dark suites, English spread collars, and vibrantly colored ties topped with massive knots. Fish and chips are popular (and not just because of the amazing fish here), and you cannot do anything but smile when seeing "colour" in print media.

The echoes of San Francisco slowly but surely makes themselves apparent as you wander around the city's neighborhoods. The city's Chinatown is vibrant, with spice markets and dim sum restaurants bustling with patrons. A short stroll away is Gastown, with its urban hipster-centric restaurants and bars catering micro-brews and craft cocktails. There is Granville street - the city's high street - that akin to San Francisco counterpart Market Street, is full of flagship stores and homeless panhandlers. The one thing missing is the fog, which is something I am sure Vancouverites will gladly do without.

Finally, all of these competing elements are in the background of the majestic Pacific Northwest. The focal point of the city isn't it's high street or business towers, but the waterfront with its miles of walking and bicycling paths. Boats litter the docks, waiting to be taken out by the urban well-to-do. Local fish and shellfish are promoted at restaurants, and trust me they are amazing. Finally, when one steps out on to the waterfront and looks across the harbor to see Vancouver's suburbs nestled at the foot of the huge coastal mountains, one realizes that when the houses end and the trees begin, it's not just some state park. It's true wilderness.