mustangs and mountains
it may be because it's the first stop if you're heading east from japan but, for whatever reason, vancouver has a strongly oriental vibe, with japanese and chinese culture and faces everywhere. we had amazing food at the local izakaya on our first night, an izakaya being a japanese pub which, when transplanted to oh so cool vancouver, meant chilled out background beats over storming japanese tapas. monday was spent pottering around in the sunlight and cycling around stanley park, finishing off with some grimy but tasty mongolian barbeque action.
on a tip from one of the secretaries at work we hired a car to drive to whistler on tuesday. and what a car; marvin the mustang was a 5 litre v8 convertible which growled when you touched the accelerator and saw off all challengers on the roads with ease (and with seat warmers to keep your behind toasty when the top was down which, the first time you feel them in action, might make you feel like you may have accidentally soiled yourself). the sea to sky highway connecting vancouver to whistler is an attraction in itself, as you begin winding along roads hugging cliffsides perched over the pacific waters before the sea gives way to the rockies, mountains still tipped with snow even in the height of summer beginning to dominate the landscape after 100 or so clicks.
whistler is most famously a winter destination but at this time of year the young folk leave their snowboards at home and bring their mountain bikes instead to bump and jostle down the dusty trails peppering the mountainsides. we did some rather more sedate wandering, hiking around to catch the views in the crisp air, negotiating a collective of 300 indian conference goers rampaging through the mountaintop restaurant and leaving the staff scratching their heads and finishing off with a hot chocolate back down in whistler village. perhaps not the world class destination it is in winter whistler still provided enough by way of views and amusement for us, even in the predictable absence of any bears.
and that, bar a two hour sojourn getting lost on the way back (how do you miss vancouver?!) and some amazing cured meat and cheese at a pretentious but cool little winebar amongst the designer boutiques and crackheads in gastown was it for vancouver, and indeed canada. a good place to visit, a great place to live and blessed with some amazing natural beauty; if only the wildlife had been a bit more willing to play ball...
on a tip from one of the secretaries at work we hired a car to drive to whistler on tuesday. and what a car; marvin the mustang was a 5 litre v8 convertible which growled when you touched the accelerator and saw off all challengers on the roads with ease (and with seat warmers to keep your behind toasty when the top was down which, the first time you feel them in action, might make you feel like you may have accidentally soiled yourself). the sea to sky highway connecting vancouver to whistler is an attraction in itself, as you begin winding along roads hugging cliffsides perched over the pacific waters before the sea gives way to the rockies, mountains still tipped with snow even in the height of summer beginning to dominate the landscape after 100 or so clicks.
whistler is most famously a winter destination but at this time of year the young folk leave their snowboards at home and bring their mountain bikes instead to bump and jostle down the dusty trails peppering the mountainsides. we did some rather more sedate wandering, hiking around to catch the views in the crisp air, negotiating a collective of 300 indian conference goers rampaging through the mountaintop restaurant and leaving the staff scratching their heads and finishing off with a hot chocolate back down in whistler village. perhaps not the world class destination it is in winter whistler still provided enough by way of views and amusement for us, even in the predictable absence of any bears.
and that, bar a two hour sojourn getting lost on the way back (how do you miss vancouver?!) and some amazing cured meat and cheese at a pretentious but cool little winebar amongst the designer boutiques and crackheads in gastown was it for vancouver, and indeed canada. a good place to visit, a great place to live and blessed with some amazing natural beauty; if only the wildlife had been a bit more willing to play ball...
posted by bicrom @ 1:39 pm
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