Vancouver on the rocks

I knew it was going to be cold but still, cold is cold. And this is cold. It's that icy wind that gets right into your bones, yet still we see people in shorts and sat outside coffee shops like it's the middle of frickin summer! Are these people numb or what?!
The transport system doesn't leave us in the cold though and a simple couple of buses gets us right into town, and it's not only poverty stricken stumps that use them (unlike Dallas).
Vancouver has consistently been around the top of international polls and research of the best cities in the world to live in. Last year it came joint 3rd with Vienna behind Zurich and Geneva of best cities to live. I was keen to see why.
I'd heard about the pockets of homeless about but after 10 minutes on the streets around our hotel we realise that the pockets are overflowing. Every couple of minutes we're turning down change giving to various street living tramps. It's very odd to me that the homeless here, North America that is, seem to expect people to give them cash. I can only but imagine what would happen in China.
Mental health and drug addiction is also a problem and many mental health institutions have been closed down meaning random nutters walk the streets day and night shouting abuse at themselves, and sometimes us. Brilliant. Number 3 in the world!? You're having a laugh!
But saying that, good stuff is abound in Vancouver and once you've zig-zagged through the guys sticking out their hands the place is good looking. The sky is a very blue blue and and the waters edge location and snow covered mountain background make for scenic living.
Snow based action is big here in winter. Grouse Mountain being only an hour away from downtown means that you could finish work and go snowboarding in the evening with the slopes being lit up like giant Christmas trees.

Upon arrival at our hotel we get offered free tickets to an African music show that evening. Free, my kind of price. Not normally my thing but the show itself was tremendous. Some powerful drumming and extremely powerful dancing all telling the history of South Africa. Really good stuff. As we leave the theatre we see homeless guys waiting outside asking for money. That's enterprising! Normally there are guys selling posters and the like but to actually set up with your scraggy dog and bent cardboard sign is a sign of a true marketeer.
It's a shame because downtown Vancouver is a nice looking city that has many a modern building interspersed with green roofed classic European structures.
It's also got leafy areas such as Gastown and Yaletown that are good to stroll around even if I can't afford to buy a thing. Gastown is the original part of Vancouver that once was a bit rough but now is smartened up. It includes a well photographed steam clock that pours out steam and whistles every 15 minutes, just for show now as it's run on electric. Walk on a bit further and you enter a large Chinatown that seems to be branching out all over the place. This is the nearest to China we've been for a long time, and looking at the lizards on sticks for sale I remember why I'm not that bothered about going back. It's a bit scruffy in places and we keep on walking to what seems like the edge of town with battered old crumbling buildings and litter blowing all over the place. The characters become scruffier too and as we look around I notice we are the only people who don't live on the streets. Oddly we don't get asked for change here. We head back. On the way we stop off at a nice looking Chinese Garden that's happily hobo free.
Surviving on a low budget here is difficult. Luckily for us we're located next to a block of cheap pizza places that sell large slices for $1.25, bargain even when they add the tax. Tax is another gripe of mine. Most places in Canada and America don't include the tax in the price on the shelf so when you get to the till it's actually another 13% or 10% or 9% or 6.5% or 3% more depending on what the item is. It drives me right up the wall constantly. Even when you ask store clerks what the tax on certain items is they often don't know, so what's the point?
Visiting the large Stanley Park on the edge of town gives us a break from the homeless and a chance to walk in semi-wilderness. It also provides great views back onto Vancouver over the water whilst watching sea planes fly in and out. There's a few walks around the park that take in totem poles, the odd statue and large trees. A good break from the city and not too far from downtown. A storm last year ravaged the area and toppled many an ancient tree so a lot of work is still left to be done. We can still get down to one of the beaches, the dark sand kind, and walk around the windswept rocks.
We manage to catch a Winter solstice night that was taking place for free in the fashionable Yaletown area. This involved some wacky music, a bit of crappy religious music, some odd maze paper bag scenario and some hippy-esque themes.


We walk back along the harbour into town checking out the flash boats and waterfront apartments and can't help thinking of the amount of money that is floating around here.
Christmas approaches and after 6 months of travelling around we decide to stay put and do not a lot for a few days over the festive period. Christmas day itself is a bit of a nothing day for us, if there's ever a day when travelling the world doesn't seem to great it's this day. Everything is shut aswell. On Christmas Eve we manage to get out of town onto a suspension bridge in a canyon just out of town. An old tourist attraction that still gets em in. As a side note there is a guy who works at the bridge whose job it is to sit in a small box all day saying, 'Please do not rock the bridge or run on the bridge'. Bummer. But when we get back we realise everything is quickly shutting up shop for Christmas.....at 17:30!!

We struggle to get a booking in somewhere that's open on Christmas Day and would you believe it they don't even have turkey on the menu. What the hell is going on! I mean come on! At least it snowed.

On Boxing Day we head up to Grouse Mountain for views over the city and to eat at the very fancy restaurant up there. This enables to get up to the mountain top without paying the expensive cable car that everyone has to pay before they've even got onto the snow, then they have to pay further cash for sky lift passes and so on. Too pricey for the likes of us. Playing around in the powder-like snow is comic and eating at the restaurant is very good indeed.
We do wait for an hour down at the bottom for our taxi to not turn up. We then get the last bus and miss the connecting bus so then have to wait another half an hour in the freezing cold. I needed a stiff drink or three.
Overall I liked Vancouver. I'd go back. The endless Starbucks, Vancouver has more than anywhere else, and people sitting outside in the freezing cold still trying to look good is annoying but forgiveable. But to say it's even in the top 10 of cities to live in the world is a bit of an overstretch. It's not in my top 5 and I've not seen half of the what the world has to offer. The homeless is a massive problem and bothers me from day one. Not being able to relax doesn't make for a pleasant time. But it still has plenty to offer. Nearby mountains, boat-based action, nice wooded parks, swanky neighbourhoods and a diverse population. Crime was one factor that lost Vancouver points in the rankings and this must be related to the amount of addicts roaming the streets. The homeless are truly mental. I can think of at least 5 cities I'd rather live just off the top of my head and all of them are in South America. Now I wouldn't have thought I'd ever say that.


After 10 days it was time to get moving again. We had tickets for a New Years gig in San Francisco and had to get down there some how. A four hour bus ride to Seattle awaits.