Canada 2010: Vancouver – Stanley Park

Unbeknownst to me, Linda had been studying what to see in Vancouver. So, we got off of the Big Bus at Stanley Park. Stanley Park is a beautiful park right in the middle of Vancouver. It is about the same size as Central Park in NYC, but apparently with nothing like the same problems. Our immediate objective was the Vancouver Aquarium, but that will be the subject of the next blog.

Firstly, we needed to get something to eat for lunch, so we went to Stanley’s Bar and Grill which about 100 m from our bus stop.

This eatery was pretty normal, but it did have some rather unusual stuff hanging on the walls.

This sign was clearly made a while ago.

This theatre is the longest established in Vancouver.

This is the municipal bus stop.

The park contained a First Nations Park as well. We didn’t have time to go inside since we were going to the aquarium.

We ran across a Japanese-Canadian WWI monument.

We have now arrived at the aquarium entrance, but that story comes in another blog entry.

Well, we went through the aquarium and made our way back to the Big Bus stop. To our surprise they put on a tour of Stanley Park for ticket holders, so we hopped on. The Big Buses usually had a covered front section and uncovered rear section. We decided to ride in the rear as it was getting pretty late in the afternoon.

We then went through the Rose Gardens. Apparently, it is a very popular place for getting hitched.

Some people prefer a slower pace:

This is the rowing club which apparently does a lot to support sport generally in the area. According to the driver, this was in contrast to a couple of the other clubs, i.e., cricket and yacht clubs. The way he was talking about it suggested to me that he had some direct experience in dealing with them.

There were some nice views across the harbor

We next stopped at an exhibition of coastal Nations’ totem poles:

Here is a statue of Percy Williams, Vancouver champion sprinter. Percy Williams won both the 100 and 200 m events at the 1928 Olympics.

Here are a couple more nice views across the harbor.

Here is an interesting structure.

Vancouver’s answer to Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid.

It looks like a nice playground for the kiddies.

Here is the Lions’ Gate Bridge. The famous film production named itself after this bridge as their production facilities are located nearby. Interestingly, this bridge was built with private wealth.

There is a very nice lookout not too far from Lions’ Gate Bridge.

We have disembarked to check things out.

These are some commemoration plaques remembering the victims of a severe windstorm a few years ago.

One needs to be wary of the wildlife.

But that didn’t stop Linda from taking this video.

This is the point with the best views:

Here are some of the views:

Sea planes are very popular in Vancouver.

Some people were catching their views from a lower level.

There is the competition (to Big Bus) again.

This old tree died a few years ago, but it had such nostalgic value that it is structurally supported so that people can revisit it as they did when they were younger.