Vancouver

Having always wanted to visit Vancouver, we took this opportunity to make the trek into the madness.

Vancouverites rejected the idea of several elevated highways across the city's core, and there isn’t much mass transit to speak of, so we braved the traffic, dearth of parking, and general business to visit several interesting areas.

First up was Stanley park.  The major green space in the city, this park is well-used, and quite nice. The views of the harbor and surrounding skyline were quite enjoyable.  



Along the seawall walkway was the  Nine ‘o'clock Gun.  Sadly we missed its regular report.  


The dreaded no-parking sign.  I swear there are more of these than any other sign in the city.






With plenty of daylight left, we beat the rush and made to Granville Market.  Located on a pier-and-wharf-covered island, it is now a food, shopping, and tourist destination. Plenty of old buildings and equipment still bear witness to its previous life. Even the industrial structures had bits of urban art incorporated.













The main draw for us was the public market.  Packed with both people and shops, there was plenty of options for lunch.  After an agonizing few minutes try to make up our minds, we sat for lunch, and watched the tourists and locals alike navigate the madness.


Finishing up our day we visited the Museum of Anthropology.
 

There was lots of excellent Native-American artifacts. 






A crazy looking tile stove.  


Exiting the city to the north, we stopped at Cypress Bowl lookout.  The scale of the city becomes pretty obvious from this height.  Even the steep slopes of this hill were well under development for housing.  Vancouver is one of the top 5 most expensive places to live due to its housing costs, which have not dropped in 30 years.  Even during the 2008 financial crisis!