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July 20, 2009 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Sightseeing Tours Vancouver, Sightseeing Tours
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A group of us went on a Vancouver City Tour with a new tour company called Vancouver's Ultimate Tour and it was a blast. Essentially it is a regular city tour taking visitors to all the typical highlights - Canada Place, Stanley Park and the Totem Poles, Robson Street, Granville Island, Chinatown and Gastown - all it about 3.5 hours. What sets this tour apart from the other excellent tour product in the city are 2 things - 1) The company is in partnership with Vancouver Theatresports so the guide is in the character of "Canadiana Joe" the whole time and is hilarious, making people feel very at ease and providing a very comical approach to touring the City and 2) Visitors get to hop on one of those little aqua ferries to get from Stanley Park to Granville Island and then from Granville Island to Science World where the bus meets up with the group - this routing allows visitors to spend some time on the waters of False Creeks and affords an excellent perspective on the city from the water. We also got to see the Olympic Village. We also stopped at Dr. Sun Yat Sen (public) Park in Chinatown on the way back (not to be confused with the superior 'attraction' side of the park which one has to pay for). I would highly recommend this tour for families with kids.
July 17, 2009 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Aquariums
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I checked out the new 4D Theatre at the
Vancouver Aquarium last week and was very impressed, not only with the technology but with the film content. I really didn't know what 4D was until I was seated in 122 seat theatre - its like a 3D film with the added benefit of a wide variety of special effects including bubbles, wind, water and some others (I wouldn't want to give it all away!). Everyone in the theatre seemed to be enjoying it - lots of laughter by young and old alike. The film itself, called
Planet Earth: Shallow Seas was excellent and lends itself nicely to what the Vancouver Aquarium does so well - help to connect visitors with our natural world. You will be glad to know that the 4D experience is part of the general admission rates to the Aquarium - no extra charge required for 4D fun!
June 5, 2009 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Festivals & Events
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How lucky was I to get to see opening night of the
Bard on the Beach presentation of Othello at Vanier Park. It had been years since I enjoyed one of the company's first class theatrical presentations in the big red and white tents which command such a spectacular presence in behind the Museum of Vancouver and the HR MacMillan Space Centre. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the Othello story line, the fantastic costumes and the unforgettable setting, but I was very taken with the whole tent set up - the boardwalks that lead from the mainstage tent to the snack counter, gift shop and to the wine bar...I loved to that birds flew through the mainstage tent while we were watching the play and that the lighting changed so dramatically as the sun sank into the Georgia Straight. We are so lucky to have Bard on the Beach....and they are celebrating their 20th anniversary. I may just join the many number of regulars that I met last night and come see the company's other summer 2009 performance, A Comedy of Errors. Their season runs until September 26, 2009.
April 1, 2009 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Museums Vancouver, Museums
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I had the opportunity to be toured around the
Vancouver Maritime Museum in Vanier Park this morning. I have to admit that it had been awhile since I had been through the museum. I fully expected to be awed by the size and historic significance of the RCMP Arctic Schooner, St. Roch and I knew I would be fondly reminded of the educational richness of the exhibits featuring shipwrecks, fireboats, pirates, deep-sea exploration, the old CP steam liners...and I was....but what I didn't realize is that the current Vancouver Maritime Museum is much more than a look at our maritime past - it is very much about learning from our past as we look forward to our
future . The newest exhibit is called Melt Down and it is a look at how oceans react to global warming. Visitors learn about changing marine ecosystems, the uncertain future of salmon stocks, CO2 emissions, carbon footprints and various concepts about sustainability. I was very impressed and wished I had hours to digest all the great information contained within this fascinating building. The picture in this blog shows the difference in size of the Arctic summer ice in 1997 (all the white bit) and then the Arctic summer ice in 2007 (smaller bit of white outlined).
October 10, 2008 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Artists & Art Galleries Vancouver, Artists & Art Galleries
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I had the opportunity to visit a very cool art gallery recently, located smack in the middle of Vancouver's downtown eastside..and it was well worth the visit. Centre A is Vancouver's International Centre for Contemporary Art and is located at the corner of Carrall Street and East Hastings. What is a real treat is that it is housed in one of the City's most important heritage buildings - the old BC Gas building that was where the interurban trains looped around before heading back out to the suburbs - this all many years ago of course. Now the building is home to some pretty edgy and thought-provoking Asian artwork. If you are visiting Gastown or Chinatown, or shopping at nearby Army & Navy, check out what they have to offer. But keep in mind that it is in one of the City's more colourful neighbourhoods. They are open Tuesday through Saturday.
September 28, 2008 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Suspension Bridges
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The UBC Botanical Garden is one of Vancouver's best kept secrets as a tourist attraction....and it just got even better with the addition of the new Greenheart Canopy Walkway, an eco-adventure for all ages.
The walkway is like a series of hanging suspension bridges or "aerial trails" high above the ground - about 60 feet above the ground in some places. It is a bit of a wobbly workout making your way around the circuit - there are 8 different bridges that form the loop. Its really quite spectacular to be so high up and you get a really great view of the upper layers of the forest canopy. While I just got a kick out of the views, anyone remotely interested in west coast forest ecosystems, the environment, animals and plants will see this new attraction for it scientific merits. The guides that take groups around the walkway are knowledgeable and informative. The makers of the Canopy Walkway is a Vancouver-based company that has created various aerial trails throughout the world. Lucky us that they finally got to build one locally.
Admission is $20 for adults, less for kids and seniors and you get to wander all around the Botanical Gardens for the same price.
June 7, 2008 | Tips from Us > Vancouver, Artists & Art Galleries Vancouver, Artists & Art Galleries
I had the fortune of visiting the newly opened Bill Reid Gallery on Hornby Street the other night. (Its in the building that once housed the Canadian Craft Museum, next to Hy's Restaurant...its a bit tricky to find as it is located just up the stairs from the street ). Anyhow, I was really impressed with the incredible collection they had- prints, jewellery, boxes, huge carvings - I mean he did it all! I was also very impressed with what I learned about Bill Reid, the man, and about Haida culture in general. Its definitely worth checking out, especially if you are interested in First Nations art or the Haida culture, or if you are planning a trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii.
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