Vancouver - Canada
Crossing over the Burrad Street Bridge away from downtown.
Most people when they talk about Vancouver they think of Vancouver downtown the half island surrounded by diverse water sources with huge skyscrapers. They are not wrong, but there is so much more about Vancouver. A little further from the skyscrapers crossing over some stunning bridges there are beautiful parks, beaches and way more affordable housing 😉 There are loads of areas with houses where the normal middle-class lives. For some even that is too pricy and they live outside of the borders of Vancouver in Burnaby or North Vancouver or even further. I enjoyed living in the quieter areas and had great times there as well, even though I do adore the downtown area. But nothing in Vancouver is far, with most busses it takes you only up to half an hour to get into downtown and with the sky train that’s even quicker. For impressions about Vancouver downtown a blog is coming online next Friday where I vulnerably share about my time in this gorgeous city.
View back from the Burrard Street Bridge. From almost all the beaches and higher spots like bridges or parks you have a great view back to downtown Vancouver.
Granville Island is a small half island south of downtown where you find loads of unique and artsy shops and a great market and food court. You can travell to it by food of you come from the south or by a ferry from diverse spots in the False Creek either on the downtown side or south of it.
Beachfront in Kitsilano
Spanish Banks
On this beach at low tide you can walk deep into the water and it only goes up to your ankels while you sink in a little. I do enjoy this feeling. On a weekend you find loads of people and especially kids enjoying the ebb and flow of the tide.
Wreck Beach
This beach surrounds the UBC campus, the Univercity of British Columbia. Imagine going to uni and for your break you go down to this stunning view. The campus itself is nice as well.
VanDusen Botanical Garden
One of the places I lived at for 3 month was the West 33rd Avenue super close to this Botanical Garden and also to the Queen Elizabeth garden, which you’ll find down below. This garden takes an entrance fee but it is worth it.
The moment I saw this waterfall I wanted to take a short video and thus looked at my phone. This is where I saw a text message from my mom asking me to call her as soon as I had the time. That moment I knew that something was wrong because she would never ask for a call like that and I was right… Andrea, her partner, had died. She had cancer for a couple of month while I was far away and till short before this text I always thought I was going to see her again, that it coun’t be so bad. But it was… I sat down on a bench, my boyfriend beside me, holding me, maybe we even looked a little like the statue above and I called my mom reciving the sad news of Andreas passing… It was a hard and sad moment, I wish I could have said good bye in person. The guilt of not beeing there with her in her last days or even after to be there for my mom was big. But due to Covid I did not fly back as I knew I couldn’t reenter the country. Three month after we had to leave anyways, but by that time I still had hopes to be able to stay longer in Canada…
Queen Elizabeth Park
Back to lighter topics but sadly death and illness are a part of life as well… The Queen Elizabeth Park is one of my favorites in Vancouver. As mentioned, I lived near it for three month but already had visited it before that. One of those times was one of the first dates with my boyfriend. By the way, those who know me personally already now this story, but I actually met my boyfriend on one of the last few days I had in a Hostel in Vancouver. We decided to do some sightseeing together, as most of the other we met there were about to leave Vancouver to work as seasonal helpers in skiing areas for the winter season. We both decided to find jobs in Vancouver so we exchanged numbers the day I moved out of the Hostel. Well, it didn’t just stay with sightseeing and hiking trips and years after we are still a thing, now living together in Hamburg ❤️ I always say he’s the best souvenir I ever could have gotten, even though he himself was not “Made in Canada” either 😉 Love always happens when you least expect it. But enough love life stories, back to Vancouver and this beautiful park, were we spend many of or free time after work or on the weekends.
The park is super well maintained and taken care of. The flowerbeds change each season and I like their artsy style.
As well from this park you have a view back to downtown and even to the mountains in North Vancouver.
Btw. the areas I lived in was as mentioned the West 33rd Avenue in a shared basement apartment in between the Botanical Garden and the gorgeous park above. Before that I lived in a shared house in the north part of 33rd Boundary Road that as it’s name already hints is at the border of Vancouver to Burnaby. Our last stay was at the West 10th Street not far the Jericho Hill Grounds in another shared basement apartment. Before that I stayed in North Vancouver. So I had the chance to explore different areas of this gorgeous city and I will always be deeply connected to. More in the next blog about Vancouver Downtown.