Canada travelogue 9 - Nature welcomes me in Vancouver

When I saw the big dome of Telus Spark (a science museum) I felt happy since I was in the heart of the city. There were a couple of joggers in this early morning hour. Whenever I saw 2 or 3 guys grouped together I would just walk fast by them. There was a pretty sight of a crane that had different lighting colours on it - red, green and blue. I noticed that the main roads had a separate lane for bicycles. Helmets were compulsory. After 10 minutes I felt this was surely a walking city like Boston. The initial fear factor of an unknown place had disappeared even though it was still dark.

I followed Google faithfully and it led me to a dead end! Except for this path the rest of the map seemed to be fine; I plotted my own route to the hotel along a longer path; my only difficulty was in carrying my backpack which was stuffed with clothes needed for 3 days - it felt really heavy the longer I walked; and I had a extra lunch bag in hand since I couldn't fit that into the backpack. The drizzling got heavier as I neared my hotel. There was plenty of construction on either side of the hotel. Based on experience I knew that I wouldn't have much luck in early check-in and I didn't; this was too early - their check-in time was 3pm but it was just 6am now (pic to the right is the early morning scene)

The receptionist took a copy of my id proof for their records. I left my bag in the luggage room, used their common washroom and browsed through a few pamphlets. I slowed down my actions because I wanted to kill time. This hotel didn't have a gym but it had a sauna. When I asked the receptionist if there was any good spot to spend the morning hours he replied, "You could take the ferry to Granville island. But in this weather I really don't know."

The rain was beating hard but I was fine as long as there are no puddles to walk in; even getting drenched is fun! I did have a water resistant jacket and so stepped out. Many trees on the road had lights on them - like what you see during Christmas.

No better way to explore a city than walking - and downtown Vancouver (the city centre) was similar to Boston or New York. Short stretches of road with plenty of traffic signals (good for pedestrians). I walked aimlessly but in the direction of the largest urban park in Canada. The rain slowed. There were information boards (pic on left) along the way that guided me along with Google. 

I saw a large lake and from the signs realised that it was the starting of Stanley park; the colours of the foliage were very pretty - shades of orange, shades of red, shades of green. If you've observed nature, just after a rain the colours look bright. I spent a few minutes simply absorbing the sight; shades of colours on trees, the blue water in front and a few ducks on the lake. There was a forest type trail going around the lake where I crossed a couple of joggers. I walked into the park; it is a huge park, like Central Park in New York. It is surrounded by water on almost all sides; there is a bicycling path and a walking path that goes all the way on the circumference of the park - it's called Seawall; great to cycle here. It was touching to see a middle aged couple; the man was self driving an electric wheelchair on the pedestrian walkway while the lady cycled beside him on the cycling track. 

With so many trees you could see a pretty array of natural colours around you; there was so much greenery. You would definitely be tempted to jog here. A huge beautiful park in the centre of the city; something we miss back home - we do have parks but lot smaller ones. Very rarely do you get to enjoy nature in a bustling city.

(above two pics are in Stanley Park - both are walking trails)

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