Category: Vancouver

An annual treat for visitors and Vancouverites alike is Bard on the Beach, which for 27 seasons has brought Shakespeare’s works to life. This year included The Merry Wives of Windsor, Romeo and Juliet, Pericles and Othello. “Bard,” as it’s known locally, is set up in Vanocuver‘s Vanier Park with some very large tents that, according to the program, takes 10,000 hours of labour to set up. You are well protected from the elements in the tents but you still have that outdoors feeling with sounds from the ocean. But, what about the show? We enjoyed the Merry Wives of […]

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Everybody loves a good farmers market, especially when they’re close to home. For those living in Vancouver, I strongly suggest that making a trip to the closest market be a top priority when it comes to your food shopping. Founded in 1995, Your Local Farmers Market (The Vancouver Farmers Market) is a registered BC non-profit society. They also offer access to fresh, healthy food for low-income families through the Farmers Market Nutrition Coupon Program. The farmers and food producers offer fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, baked goods, artisan food products and fresh fish, local craft beer, wine and […]

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A gorgeous late Friday afternoon in August in Vancouver provided me with enough time to take a 23 km ride around Stanley Park and False Creek in order to land me at Kits Beach. The route I take has very little actual road riding. I find dodging other bikes and pedestrians challenge enough without fun cars! I noted the time as 4:07 PM at West Georgia and Bute Streets, downtown, where I unlocked my bike and headed north on Bute. Bute Street ends just past Hastings Street. The traffic trying to get to the Lion’s Gate Bridge was insane, even […]

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I live in busy Kits Point in Kitsilano (Vancouver), and in the summer it gets rather hot and crowded with all the visitors coming to the beach. Now, when it’s summer and you’re going to the beach often the next thing that comes to mind is ice-cream, or in this case, gelato. On Yew St, very close to kits beach is Paradiso Italian Gelato. They are a gelato place perfect for summers in Kitsilano. Locally placed, friendly and fast service with taste tests, it is very convenient. Inside the store is slightly less comfortable with mismatching chairs and slightly wobbly […]

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As a celebration for the end of yet another school season my parents took my brother and I out for dinner at Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company in Vancouver. Their main location is on 1st Avenue and Cypress St. Once inside I was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of pizza cooking in an amazing way. Right as we come in somebody comes up and gives us a seat inside near their big pizza oven and their new green wall. We met our waitress shortly after and she was very friendly, helpful and did not fail to mention any details. Now, my […]

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Annually — despite challenges obtaining sponsors — Vancouver has a fireworks competition that is on the days leading up to the Saturday of the August long weekend. This year it was on July 31 and was the Honda Celebration of Light. This long running (since 1990) fireworks display capitalizes on the geography on Vancouver’s English Bay, which allows, according to the local news this year, 500,000 people to view it. Many were curled up to a radio (of some sort) to listen to the simulcast of the music to which the fireworks are synchronized. The night my family attended was […]

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Pride Week in Vancouver is a busy and colourful time honouring the city’s diversity, inclusiveness and its vibrant LGBTQ2+ community. 2016 marks the 38th annual Pride celebration in Vancouver. The event has been going strong since 1978. The author enjoying Pride in 2002 The big party is best known for the family-friendly Pride Parade, which will be held Sunday, July 31st. Hundreds of thousands of spectators crowd into the West End for a rainbow-washed party featuring at least 150 floats. Brilliantly costumed, head-dressed, sequined and bejeweled dancers rub shoulders with marching bands, representatives from local businesses, service organizations, the fire […]

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Storm the barricades! It’s Bastille Day in Yaletown, downtown Vancouver! Now you can get a taste of what it’s like to be in Paris on the French Independence Day and you don’t even have to board a plane to do it. Just channel your inner Cosette or Jean Valjean, hum a few bars of “I Dreamed A Dream” and march down to the Roundhouse Community Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews) for the Bastille Day Festival. The event runs from 11 a.m. to midnight, (July 14 this year) and includes everything from a French market offering unique French delicacies, to a kid’s […]

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It’s summer in Vancouver, and as the temperature rises, so does the desire to be outside, soaking up some rays by the water. Here’s some information so you’re ready to go! There are many good beaches around Vancouver, but what about outdoor pools? Yes, the beach is free and just as great, but sometimes, a pool is just what one needs. And there are many fantastic pools to be found! My personal favourite is the Kitsilano Pool. It’s an outdoor pool near Kits Beach, on Cornwall at Vine street, so the the views are amazing. The pool itself is very […]

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On July 9, 2016 I visited Vancouver‘s West 4th Ave, normally a busy thoroughfare on a Saturday, and it was blocked off for Khatsahlano Street Party. Khatsahlano is the First Nations’ spelling of Kitsilano, the neighbourhood for which 4th Ave between Burrard and MacDonald is a focal point. It was quite enjoyable to walk the street that is normally dominated by cars 24/7. There was live music, presentations, henna tatoo artists and virtually all the businesses on the street seemed to have goods and services either on display or for offer. My wife found some good deals at Blue Sky […]

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