Tag: Sightseeing

This is the destination hotel in Harrison Hot Springs and there’s nothing that comes close in the area. This is not to say that the pricing and so forth isn’t accessible to families. I.e. it’s not a 5-star place because, if it were, we would not be staying there. It was March Break when we visited and there were families galore. Beware to those looking for the quiet romantic getaway! The primary draw is the hot springs themselves. You can walk up a path right outside the hotel and follow it to the source of the springs. An article I […]

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What do you think of the renovations to the Empress Hotel in Victoria? On our recent trip to Victoria, we wanted to walk through the Empress Hotel to see what’s changed after it’s 60 million dollar renovation. (See www.timescolonist.com/business/empress-hotel-owner-celebrates-60m-renovation-1.20818547) It’s a significant change but the stately and grand nature of the place is still there. You now enter through a different entrance with high ceilings and a crazy chandelier. Where you have tea seems unchanged but it’s the front that really strikes you. Here’s the current new exterior. The main feature in the old exterior was the endless ivy. Of […]

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Sometimes you have too many meetings and things go late and you are gripped by strange food urges. In this case my urge was for seafood chow mein. Also, sometimes, you find yourself not in your usual neighbourhood and you have to take a risk. Main Street from 13th to 16th in Vancouver is slowly gentrifying and certainly gives the rough-and-tumble neighbourhood feel but you see the creeping in of branded stores and eateries. In this particular case, I found Kwong Chow Congee & Noodle House. I tend to test a Chinese restaurant’s authenticity by the number of anglo-looking faces […]

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It was a hazy day in Vancouver. Sadly it was not fog, it was smoke from horrible forest fires far north of the city. The air was smoky and I was in Yaletown for a mundane appointment and when I was done, the thought of regular transit back was unpleasant. Walking was my normal thought, but with the hot temps and bad air … why not ride the waves instead? Right at the foot of Davie Street is a small dock from which The Aquabus and False Creek Creek Ferries have tiny little boats that take you to Granville Island, […]

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Surrey BC is a community in the Greater Vancouver Regional District that is a rapidly growing city. It’s profile in the news is the home to some nasty gang violence. I think therefore those like me with less knowledge of Surrey will be wonderfully surprised by Crescent Beach, which is in South Surrey on the way to White Rock, BC. What fools you about Crescent Beach is that once you are there and have parked the car, the vibe is of an isolated beach town … the type where the population is about 40 in the off season and peaks […]

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I was cycling in Vancouver on a busy hot summer day with a young lad who was new to his larger bicycle. We wanted a ride that would be challenging at this level but not overwhelming. Another consideration was to stay away from vehicle traffic as much as possible. So we thought of going around the world, Science World, that is. We started in the Kitsilano area right near Museum of Vancouver and Vancouver Academy of Music. The objective was to take the road down to where the Coast Guard Station is and then turn right to sneak underneath the […]

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BC Ferries is a funny entity. My view has been if you offer reservations, it should be for most of the boat. I was travelling on a July Saturday and knew it was busy because I could not reserve from their online system. I wanted the 9 AM sailing and so I planned to be out the door by 7 AM, assuming a 45-minute drive to Tsawwassen where the ferry terminal to Victoria is. Traffic was light so I made in in 40 minutes and I subsequently was loading onto the 8 AM sailing. This was a surprise considering a […]

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You might be forgiven if you thought Oak Bay were in Victoria BC. On a bad day it’s 10 minutes from downtown Victoria, but despite its modest size, it has its own police department. Given that Oak Bay is 10.5 sq km and Victoria is 19.5 to sq km, it seems odd. I suspect that this jurisdictional isolation has allowed Oak Bay to retain its character and not be subsumed into the larger municipalities. Oak Bay is also home to The Uplands, a very swishy neighbourhood to the north-east. If you walk high street (i.e Oak Bay Ave) there are […]

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For context I’m on a ultra low sugar and refined carbohydrate diet that allows one cheat day per week. Now, if you’re going to cheat, you ought to do it correctly, so I chose Chocolate Arts on West 3rd Ave in Vancouver. They had a special ice cream sandwich with macarons for $4.50. As you can see from the teeth marks below, this confection did not last long! They also have a choose-your-own-chocolate for making hot chocolate. Despite being a chocolate freak, I don’t enjoy the regular hot chocolates you can have elsewhere. This one is like nothing else. And […]

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Oak Bay in Victoria is a beautiful place with lots of lovely water views. There are many small parks along the vista, one of them being Queens Park. It is a small viewpoint with a piece of public artwork, a series of wolves and a deer made out of metal. And, although that was fun to look at, my favorite part of the park is it’s old swing. Now, I am not referring to some ordinary swing, this swing is built for four people and you push its floor with your feet for momentum. It’s quite calming and a lovely […]

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