adam's guide to vancouver

I haven't been keeping this thing up very well at all. I don't have a great excuse. I've been busy with school, but not THAT busy.

Anyway...the reason I'm back is that dear Sam in London-town's colleague is visiting Vancouver in the not too distant future and Sam asked if I had any suggestions for him. I did! I started writing said suggestions on Sam's wall and realized that I had too many to reasonably put in a wall post. So here I go...

The stuff I already covered:

The only decent museum in Vancouver is the Museum Of Anthropology at UBC. It's in a really nice building, in a beautiful setting, and has like, totem poles and stuff. And totem poles are totally cool. They have other stuff too (arrowheads, etc.) but the real draw is the carvings.

While at UBC, if you're lucky enough to have sun (which is actually a matter of luck unfortunately) you've GOT to go to Wreck Beach. There's really nothing like it that I've ever seen. It's a real schlep down all those stairs (and even worse coming up) but a warm day on Wreck drinking "sexy cocktails" and eating "wacky cookies" or indulging in a "chinese mushroom bun...coconut bun" is really what Vancouver is all about if you ask me. The point is (for the uninitiated) that it's a big nude beach with a bunch of crazy hippies selling everything (illicit) you would ever want. You don't have to get naked, but it is appreciated. Get stoned, have a beer, gawk at nudies, have a good time. Get out before the sun goes down though. The atmosphere changes completely the moment the sun disappears over the horizon.

Also while in Vancouver, you should eat a lot of sushi. Sushi restaurants are abundant and cheap and generally of good quality (though though there are some glaring exceptions to this generalization).

Make sure to watch the sunset at Sunset Beach at least once. That's the beach down at the end of Davie St (which I'll get to in a minute). This is generally a stonerish scene too, but a lot of Vancouver's charm is that it's not unusual for people to be stoned all the time. Grab a coffee at Delaney's (just around the corner) before heading over. That place is always full of yuppie-ish fags who are always fun to watch.

Speaking of gays...Davie St. is where they all hang out. I don't really have a lot more to say about it actually. It's worth the walk from Granville to Denman to get to the beach.

Commercial Dr. is another street you've got to check out. You can get on the SkyTrain (which is the adorable, conductor-less, space age-ey public transport) from any downtown stop, get off at Broadway and you're there. This is the "bohemian" area of the city. There are like, some head shops, a bunch of good restaurants, too many coffee shops (the best being JJ bean, that one that's all white who's name i've forgotten but isn't far from JJ bean, and Turks. that's in the order you'll encounter them on the street.)

Vancouver is a really great city to go out for breakfast too. I've found it lamentably difficult to get breakfast at whatever hour I damn well please in DC. Not in Vancouver though. They're everywhere. If you care to go a bit out of your way, Bon's is a trip. It's at Nanaimo and Broadway. For five bucks (including tip) you get two eggs, potatoes, and meat or tomatoes and toast. But they let you make like, any crazy substitution you can think of. And if you're lucky the coffee cowboy will be working. He'll fill your cup and give you a "hey therrrrrre" and you WILL smile. The rest of the staff is great too. Also the decor is random tacky movie paraphernalia. Be warned though...it's some greasy stuff.

As far as drinking...well I don't know what the kids are up to these days but I would suggest going to the Cambie. It's just a really big divey pub and they have huge tables and it's really easy to meet people there. Also the beer is cheap and the food is...well the food is fine. Everyone in the city has done their time at the Cambie and a lot of people swear it off eventually, but it is a pretty unique atmosphere. Oh and they have a cheap hostel above it, but I've heard mixed reviews about that.

This is getting long eh? One more thing though. Chinatown. You gotta go. Everyone says the only one in North America that's bigger is San Francisco's but honestly New York's has got to be bigger. That's besides the point though. Go get a steam bun, buy some cheap plastic stuff, smell the dried fish, take your time. During the summer they have a night market on weekends and that can be fun. I mean it's just a bunch of cheap chinese plastic crap for sale really, but occasionally some really incredible gems sneak in there.

Anyone else got suggestions?...