Travel Postcard 2015 #3

I know it was only literally moments ago that you got the last postcard, but I realised that I will be radio silence for a week while on the boat.  So I thought I would do a mini-postcard to cover Vancouver and my thoughts on the US in general before we get on the boat.  So here goes!

There was a bit of an adventure getting to Vancouver.  We opted for the bus from Seattle.  Not sure, in hindsight that this was a great idea.  The advertised travel time was three and a half hours.  That’s bad enough, being crammed into a small bus seat, but there were problems at the border for a couple of the passengers – a husband and wife with Mexican passports.  They couldn’t appropriately answer the questions asked and were sequestered.  That adventure held us back by 45 minutes.  Then when we were almost at our destination, the bus got side-swiped by a truck.  I was almost climbing out of my skin to get out of the bus!  That added another 20 minutes to the trip.  But we finally got there, albeit with my jaw hurting from clenching it for a few hours in frustration.  Note to self – don’t bus anywhere like that again!

I actually don’t have much to say about Vancouver.  It is comfortable, walkable and really nice.  It reminded me a bit of Brisbane in many ways.  It has wonderful parks and on sunny days like we have had, really a sparkling city by the water.  We really only had a day in Vancouver which we spent literally walking all around it.  We started at the waterfront at Canada Place, then walked down to the old ports area, now gentrified called Gastown.  It reminded me a lot of the Rocks in Sydney.  From there, we walked through Chinatown (which was uncharacteristically dead) to see the Dr Sun Yat-Sen park (which was underwhelming – they REALLY need clean the koi pond).  We then walked passed the BC Place Stadium, through Yaletown and into West End.  We then walked down to Sunset Beach and up towards Stanley Park.  It would have been great to walk around Stanley Park, but it was a 8km walk, so I vetoed it.  Instead, we walked through to Lost Lagoon and Coal Harbour back to our hotel.  Phew!  I know there’s more to see in Vancouver, but that’s all the time we had.

I know Canadians hate to be compared to Americans, but I thought they weren’t as courteous and friendly as the Americans.  In my experience, they tended to be a little aloof and distant, without being rude.  But cautiously friendly when you speak to them.  I guess I got too used to the unabashed friendly, courteous and warm nature of the mid-West of the US.  That being said, this is the first city that I was berated and yelled at by a beggar because I didn’t give her any money when she asked…. (“You’re a cruel, cruel person.  I just want money for a muffin.  Only sad, cruel people would stop a hungry person from getting a muffin.  Shame on you!  Shaaaaaaame on YOU!”).

Here’s a few (and I mean “few”) of my observations of our brief time in Vancouver:

• It is so much like Brisbane, including the large Asian population.  Not sure if they are visitors or locals, but it is a very large presence, particularly in the city. 
• Surprisingly, there are a lot of Aussies in Vancouver.  After listening to American accents for the last almost 3 weeks, it was funny to hear the broad Aussie accent.  Pip – come to Vancouver if you get homesick for the accent!
• Our cabbie asked us for permission first, before he took a call while we were in the cab.  That’s a first!
• The ticketed price does not include GST.  Plus there is an additional $1.10 liquor tax if you order alcohol to drink.
• There are quite a lot of sushi restaurants.  They are everywhere and in great numbers.  Strange to pick Japanese as the ubiquitous cuisine in Vancouver.

OK – We only have a few hours before we have to head out to board the boat.  It’s the Holland America cruise line, which looked quite swish on the brochure!  So before I sail into radio silence (see how I worked that in…?) I wanted to share a couple of observations about my time in the States:

• Bottomless sodas and coffees.  Even when you dine in, you can get your dine in cup as a takeaway.  They can be refilled as many times as you like while dining in, then refilled again as a takeaway.  Pros and cons of this?  Discuss amongst yourself…  How did you think I got hooked on Dr Pepper again….?
• There are heaps of chain fastfood restaurants.  One that I loved (but didn’t stop at) is called Sonic.  It is the old school drive-in restaurant.  You drive up, stop your car and park.  A server on roller-skates takes your order. You then get your food on a tray that sits on your opened window and eat.  How nostalgic is that?
• The throw-aways of the US world, particularly in the food industry is scary.  Polystyrene is still used a lot.  As is plastic.  All cutleries are plastic, and some plates are as well.  Certainly the takeway soda cups are.  Sometimes, you even get plastic cutlery and plastic plates when you eat in!  And people worry about Asia’s impact on the environment….
• Most of the urinals that I have visited have a smaller one, presumably for kids. Or dwarfs/midgets.  That’s very thoughtful, either way. 
• Alcohol is served at any time of the day.  Even at breakfast.  On flights, in cafes, in restaurants, in airline lounges etc.  I was pleasantly surprised and didn’t pass up the opportunity.
• Double yellow lines on roads don’t have the same meaning as they do in Australia.  It seems you can drive across them when you are driving in the States.
• I get thoroughly confused in the US when trying to order chips.  There are too many different names for it around the world, which confuses the ordering.  Chips means packet crisps in the US.  Chips to me are deep fried potatoes. But to be fair, we also call packet potato crisps “chips”.  We just say “hot” chips to delineate the fried ones.  Then there’s hash.  Hash browns and hash to me are the same thing.  But here, hash could be either the patty of deep fried potatoes, or diced potatoes which have been roasted in the oven.  Luckily I love potatoes however they come, so I am not too bothered when I get it wrong.  It is the only thing that I have in common with the Irish, I imagine.

So that’s the long and the short of it.  The next postcard will cover our trip through the Inside Passage up to Alaska.  I am very excited about it (“super” excited as the Americans say), and hope to be able to ably describe the wonders I see.  Until then….!