Vancouver plans to be the Greenest City in the WORLD by 2020! A whopping 93% of Vancouver’s energy already comes from renewable sources. Greenhouse gas emissions are down to 5% below 1990 levels (thanks to hydroelectric power) despite 27% population growth and 18% job growth. Vancouver has the greenest building code in North America, and they have shifted investment to walking, cycling and transit infrastructure instead of new roads.
- Vancouver is vertically dense, with more residential high rises than any other North American city.
- Plenty of float planes! Vancouver racks up over 200,000 passenger flights per year. That warms a pilot’s heart.
- In 1862, camels were imported at great expense to help with railroad construction. They carried twice the load of a mule, although their soft feet had to be outfitted with boots. When they spooked horses, though, the project was abandoned. Wild camels were found in Canada for decades.
- MISTER is a great nitrogen mixed ice cream in Yaletown. Made to order at minus 320 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The live music was hopping in Yaletown. We stayed in the “hip” part of Vancouver!
- Old grey concrete silos on Granville Island were transformed with this cheery mural, “Giants” done by twin Brazilian brothers.
- We tried electric bikes for the Stanley Park loop trail – they were a breeze! The bridge behind us is Lions Gate, built during the Great Depression with support from the Guinness family (of Irish stout fame).
- House posts were used by First Nation (what we call Native Americans) in Canada to support huge indoor beams.
- Inside that little building is the famous 9 o’clock gun, an old naval muzzle loader from 1816. Historically fired daily as a method for nearby ships to reset their chronometers, it’s now rarely fired. It does have a Twitter account that tweets “BOOM” daily at 9pm.
- Not a mermaid, but “Girl in a Wetsuit”, complete with fins and a mask. She’s a life sized SCUBA diver!
- Small parts of Stanley Park’s forests were cleared by early settlers, before it became a protected park. Most of today’s trails in Stanley Park owe their start to logging, where they began as skid roads.
- After the electric bikes, we took an electric boat around the harbor. We were very quiet, so we didn’t disturb mama seal and her pup.
- Seriously, LinkedIn? This is the worst ad placement EVER!
- Nature’s Edge near the Capilano Suspension Bridge takes you up in the trees to see them at eagle level.
- I’m only as tall as a 10 year old Douglas Fir.
- Capilano Suspension Bridge. We kiss on all bridges. Why? Because I once played Marian the Librarian and her first kiss was on a bridge.
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