Vancouver, BC

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.