Nature in Vancouver

As mentioned in my last report, in my second week in Vancouver, I visited some tourist attractions.

Last Tuesday, some language students and Anna, the 'school manager,' went to the Harbour Centre. Since Anna knew the place, we visited the nearly empty restaurant there and had a drink to save the admission fee. The Harbour Centre offers an excellent view of the city, especially from the restaurant, which has a revolving floor.

Afterwards, we went to Flyover Canada, a 4D film about Canada's landscapes. Since two people had told me beforehand that it was not worth the price, my expectations were very low. But when we entered a room where video recordings of Canada were shown on all four walls, we burst out laughing. After 10 minutes, we were told that we could take our seats, and we calmed down. It was definitely worth the price, as you really feel like you're flying over the beautiful landscapes and cities.

In the evening, we went to a sushi restaurant that offered 'all you can eat.' It should be noted that sushi is one of the cheapest meals here. In general, Vancouver has numerous international restaurants, from Vietnamese to German to Indian or African cuisine.

On Wednesday, after class, we decided to visit the aquarium, but it was closed. Since the aquarium is located in Stanley Park, we ended up walking through the park in pouring rain and saw all the famous sights of Canada, from Niagara Falls to Vancouver Island, in the puddles and small lakes;).

After having something to eat at a Korean restaurant, I and two other language students went to another contemporary jazz dance class. Despite the fact that the class was labeled with the highest level of difficulty, we intentionally ignored it. I could dance the choreography, but it was clear how little flexibility and experience we had compared to the others.

Thursday was sunny, so we decided to hike one of the mountains in North Vancouver. Grouse Mountain supposedly offers the best view of the city. When we arrived, we found that the hiking trail was closed off with two fences, so we had to take the expensive gondola up. There is still snow on the mountain, which, in my opinion, is completely unsuitable for skiing, but perfect for a snowball fight. Since Saturday, my shoes are completely dry again.

On Friday, I experienced the most intense night of partying in my life. The original plan was to go to a bar with Aneesha and some language students to listen to a band led by one of the teachers. Since Aneesha and I left pretty late, and I only have internet connection with Wi-Fi, I asked before we started if everyone would still be in the bar at our arrival time. One of the girls replied that we would all meet directly in a club called Red Room. After waiting in the queue for the club for 50 minutes, which was made more bearable or rather amusing by the funny, drunk guys behind us, the others finally arrived. After another 5 minutes, it was decided to go to a bar, but Aneesha and I didn't want to waste our waiting time. Another 10 minutes later, we decided to take the last bus home since it was extremely crowded and the clubs and bars in Vancouver inexplicably close at 3 am.

Saturday, after lunch, we took a bus through West Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay, a small bay facing north in West Vancouver. During the bus ride, we could see some beautiful houses or rather villas right on English Bay, which made me reconsider my decision never to settle in North America :D. However, the architecture here is always the same. At first glance, Horseshoe Bay reminded me of Austria, but as the name suggests, it is a bay by the sea. Aneesha and I sunbathed on a dock and finally bought tickets for the ferry to Bowan Island, a small island with almost 4000 inhabitants. Three more friends were waiting for us on the island, and we took a bus, which is priced like public transportation in Vancouver, to go around the island. The bus driver, a local, told us that the island has two private high schools that even people from the mainland attend, as well as everything you need to live. She dropped us off at a beautiful beach from where we explored the surroundings a bit.

However, besides two mountains and a lot of rainforest, we didn't see much. On the ferry ride back, we went to the deck, from where we had a beautiful view of snow-capped mountains, the sea, the island with its neighboring islands, and Vancouver Island.

Our bus ride back to North Vancouver was extremely funny because Valek, a Brazilian, sat next to a man who smelled extremely sweaty. During the bus ride, he stood up, came over to us, and explained in Portuguese that he couldn't stand it anymore. I understood it because of his slow speaking and my Spanish skills, and we all desperately tried not to laugh. When a woman made the mistake of sitting in the empty seat, wrinkling her nose, and standing up immediately to open the window, we couldn't contain ourselves anymore. Our efforts to calm down by closing our eyes and concentrating were in vain. As often after such situations, we suddenly found everything funny.

Sunday, Aneesha and I walked to the entrance of Lynn Canyon Park, where we had arranged to meet six other friends from language school. Lynn Canyon Park is a forest with a canyon through which a river flows with waterfalls and pools. We crossed a suspension bridge and decided, based on intuition, to go left after the bridge. The path led us directly to the riverbank, where we hopped on the stones with shoes and finally ran barefoot in it. We also found a perfect, paradise-like, deep swimming pool for the summer. It is at the end of a small rock gorge, and if you swim against the current through the gorge, you reach a waterfall. After a while, we continued, climbed what felt like 300 stairs, crossed a second bridge, and were back in North Vancouver. We spent some time in a cute little shop where everyone bought something small to eat. I bought expired German gummy bears.

Then we went to a shopping mall, where everyone except Aneesha and me had something to eat at the food court. Afterwards, we took advantage of the proximity to Ambleside Park on English Bay and walked through trails in the woods across the park. After the sunset, we had Mexican food with a friend of Aneesha's and finally went home.

Today is Tuesday, and I am now in my 3rd week here. Yesterday, I was only at school, did a bit of shopping without buying anything. Also, Aneesha and I met the guy who had checked our homestay family on the day of my arrival, and we had beer with 7% alcohol content, which I had never seen before.

Regarding my second week in Vancouver, I can say that I am definitely in love with the nature in and around Vancouver and happy to make so many international, lovely, and funny acquaintances.