Secret Vancouver 2010

Alison Appelbe

Description

Revised and expanded for the 2010 Olympics. It s been said that Vancouver is a little superficial. Observers point to her great bones, pretty face, and fine outerwear of mountains, gardens, trees and water. But there s more to this Pacific coast city than good looks. Vancouver has character, warmth, brains and style even some spunk. Consider funky, former-industrial Yaletown, where restaurants and tasting bars serve locally sourced and seasonal cuisine in an ultra-chic atmosphere, at prices so modest they ll shock the knowing American. Or visit the dramatic Museum of

Sujets

• Canada

Informations

• Publié par: Ecw Press
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781554905645
• Langue: English

Extrait

Secret Vancouver
The Unique Guidebook to Vancouver's Hidden Sites, Sounds, & Tastes
Alison Appelbe
with photographs by Linda Rutenberg
2010 Edition

2010 Edition
Alison Appelbe
with photographs by Linda Rutenberg
ECW PRESS
Copyright © Alison Appelbe, 2003, 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the author.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Appelbe, Alison
Secret Vancouver 2010 : the unique guidebook to Vancouver's hidden sites, sounds & tastes / Alison Appelbe.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-55022-911-0 / ISBN-10: 1-55022-911-7
1. Vancouver (B.C.) — Guidebooks. I. Title.
FC3847.18.A67 2009 917.11'33045 C2009-903037-3
Original series design: Paul Davies / Series editor: Laura Byrne Paquet.
Typesetting: Martel en-tête / Imaging: Guylaine Régimbald – SOLO DESIGN.
Cover design: Tania Craan Front cover image: Yves Marcoux / Getty Images Printing: Webcom 1 2 3 4 5

Published by ECW PRESS
2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario M4E 1E2.
416.694.3348 / [e-mail]
The publication of Secret Vancouver 2010 has been generously supported by the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).

PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA
Introduction
Some time ago, a Canadian journalist working in Hong Kong told me that Asians viewed Vancouver as little more than “a puddle” on the far side of the North Pacific. Also quiet, and boring, he added for my abdication. Then this city's co-director of planning described Vancouver as a “postage stamp of a city” when it comes to the larger scheme of things.
They are both right. Vancouver is small by global standards — roughly 2.2 million people if you include the entire metropolitan area. And it's a fair distance from the hot political and cultural centers of the world. This may be a disadvantage, but it also works in our favor. The same planner also sees Vancouver as a “sanctuary city,” and I think that just about sums it up. Vancouver is peaceable, lush, clean, affluent, and relatively safe.
A strength is obviously its natural setting. The city is shaped around a gorgeous inlet with mountains to the north, and a tremendous river to the south. And while admittedly it rains a lot, the climate is temperate enough to make it ideal for year-round outdoor activity. Hey, mountain biking (covered in this guide) was practically born on the North Shore.
Another plus is the people who've settled here in the past quarter century. Building on a largely (though not exclusively) European population, hundreds of thousands of Asian immigrants — particularly Chinese-speakers from Southeast Asia, but also a large contingent from the Indian subcontinent — have added a dimension that can't be undervalued or underestimated; they've made this city an immensely more attractive and interesting place.
Finally, Vancouver is shaping up to be one of the best examples
of New Urbanism in North America. This movement aims to make inner cities livable again, and attract at least some suburbanites back to the denser, richer atmosphere of the central city. It's happening. Residential growth on Vancouver's downtown peninsula — from False Creek through the Downtown South to Coal Harbour — is far exceeding expectations.
This guide is intended to help you explore these and other lesser-known facets of this city — deliberately omitting the clichés and tourist traps such as the Capilano Suspension Bridge (wonderful though the canyon is), overpriced Robson Street, and the Gastown Steam Clock. In short, it's meant to get you off the tourist track, below the surface, and into the places and cultures that make Vancouver really livable. Travel (by electric trolley bus or passenger ferry), dig deep, walk, explore, talk to the locals — dance with them, for that matter. Above all, enjoy yourself. There's more to this city than its good bones.
How to Use Secret Vancouver
Secret Vancouver 's topics are listed alphabetically. The best way to use the guide is to browse the topics in the index, get a sense of how it works, and pursue your interests. If you're looking for gelato or Japanese food, for example, it's straightforward. But you may have to dig into sections on, say, books, clubs, gardens, or bistros for the information, ambiance, or entertainment you're after. There are several topics devoted to helping you see the city at its best — or, more accurately, most real. These include Enclaves, Asian malls, Hollyburn, Kitsilano, Outlooks, Chinatown, and Rough and Seedy. Finally, there are the city's small eccentricities — such as raccoons, blackberries, volleyball, and feng shui .
Most attractions include a street address and phone number. Hours of operation, entrance fees, and other ever-changing facts of life are omitted in the interest of remaining as up to date as possible, and conserving space. Change is perpetual, of course, and a few of these sites may have bitten the dust before you read about them. My advice: call ahead if you have any doubts. Also note that Vancouver phone numbers have ten digits; you have to dial the area code, even when making a local call. On the few occasions that money is mentioned, it's in Canadian currency (weak though it is).
Finally, use the city's newspapers to update yourself on local happenings. The Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province both contain good weekly events listings, and the city's many free publications, listed under “Secret Alternative Media,” are a similarly rich source of current information. It should also be noted that this guide is not intended to be anywhere near exhaustive. There are features of this city that deserve to be included, and aren't. And there are those that will raise the question: Why the heck did she mention that? Rather, the goal is to give you some help in moving beyond the obvious.
Acknowledgments
I'd be remiss if I didn't credit several sources and individuals for helping me put this guide together. Not a day passed that I didn't learn more about the city from our daily and community newspapers. And I often referred to an incredible tome assembled by editor Chuck Davis, The Greater Vancouver Book . Though much has changed since it was published in 1997, it remains an invaluable source on the history, and breadth and depth, of the city.
Finally, I'd like to thank a handful of people who were particularly generous with information, or went out of their way to help me out. They include Kaleena Sessions, Jean Sorensen, Richard Bice, Ken Buhay, Frank Appelbe, Heather Persons, Stephanie Taggart, Sylvia Talbot, Diana King, and Terri Clark. And particularly my brother Trent, who proofread the manuscript.
Secret Aboriginal Art
Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery (1024 Mainland Street, Yaletown, 604-685-9298) represents First Nations artists from the Queen Charlotte Islands, Alert Bay, and other communities along the coast. In a gallery-like store, it shows and sells bentwood boxes, ceremonial masks, totem poles, argillite carvings, and jewelry, as well as Inuit carvings, cards, and books.
In 1946, Lloyd and Frances Hill acquired a general store and post office at Koksilah on central Vancouver Island and began selling the work of local natives there. Today, they claim to represent more than 1,000 Northwest artists at five locations in the province. Hill's Native Art (165 Water Street, Gastown, 604-685-4249, www.hillsnativeart. com) carries genuine Cowichan sweaters, each numbered and associated with a particular knitter, and similarly certified masks, baskets, jewelry, and argillite by coastal natives. As well, Hill's has a fine collection of Inuit carvings in bone and soapstone. And in a third-floor gallery, you'll find totem poles, bentwood boxes, button blankets, and ceremonial masks of extraordinary complexity and drama. Leona Lattimer (1590 West 2nd Avenue, Kitsilano, 603-732-4556) has long shown and sold fine native Indian pieces. A long-time dealer and collector in Inuit and regional native art is Ron Appleton of Appleton Galleries (1451 Hornby Street, Downtown South, 604-685-1715).
The spacious Inuit Gallery (206 Cambie Street, Gastown, 604- 688-7323, www.inuit.com) also handles Northwest Coast native art, specializing in sculpture, bone, prints, drawings, and tapestries from the Far North. It's here you'll see the works of some of the most celebrated Inuit carvers.
North Vancouver remains home to Squamish people, some of whom live on the Capilano reserve. Among them is the Baker family, which operates the Khot-La Cha Art Gallery and Gift Shop (270 Whonoak Street, North Vancouver, 604-987-3339). The shop is located in traditional Capilano territory, just southeast of Marine Drive and Capilano Road.
This is an opportunity to talk with the people who have used and made these products for generations. While they sell cedar poles, prints, jewelry, and Cowichan sweaters, their specialty is hand-tanned moosehide crafts and porcupine quill and bone jewelry.
A somewhat out-of-the-way surprise is the collection of carvings and jewelry at a store best known for its camping supplies, the Three Vets (2200 Yukon Street, Central Vancouver, 604-872-5475).
Secret Aboriginal Attractions
In a just few years, native-operated tourism has become a force in B.C., and the Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia (www.aboriginalbc.com, 604-921-1070, 1-877-266-2822) is an excellent source. Businesses run by indigenous peoples province-wide embrace opportunities to visit their ancestral terrain, interact, and watch them at work. Natives make award-winning wines, and run championship golf courses. They oversee world-class galleries and, of course, operate adventure tours and wildlife viewing into unimaginably remote regions. Numerous native-owned lodges,