Short Trips: Following your senses around Vancouver

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Short Trips: Following your senses around Vancouver

Thursday, February 14, 2002

By JEFF LARSEN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER PHOTOGRAPHER

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Winter happens and travelers have to face up to it sooner or later. Later is usually better, but not in Vancouver, where visitors just learn how to enjoy the great indoors slightly more than the great outdoors.

PHOTO GALLERY

View a complete collection of Jeff Larsen's Vancouver photos

First, you need to pry yourself out of your hotel. At the Fairmont Waterfront, where I stayed this time around, that's not easy, since most rooms have sweeping views of Burrard Inlet and/or the city.

Once you have extricated yourself, bundle up, grab an umbrella and head on foot for Stanley Park -- if you're up to an invigorating 20- to 30-minute walk. Or grab a cab, drive, or catch the bus -- the latter free for park-bound customers.

A park must-see is the Vancouver Aquarium and Marine Science Center, considered one of the finest in the world and well worth the $14.50 fee. (I've listed all prices in Canadian dollars; figure about a third less in U.S. dollars.)

In winter, you might head straight for the Amazon Gallery. It's toasty warm. Seven- to 8-foot long, prehistoric-looking fish called arapaima, an endangered species native to South American rivers, showcase the exhibit. The largest freshwater fish in the world, arapaima can grow to 13 feet in length and up to 440 pounds.

They share a large circular tank with giant catfish and other exotic South American fish species. Birds, turtles, lizards, caiman and other indigenous South American creatures round out the display.


	With its thermostat on high, Vancouver Aquarium is a warm winter destination. Here Alex Bateman of Victoria mimics the giant arapaima in the Amazon Gallery. Jeff Larsen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo

Other exhibits include otters and beluga whales, which you can view through underwater windows; the Tropical Gallery, with fish from Indo-Pacific coral reefs; native species from the B.C. west coast; a giant Pacific octopus; and B.C. Forest Headwaters, which features salmon and trout.

From any major downtown hotel, Chinatown is within walking distance, with the center situated at Columbia and East Pender Street.

Morning is best. An elderly Chinese gentleman reaches into a tank and grabs a live sole by its tail. The proprietor of a small, open-air seafood shop grabs a live cod out of another tank to show to a customer.

Fresh produce is unloaded from trucks and put on display for hundreds of early shoppers. Poultry shop proprietors hang freshly cooked chickens in their windows. Close your eyes and let your senses carry you to a market in Shanghai or Beijing.

From Chinatown to downtown, there isn't a more eclectic city in which to shop. Buy a custom-made umbrella at The Umbrella Shop on West Broadway, or swing into the Sinclair Centre on West Hasting between Granville and Howe and buy anything from sushi to aromatheraphy products. This is one of the city's most visually stunning buildings -- a contemporary design that blends arching skylights with rich original marble and brass that reflect the building's past.


	A steam powered clock in the Gastown region of Vancouver. Jeff Larsen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo

The Pacific Centre, at Georgia and Howe streets, is all about glitz, with a three-story fountain and virtually every major fast-food outlet in the world represented. Housing nearly 200 stores and services, the Centre is spread below three city blocks -- great during winter. Tenants include The Bay department store, and most recently the Canadian department store chain Eatons. There are convenient underground parking entrances on either Howe or Robson street.

Just across Howe, the west boundary of the Pacific Centre, is the Vancouver Art Gallery. The distinguished-looking, turn-of-the-century domed building that occupies an entire block looks out of place in this fast-paced, more upscale part of downtown. The building's signage is so minimal, it's hard to tell what's inside. Entry is on Hornby Street.

Just seeing the restored interior of the dome is worth the $11 admission. The complex includes four floors of exhibitions and permanent collection display space, plus a cafe, shop and library. Leave your camera at the hotel. I had to get special permission to photograph inside. A current major attraction is the exhibition of the work of one of the best-known and influential artists of British Columbia, Emily Carr.

Vancouver dining is just about as eclectic as the shopping. Even with 2 million people in the greater Vancouver area, it seems there's a restaurant for every 10 or so residents. Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Lebanese, Cantonese, Greek, German, French -- the list goes on. For a complete list and excellent dining guide, visit www.vancouver-bc.com/dining/

A favorite haunt for locals and travelers alike is Gastown's Steam Works Brewing Co. To brew its beer, the restaurant taps into Gastown's famous steam line, the same one that fires the famous Gastown steam clock. As many as seven or eight different beers at one time go straight from tanks to taps, unpasteurized and preservative-free.

The dining rooms offer a variety of steaks, seafoods, pasta and a local favorite -- wood-burning oven pizza ($10.95-$12.95).

If you go...

Vancouver Aquarium and Maritime Center, Stanley Park -- www.vanaqua.org, 604-659-3474. Open 365 days ( check for changes in hours). Through June 27, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. June 28-Sept. 2, 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Admission: $14.50; youths ages 13-18/students/seniors, $11.95; children ages 4-12, $8.95; under 3 free.

Stanley Park -- www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/ parks&gardens/stanley1.htm. Parking rates, April 1- Sept. 30: $1 for 45 minutes, daily maximum $4. Coin-only parking machines.

Fairmont Waterfront Hotel -- 900 Canada Place Way; 604-691-1991. Rates $199-$319; reservations 800-441-1414; www.fairmont.com and follow link to Fairmont Waterfront. Bed-and-breakfast package through April: $199.

Sinclair Centre -- 757 W. Hastings St.; www.sinclaircentre.com

Vancouver Art Gallery -- 750 Hornby St.; www.vanartgallery.bc.ca Recorded information: 604-662-4719, office 604-662-4700. Wednesday-Sunday and holidays, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; closed Monday-Tuesday. Admission: $11, seniors $8, students $6.50.

Steam Works Brewing Co. -- 375 Water St.; www.steamworks.com; 604-689-2739.

Pacific Centre -- 550-700 W. Georgia St.; 604-688-7236. Monday-Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Thursday-Friday to 9 p.m.; Saturday to 6 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

P-I photographer Jeff Larsen can be reached at 206-448-8150. For personal e-mails: jefflarsen@seattlepi.com. For general releases: shorttrips@seattlepi.com.

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