Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Make a beeline for Stanley Park. Hit the seawall - by bike or on foot - to find rusty
amber hues and Japanese maple reds studding the evergreen Douglas firs. If you don't
have time for a full-on Stanley Park jaunt, weave towards nearby English Bay. The
beach at the end of Denman St will require your camera's panorama setting. You'll find
a glittering, gently rippling waterfront, backed by a stand of achingly beautiful mature
trees, each seemingly a different color. Not surprisingly, this is also a great location for
sunset shots. If it's raining, nip into the lounge bar of the nearby ivy-shrouded Sylvia
Hotel: it faces the water, so you'll still have a great view.
Across town at Queen Elizabeth Park, weave uphill among the trees from the Cam-
bie St entrance. Aim towards the Bloedel Conservatory dome at the summit for a spec-
tacular squirrel's-eye view across the foliage. On a fine day, you'll also have one of the
best wide-angled vistas over the glass-towered city, framed by ice-frosted mountains.
And if it's time to warm up? Nip inside the Conservatory where the tropical plants and
neon-bright birds are guaranteed to give your day a splash of extra color.
It's not all parks, of course. Many of Vancouver's older residential neighborhoods re-
semble spilled paintboxes of color every fall. The West End neighborhood is striped
with residential streets where fall-flavored trees mix with bright-painted heritage
houses: on a honey-lit, sunshine-steeped day, you can hear the photographers clicking
madly here. One of the best spots is Mt Pleasant's 10th Ave, especially in the section
running east from City Hall. Like a walk-through kaleidoscope, the dozens of century-
old chestnut trees here create a tunnel of rich orange and yellow - above a dense carpet
of fallen chestnuts that's like walking on shiny cobbles.
Every year, typically in June, Vancouver hosts Epic (
www.epicfest.ca
), a weekend-long
sustainable-living fair. The popular event includes food, workshops, live music and fea-
tures some engaging speakers. There's also a marketplace of lifestyle products for
greenies looking for everything from hemp shoes to eco make-up.
At the Grassroots
Many Vancouver green initiatives are at the grassroots community level and one of our
favorites is the city's Pop-Up Library phenomenon. Several neighborhoods across Van-
couver have built their own pop-up minilibraries for all to use. These free-to-use book
exchanges sit outside on residential streets, covered of course to stop the dog-eared
tomes suffering on Vancouver's frequent rainy days. There are at least five dotted
around local communities. One of the largest is the St George Sharing Library, a
