Sorry I haven’t posted much this week, it’s been busy with moving from Canmore to Vancouver and sorting out logistics for the WSOP Europe. The good news is that I got to spend the night at the mansion occupied by fellow PokerStars Team Online member Kevin “Wizard of Ahhs” Thurman (pics forthcoming, this place is off the hook) and the people we’re renting from in Vancouver seem really friendly and accommodating.
Wiring money to the casino in Cannes was almost comically complicated and slow. The casino’s website listed an address to e-mail for more info, but I never got a response from them. I asked Jack Effel on Twitter and he gave me a different e-mail address which also went unanswered. Finally I found a third e-mail address buried in a 2+2 thread, and that person responded in broken English with some vague instructions that seemed to suggest I needed to e-mail a fourth person. I responded asking for clarification, concluding with “do I need to do X or do I need to do Y?” He wrote back a one-word answer: “Exactly”. I finally got the info I needed and submitted the wire transfer, but I haven’t gotten confirmation that it’s been received yet, so fingers crossed!
I drove from Vancouver to Seattle yesterday and am now getting ready to return the rental car we’ve had for the last two months and then on to the airport (flights are much cheaper and more frequent from Seattle than from Vancouver). I just got changed to a later connecting flight in Paris, but that’s only costing me a few hours.
The trip’s been a huge hassle so far but that’s mostly behind me now, and I’m really looking forward to what’s coming next! I actually fly into Madrid to meet my friend Nico (see Three Days in Madrid for our backstory), then I’ll spend a day with him in Madrid before we drive to Cannes. We’ll have a week in Cannes and then drive back to Madrid via Barcelona. Finally I’ll have two more days in Madrid before I fly back to Seattle and take a train to Vancouver (won’t need a car in the city). Sounds tiring just writing about it but I think it will be a lot of fun and hopefully profitable as well.
Good luck! Though you might regret not having a car in Vancouver. You absolutely need a car to get anything done, even if you live in Yaletown, and especially if you are at all interested in the outdoors (which is the best part about Vancouver).
I really like having a setup where you don’t need a car for everyday trips, but it’s easy and cheap to have it available for hiking trips and Target runs- we managed to have that in last neighborhood we were in in Boston and I loved that.
But unfortunately we didn’t drive our car out to Canada b/c we were in a rush and originally planned on staying for just a month or two, so we paid $$$ to rent a car out here. So when we decided to stick around in Canada until December (minus Andrew’s trip to Cannes) we needed to be somewhere we could get by without a car everyday so we could stop having to pay for it. We still have Zipcar and/or just renting a car occasionally as options.
We’re in Kits (north-eastern section thereof), and I plan to mostly bike around, but buses are handy as well.
Unfortunately, car or not, since Andrew’s just here for late October-> early Dec we figured it’s about the worst time of the year for the outdoors with the rainy season in full effect and ski season not yet started. If there are trails that don’t become a mess in the rainy months let me know, I’m totally game!
I had gotten the impression from previous research that as much as people rave about Vancouver, the outdoors outside the city and esp. the Island are most people’s favorite things about living here. Because of that (and the border hassles) we’d skipped Vancouver on our previous Northwest US trip b/c we’d only have had a day or two in the city and no time for the surrounding areas.
I would definitely like to get back to the area at some point in better weather to take full advantage of Tofino, Squamish, Whistler etc. Any trips you’d suggest are still worth it in the rains? My guess would be Tofino could be neat with the moody rains, but we did visit the Oregon coast and the coast of Olympic National Park in WA, which I think may be fairly similar and therefore, combined with poor weather, maybe not worth the hassle/cost to get out there?
It’s always hard b/c anywhere with elevation in North America has the same short summer season, and you can’t be everywhere at once!
Northeast kits.. practically neighbours!
As usual I didn’t quite think things through, but you obviously have and are right on pretty much all counts.
Thinking as a long-term resident, I wouldn’t want to live without a car. We do spend plenty of time driving around within the city area – to Richmond, for Chinese food / shopping, to Coquitlam, to visit relatives / for Korean BBQ, to the North Shore, for Grouse Mountain and Cypress Mountain, to Queen Elizabeth Park, for the great Aquatic Center for the little one… etc.
For a short-term stay, though, you should do perfectly well with the transportation options you identified.
As far as things to do, you are right as well, October/November are not great for outdoor activities. Tofino would still be nice, as would Whistler (you should definitely go to Whistler at some point). Both are highly recommended. You could probably still go up the Stawamus Chief (by Squamish), a short hike which yields disproportionately awesome views if you catch a reasonably clear day.
In late November/early December, the winter sports pick up and you can do things like snowshoe on Grouse Mountain (beautiful), or Ski/Snowboard on Cypress.
There’s also more adventurous backpacking to be had in Garibaldi provincial park (North-east of Squamish) if you don’t mind tenting in snow.
As for Vancouver itself, the city is not exactly known for nightlife, but if you like variety of food, there are some excellent authentic places to eat from practically anywhere in the world. It can take a bit of digging to get past the Chinese-owend sushi joints and to the more authentic Japanese Izakaya, though, so persevere!
Cheers and enjoy the city!
OK I lied, it’s actually South-East Kits, near Broadway and 7th, I think of map orientation from downtown looking away, so my perspective it upside down, haha. But either way we should definitely get together once Andrew is back! and thanks for the additional info on area highlights, much appreciated!
Speaking as a native Vancouverite, I cannot recommend Whistler enough to visitors. Though it is best if you can manage to ski for a couple of days during the ski season, it is fantastic year-round.