Plaza of Nations
Canada Place Pier
Plaza of Nations |
There were lots of signs promoting the 2010 Olympics. We were excited for the city when, a week after our return home, it was announced that Vancouver had been chosen. The Plaza of Nations and Canada Place will undoubtedly be Olympic gathering-places. | Canada Place Pier |
 Gastown Gate |
Gastown was a rough pioneer town, officially called Granville. It's not quite clear why it was called Gastown, except that the founder was called "Gassy Jack". It has, since 1971, enjoyed an urban renewal. |  Waterfront Station |
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Granville Mall, where we bought another suitcase to carry home all our books and souvenirs. |  A Statue in Gastown |
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| Gastown's most famous landmark is the Steam Clock, which puffs clouds of steam as it sounds Westminster Chimes. It really runs on steam. Curiously, it's not particularly old. It was built in 1977, from an 1875 design. |  |
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Chinatown was a ghetto and opium producing and consuming centre in the nineteenth century. |  Guarding Chinatown |
| There seemed to be a lot of panhandlers on the downtown streets. One guy asked
Sallie if he could "borrow a loonie forever." Sallie didn't know how to answer. We
later discovered that the Canadian dollar coin has a picture of a loon on it, and
"loonie" is the affectionate name of the coin.
Instead of Dollar General, Canada has Loonie Plus stores. Okay, maybe they're not landmarks... |
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