Vancouver--Day 3 (Part 2)

So after a delicious hot dog lunch, the sun came out and we figured we might as well work off that lunch, so we headed over to Stanley Park. Stanley Park is just about twice the size of Central Park, but it is way more beautiful. For starters, it is almost like a little peninsula, just about 2/3 of it is surrounded by water. There are several paths for the interior of the park as well, but the prettiest ones are along the water. There are a few roads for cars to go on, but most people walk, skate, run, or ride a bike through it. This is convenient because the pathways are huge, and they have separate ones for the bikers, skaters, and walkers so that nobody runs into each other.

There are great views of the marinas, city skyscrapers, and bridges along the outer loop of the park. Then once you are in the interior of the park, you would never know you were 5 blocks from a city. The trees are so tall and there are so many of them that you cannot see the city's tallest skyscrapers anywhere.

Also, along various parts of the interior they have landmarks to see. Below you can see one of the many totem poles that were made by the natives to represent the land.

Some are small, but most are very large, and dont always looks like your traditional totem poles would be.

There are probable a dozen of them right by the gift shop.

In addition to the large totem poles, there are also very tall trees, that the Pacific Northwest is known for. Some of them are bent, falling over, twisted, etc., but they aren't dead....its just the way the land/wind has formed them. They look very cool.

The sun started to come out as we made our way to the NE side of the park (you can see the little bit of blue sky in the left side of the photo below). There are 2 bridges that connect the park to both Downtown Vancouver and North Vancouver. The bridge that goes to the North is below.

There is a nice photo-op for that bridge, so we took advantage of it.

Also on the NE side of the park is one of the lighthouses. Its not very tall (about 3 stories), but it also sits high above the platform, which helps. It doesnt work now, but it did for a long time.

Making our way back to the south side (where the entry/exit is), we stopped to get our pictures taken next to the Olympic barge. At night this lights up all red and can be seen pretty much anywhere along the waterfront.

Here is a look at our hotel from the Park. Our hotel is the white thing on the left side with the sails. The thing on the right (dark looking building) is the IBC.

After a long afternoon of walking through the park, we decided to grab some dinner and watch the US/Canada Women's hockey game at a local pub called Smiley O'Neal's. Great local place, but not so great when you are only 1 out of 2 tables with Americans at it (and you are cheering for the opposing team). Unfortunately, the women lost 2-0, but we still had a great day!