New York, Paris and Sydney in One Day

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Whilst the weather got off to a ropy start, it quickly changed and the sun came out, so the others decided that the day should be designated a pool day. That gave me an opportunity to have a look around Downtown Vancouver, Gastown and the Waterfront.

It was a very strange day, as it seemed like I started the day in New York, then I went to Paris and then I ended-up in Sydney.

Downtown (New York) is the modern area, based around the usual North American grid layout. There are some famous hotels, lots of tall office buildings, the Vancouver Central Library and a Cathedral. At the bottom end is the Rogers Stadium (although I am not sure if this is called the Rogers Stadium or the British Columbia Place Stadium - it seems to depend on who you ask).

I was surprised to see a Trump Tower, given his relationship with Canada (they had just announced the NAFTA replacement ‘deal’ with Mexico that excluded Canada). I’m not sure which Canadians would want anything to do with that place.

I especially liked the library. The building is extremely reminiscent of the Colosseum in Rome (see Unofficial Officials), so closely so that it can’t be a coincidence. So there is a bit of Rome thrown in as well.

Next was Gastown (Paris). This wasn’t the site of an old gas works or anything like that. It was actually named after someone called “Gassy Jack” Deighton, an English sailor who open a saloon there for the sawmill workers. Gastown is the oldest part of Vancouver and it looks and feels very different, with narrow, tree lined streets and older buildings. There are lots of shops, bars, cafes and restaurants, including lots of what we call “tat shops” (local gift shops, which we love despite what we call them).

One of the main things to see in Gastown is the steam-powered clock. By luck rather than judgement, I timed it perfectly. Just as I was walking past, unaware that it was there, it was exactly midday and it started to ‘chime’, with the sound being made by steam-pipes. It is definitely worth being there on the hour.

A bit of New York had crept into Gastown as there was a small version of the triangle shaped Flatiron Building, both of which dated from around the same time.

I am never one to miss an observation deck and the Vancouver Lookout is near to Gastown, on top of the Harbour Centre (nice to see they use the English rather than the American spellings of those two words). It is not as high as lots of the other buildings that surround it, but it had some great views nonetheless and was not too busy. Additionally, I could go back as many times as I like throughout the day.

Finally it was onto the Waterfront (Sydney). This is dominated by Canada Place, which is an unusual building that resembles a ship, both in shape and with the sails on the roof. It’s not quite the Sydney Opera House and there is not much of interest inside (a convention centre, hotel and a cruise ship terminal), but it is nice to walk around the outside.

It was then a nice walk along the waterfront back to the hotel, passing another convention centre, although the roof of this one is covered in grass (who ever said that mowing lawns was always a safe job) and watching all the seaplanes take off and land.

We decided to head back to Gastown for the evening. Before we went for something to eat, our son took us to the thinnest commercial building in the world, which he had read about earlier. We had been warned about heading too far to the east as it was the rough part of Vancouver. Whilst this was no further east than the Flatiron like building, it suddenly became very rough - very unkempt people, rubbish and that smell of weed again. It was hard to believe it was the same clean, respectable and affluent city that we had seen up until now. The building was worth seeing though - at about a meter and a half wide, it was difficult to see how it could be of any practical use.

We went back to the main part of Gastown for something to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory. This was excellent. It had a lot of character (some people got to sit in a tram carriage that was parked in the middle of the restaurant), the food was excellent (as long as you like pasta obviously) and it had soup and ice-cream included in the price.

We tried to walk back to the steam clock at the right time to hear it chime. Sadly, we were late, but when we got there we discovered that it was actually running slightly slow, so we got to hear it chime after all.

As I had multiple visits to the Vancouver Lookout for the day, I went back up there again to see the view at night. I was a bit confused at first as I was sure that I saw it was open until 10.30pm, however everywhere appeared to be closed. Eventually, I managed to find an entrance that was still open at the back of the Harbour Centre. The view was a completely different experience to the day.

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Photos

Vancouver View
The view from the Vancouver Lookout.

The Vancouver Lookout
The lookout on top of the Harbour Centre.

Trump Building
What the hell is one of these doing here?

Vancouver Central Library
Not unlike the Colosseum in Rome.

Gastown Clock
The steam-powered clock in Gastown.

Gassy Jack
The man who Gastown is named after.

Hotel Europe
Not unlike the Flatiron Building in New York.

Seaplanes
Seems like an excellent way to run flights without having to go out to an airfield.

Vancouver at Night
The night-time view from the Vancouver Lookout.

Sam Kee Building
The thinnest commercial building in the world.