Walking through Vancouver

Getting to know a city is like getting to know a new lover. First everything is amazing, then you discover some flaws and annoyances, and you start fighting them.

Vancouver has the same effect on me. First I enjoyed all the beauty of it, the sea, the mountain views, even the homeless people seemed to be 'interesting' and 'exotic', but then I realized that even this city has its' imperfections.

This first stage of being in total love with a place is called the 'honeymoon stage' and happens to people that are new to a certain place (this is also how scientists call the first months of emigration).

When I walked around in my honeymoon stage, this was what I saw:

From my house on the edge of Yaletown I would walk down to the seawall. A beautiful stretch of boulevard, made all the way along the coastline of the Downtown area. The seawall crosses several beautiful parks and in summer it is packed with Vancouverites, all running naked to impress their fellow citizens. I enjoy the views over the people and oh of course the landscape, and try to not get distracted by the big amount of abs and boobies.

From the seawall I would walk up to Yaletown and browse through some of the shops on Mainland and Hamilton Street. From there I'd walk to Granville Street, the main entertainment street of Vancouver, where the neon lights are always on and crowds are lining up to see concerts of their favourite bands.

I would take a left on Robson Street, a shoppers paradise, take a look at the Art Gallery and walk all the way down to Coal Harbour, the financial district, where buildings are sky high and the views over the Vancouver Harbour are stunning.

From there I can take a walk in Stanley Park, but I can also choose to walk past the Vancouver Convention Center and up to Gastown, a trendy neighbourhood that recently transformed from a shabby, non-interesting place into one of the main entertainment area's with bars, restaurants and designer shops. To escape touristy Gastown, I'd walk over the Cambie bridge to Main street, to enjoy the dozens of second hand stores.

Now that I am out of the Honeymoon stage, I see the city totally different:

Suddenly the fancy Yaletown shops are not that fancy anymore but just crazy expensive. The people that are walking there have a continuous duck face and only seem to care about the newest juice diet that can make them look even hungrier.

While going out, suddenly I realize that the clubs on the Granville strip only play Bieber and Drake. And that everyone inside seems to like it. It seems like the next generation is already taking over, and I am not even old. The homeless people don't seem to bother the Bieber sounds and more and more choose to sleep right in front of the clubs. It is a strange scene to see drunken party girls step over the sleeping people.

Another thing that I observed is that crossing the street here is a matter of life and death. Drivers just don't see you when you're in the middle of the street. It's a jungle.

Do I already sound like an old, nagging granny? Yes.

But like in a relationship, you would fight the imperfections and try to adapt to them. Secretly you start loving this city, including the expensiveness and the barbies, the Bieber sounds and the duckfaces. It is Canadian city life, and I am a lucky bastard to be able to observe all this.

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