We enjoyed running the so-called « Seawall », beginning along the Vancouver Harbour (or Coal Harbour, or Burrard Inlet, as you wish)and then the Strait of Georgia. It starts at the foot of the Olympic Cauldron, on the water, at the bottom of Thurlow Street, and goes to and around Stanley Park, where you have a choice of paths, the most common one being along the shores of the park, which is a peninsula; you can carry on, if you want to, along English Bay, easily clocking 15km. We were more modest and kept it at 5km (although we have biked the 15km another day!) (http://vancouver.ca/PARKS/parks/Stanley/seawall.htm)
Best hotel to stay at if you want immediate access to the path is the Westin – it used to be the Bayshore Inn when it was a favourite of mine in the early eighties – that gives right on the water. From the Fairmont Vancouver Hotel where we were staying, it’s less than a 10 minute walk to the current start of the Seawall path. (Little anecdote: this is where Howard Hughes, weary and tired looking, ensconced for a few months in 1972, surrounded in secrecy, alone in the penthouse, the rest of his entourage and bodyguards spread out on the next few floors – must have watched the seaplanes taking off from the Bay, reminiscing maybe about the Spruce Goose which he built and “test-flew” on the waters near Los Angeles in 1947, and which we saw at the Aviation Museum in Oregon jus few days ago...)
Quite exhilarating when the sun is shining and the air is brisk...
Great meals at the restaurant Coast, on Robson, near the hotel – halibut in season; busy and trendy! (http://www.coastrestaurant.ca/)
Vancouver, March 18, 2010
