Sunday, September 4, 2011 - The Morning Star B17
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Travel
Iranian culture flourishes on North Shore Continued from previous page There are line-ups at each register. I stand behind a distinctive gentleman in a dark suit, his wavy grey hair is swept back from his high forehead. He has a pronounced moustache. His baskets are filled with perfectly round watermelons, bags of dates, heaps of tomatoes and Farzan’s favourite fruit, gojehsabz. Sanaz takes one out of the box on display. “Try this,” she says. It’s slightly smaller than a golf ball, green like a Granny Smith apple. It’s crisp and tartly juicy. I notice other people tasting the crimson dried
COLLEEN FRIESEN PHOTO
Gojehsabz, or sour plums, are in plentiful supply in North Vancouver’s Iranian stores. barberries, sampling the tea-coloured mulberries or eating out of the bin of badam (almonds). Clearly, Persians believe in a try-before-you-buy shopping approach. At the Yaas Bazaar,
Sanaz shows me their family-favourite drink, a large soft-drink bottle filled with a milky-white liquid. “It’s a yogurt soda,” she explains. The exact numbers of Iranians in the North
Vancouver community are hard to come by. Persians are new to the immigration game. For most of their country’s history, they were a country that people immigrated to, not from. But in the last decades of unrest and harshly punitive governance, more and more are leaving their beloved homeland. It is estimated there may be as many as 60,000 Iranians in the North and West Vancouver areas. But with every purchase of calming Echlum tea, another bag filled with kashk to flavour the soup or gathering for their New Year’s celebration of Narooz, they remember where they came from.
They think about the land they left behind, trying through smell and taste to remember what they had, while adapting to enjoying it in a new home. Food is often our only entry into someone else’s land and culture. For a brief time I saw how so many memories were savored with each bite of something from that distant land; a home that is no longer an option for so many. Culture, connection and belonging are key parts of a solid foundation for identity. We need to know where we come from, what our stories are and who we are in relation to the world. Farzan Safa is a boy who
Luxury destinations earn global recognition NEW ZEALAND - New Zealand’s luxury tourism sector has received another vote of approval from international travellers with two exclusive properties awarded top world rankings. The five-star Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa has been voted the World’s Best Hotel Spa in the 2011 Travel and Leisure magazine’s World’s Best awards readers’ survey. Readers also voted The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs — in the Bay of Islands, Northland — the top Lodge/Resort in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. The Lodge was ranked No. 11 on the world list of Top 100 Hotels Overall. The 16th annual survey by Travel and Leisure judged hotels on their rooms and facilities, location, service, restaurants/food, and value. Hotel-spas were judged on ambience, treatments, service and value.
Sofitel Queenstown The Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and Spa is in the heart of the South Island alpine resort and adventure capital and, when it opened in 2007, it was Queenstown’s first five-star hotel. The latest survey puts the sophisticated retreat ahead of some of the world’s most notable hotels — ranking above the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans (2nd), the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok (8th), and the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris (9th). The Queenstown property scored 98.93 out of a possible 100 points. Sofitel general manager Wouter De Graaf says hotel staff are “ecstatic” over the accolade. “It goes to prove that, despite what might be considered a remote location at the bottom of the world in Queenstown, our spa service is
This September 11th, bring along your dog on leash and join us at BX Ranch Park for a day of family fun at the 2011 Scotiabank & BC SPCA Paws for a Cause Walk. Our event will kick start at 9am with the walk taking place at 10am. Enjoy fantastic entertainment and activities, all in support of our furry friends in need.
so exceptional that we still come out sitting at the very top of it,” De Graaf said. The Lodge, Kauri Cliffs And the 2011 Travel and Leisure award is another to add to an impressive list for The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs in Matauri Bay, in New Zealand’s northern North Island. The luxury lodge is one of the most awarded luxury golf and spa resort hotels in New Zealand and is also a member of Relais & Chateaux, a collection of the finest hotels and gourmet restaurants in the world. As well as the latest Travel and Leisure accolade, The Lodge has also topped this year’s Condé Nast Gold List as No. 1 Lodge/ Resort in the Australia Pacific region. The dramatic Bay of Islands property was also recognised by Travel and Leisure in their T+L 500 last year and ‘World’s Best Hotels’ in 2009.
knows where he belongs. A boy who is being given a healthy identity as a new Canadian, but with Iranian roots that are deep and strong, allowing him to flourish in his new land. I didn’t need my passport for this trip. I had a
guide and her young son take me to a distant world that was right next door. Take your own trip to North Vancouver. Taste the food and say, Salaam. Colleen Friesen is with Travel Writers’ Tales, an independent travel article syndicate.
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Sunday, September 18, 2011 Best Western Vernon Lodge 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm Join Maritime Travel, AMA Waterways, Silversea, Windstar, Paul Gaugin, Trafalgar Tours, Insight Vacations, Air Canada Vacations
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