Asian food aficionados could eat in Vancouver at a different restaurant every day and not run out of revelations for months. Also, like other Pacific Northwest cities, it has adopted indigenous flavors and those of the sea, air and land around it to forge its own style. Salmon n' Bannock, Forage and Cardero's offer a look at the local, Bauhaus and elegant Five Sails Restaurant cover a good percentage of European flavors, and Blue Water Cafe is the place for high-end sushi and sustainable seafood. Accommodations are comparably West Coast. For more urban resort confines, there is the Shangri-La Hotel, Fairmont Pacific Rim and Rosewood Hotel Georgia; for supreme comfort, the Four Seasons, Laden Hotel and La Grande Residence are popular. And, yes, Vancouver has a solid LGBTQ community, is welcoming to the community and has a range of bars and clubs, although like many nightlife scenes today, is quite integrated. Whether you choose to indulge in the outdoors of Vancouver or the sophisticated friendly city environs, you'll find yourself decompressing, relaxing, talking to strangers and lingering over a coffee in a scenic garden environment. You'll find yourself wondering if this is real life.
Michael W. Sasser has been a travel writer for more than 20 years, for publishers ranging from Time Out and Frommer's to Miami Herald Custom Publishing and ABARTA Media. He is the author of thousands of travel stories and dozens of travel books. Reach him at mikewsasser@yahoo.com.
For more information, visit tourismvancouver.com. 10 WIREMAG.COM #41 2018
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOURISM VANCOUVER
Don't miss massive Stanley Park, the Vancouver Aquarium, whale watching from Granville Island, Chinatown, VanDusen Botanical Gardens, Queen Elizabeth Park, or the Bloedel Conservatory. For culture, don't miss the Museum of Anthropology, theater at the Orpheum, or the Bill Reid Gallery (the only public Gallery in Canada dedicated to contemporary Indigenous Northwest Coast Art) and numerous small galleries around many-a-corner here. More active? Check out the skiing or fishing on distinctly different opposite outsides of the distinctly positioned city.