Hey Ho! So after leaving New York City just a few days ago, we already made it safe to Canada and feel quite settled in our new home base in Vancouver downtown for now. Our hostel is nice, probably the biggest in town and we already met quite some cool folks from all around the world. Ohhh…and before I forget to mention: It probably includes the best FREE breakfast we ever had in a hostel so far. Not to mention that finally everything feels cheaper again compared to NYC.
Another big difference compared to New York is for sure the way the whole city “feels”. Less crowded (almost empty), everything in a decent walking distance and waaaay warmer than anything we expected in Canada during winter. The locals are still super friendly (maybe even a little bit more than we experienced in NYC) and overall, it looks like the city deserved it’s little nickname called “Raincouver”. So while there is quite some rain every day, we still love it so far and couldn’t be more happy to stay a few more days until nature is calling again and we are off to explore British Columbia and Alberta a little bit further during the next two of weeks.
So far, we already did quite some walking within downtown, explored a number of hidden gems and slowly start into each day while we still have to adapt a little bit to the new/old timezone again. We really like Vancouver, its compact size and the mild winter temperature so far. It’s perfect to just grab a jacket, some waterproof shoes, an umbrella and slowly walk randomly into no specific direction. There is for sure something unique behind the next corner.
Another cool highlight so far was our visit to “Granville Island” with its variety of not only traditional Canadian shops, but also a good number of unique gift opportunities (even if our luggage doesn’t offer much space anymore) and some great options if it comes to a good food selection in the public market. Definitely worth a visit. Also if you want to escape the rain a little bit!
Guess that’s it for now as we still need to try some famous “Canadian Poutine” today. Which is nothing more than looots of fries soaked in a delicious sauce and whatever you want on top of it to make it even more unhealthy. Sounds great? We can’t wait either…
Till then! Lovely greetings from Vancouver,
Philipp & Melanie
