Back to Crazytown – Part I

The good, the bad and the ugly in Vancouver

The sun is blazing from the sky and reflecting off the skyscrapers of downtown Vancouver as I’m waiting for my bus on Granville Street. Down the road, the waterfront of Canada Place provides an amazing view to the mountain range north of Vancouver. I can’t find any shade and the street is heaving with people as usual. Opposite the road, an obviously intoxicated woman is hitting a tambourine and dancing uncoordinatedly on the sideway while office workers in their smart suits are rushing past with take away coffees in their hands. Further down the road, the usual group of homeless people sit in the shade of Roxy’s nightclub with their dogs. I love Vancouver, this beautiful, sunny metropolis with its amazing city beaches, active lifestyle and buzzing summer events. But Vancouver also, due to its mild climate, has the highest ratio of mental illness in Canada and the amount homeless people and drug addicts on Granville Street and West Hastings speaks for itself.

I remember looking out of my third floor room in Samesun Hostel on Granville Street while getting ready to go out on a Saturday night during my first stay. Just as I glance out, I see a young man in the restaurant opposite the road taking out a big knife from nowhere. In less than a second, a group of three or four people surrounds the guy, pins him down to the floor while stepping on his wrist so the boy lets go off the knife. Just the other day, I had to learn that a young girl got kicked to death in front a nightclub on Granville Street in a fight with her girlfriends over a guy. Maybe it’s because I have spent more time in Vancouver so far than in any other city in Canada but I find that in Vancouver, the contrast between the beautiful and the ugly is particularly stark. Saying that, I have never felt unsafe walking the streets of Vancouver day or night. The people on the streets mind their own business and only approach you to ask for cash.

Upon my return from Vancouver Island, I’m staying in the beach suburb of Jericho Beach, a thirty minute bus ride from Downtown because I’m fed up of the over-the-top, peak-season hostel prices in the city centre. The HI Jericho Beach is a large hostel with a vast kitchen and lots of common space, only a two-minute walk from the beach. Some of the friends I made in the first hostel have moved there as well in the meantime and I can’t wait to see them again. Eager to hit the beach, I merely drop my bags in one of the 14-shared dorms that are compartmentalised into spaces of four, get changed into my bikini and leave.

Life is a beach

The first person I can see is Andy sitting on a log playing the guitar while Jed’s suntanned (and slightly burned) head is sticking out next to him. I’m so glad that I come back from Vancouver Island to see the familiar faces of these Irish guys. I’ve been on the road for more than two months by now and it always feels good to spend time with people you know and like. We spend the day lazing at the beach, chatting over our recent experiences. Andy and Jed had to move into another downtown hostel before coming to Jericho Beach – Cambie’s Hostel in the old part of Vancouver, Gastown – and it apparently turned out to be the most horrific hostel experience in Vancouver so far. The hostel features a pub underneath the dorms with music blazing so loud that the walls are apparently shaking and sleeping is impossible before 3 am. The kitchen seems to be reigned by rats and a couple of guys decided to have sex in my friend’s dorm while he was around. Jed is a great storyteller – we have recommended he should start his own stand-up comedy show – so at least their misery gives us plenty to laugh about.

After dinner, we return to the beautiful jetty right next to beach with a few cans of beer for sunset. This week is, according to the hostel reception, the best week to visit Vancouver because there are fireworks on several days and it’s the Gay Pride parade on Sunday. The fireworks are lit over English Bay Beach in Downtown which is just opposite of Jericho Beach. Fascinated by the view, we sit and admire the skyline of Vancouver in the distance while enjoying our beers. It’s going to be just one of many evenings on the jetty that we spend in this way: Chatting, laughing and drinking beers.

Cycling Vancouver

Although Vancouver isn’t that big, it’s quite stretched out so getting around outside of Downtown by public transport or walking can be quite tedious. So Andy and I decide to rent a bike (Simon’s Bike Shop, 28 CAD (17 GBP / 19 EUR) per 24 hours for guests of Samesun which we are not anymore but no questions asked) to explore a bit more of Vancouver and Stanley Park. We cycle down to the waterfront at Canada Place and around Stanley Park to Third Beach. This is the most remote city beach in Downtown Vancouver and after a few hours of chilling at the beach, facing the mountain range and taking a dip in the refreshing sea, we’re heading into the large forest of Stanley Park to get some shade. Stanley Park features many forest paths that invite for a cycle or a stroll as well as the Lost Lagoon and Beaver Lake, where we can’t see any water because it’s completely covered in water lilies but we spot a beautiful eagle circling above us. We nearly get lost when we realise it’s time to head back to the hostel.

In contrast to the bus, the cycle back to Jericho Beach only takes twenty minutes. Vancouver is suited well for cycling with plenty of dedicated cycle paths along the beaches in Downtown as well as Kitsilano (just before Jericho) and Jericho itself. So we stop at Granville Island Brewing company for a pint before heading back to Jericho to get ready for the night.

Disney’s fireworks at English Bay Beach

The various fireworks in Vancouver’s party week preceding Gay Pride are sponsored each by a different country. The final one on Saturday is hosted by the USA and will be Disney-themed. This is reason enough to secure a spot right in front of the display at English Bay Beach by enjoying a sunbath in the afternoon. It turns out to be a great idea because even though the fireworks only start at 10 pm, the place is already packed by around 6 pm with more and more people streaming onto the beach. Come 9 pm, the bay is so full that there isn’t space in between the towels to walk anymore. So we find ourselves in a bit of a tricky situation when we realise at 9:30 pm that we could really do with a toilet break, especially because our spot is pretty close to the waterfront, away from the public toilets. By the time I have successfully managed to irritate just about everyone in my path while trying to cross, I realise the queue in front of the public toilets is so long that it would take me way past the fireworks to be able to relieve myself. So I guess I just have to sit it out – literally.

Even though it’s painful, this is absolutely the right decision. The most spectacular fireworks are lit, little red flames seem to be tumbling over the sky, huge golden balls form with smaller, blue and red balls exploding in the middle, all in tune with the Disney music blazing from the speakers. Songs such as the Frozen, Starwars and Beauty and the Beast theme tunes support their very own, dramatic fireworks which take over half an hour in total. Fortunately for me, the crowds don’t hang around but pack up immediately after the fireworks, giving a happy ending to my night after the most beautiful fireworks display I have ever seen.