VANCOUVER, WHISTLER

Canada – a country known for its beautiful nature, good ice hockey, and high standard of living is a dream destination for many travelers. We were no exception because this destination was on our bucket list for a very long time. 

We were pleased that for the center of the XXI. Winter Olympics was chosen – Vancouver. When Erika’s brother Mato Kazar qualified among the best Slovak biathletes, the decision about our next trip was made right away. We are going to Vancouver for our first Olympic Games…

To save some money on flights rather than flying directly we had 2 stopovers, the first one in Washington and the second one in LA. Once we landed in Vancouver we tuned ourselves on the Olympic frequency which was pretty strong in the whole city. We were quite surprised by the temperature outside. Having 16’C in the middle of February was a shocker even for the locals and caused some problems with melting snow for the organizers. As we found out later on it was the warmest winter in the last 20 years. They’ve managed to deliver the snow from elsewhere and everything went nice and smooth throughout the Games.

Vancouver put its magic spell on us right from the start and if we could we’d have immediately moved in here. For several years the city ranks in the top tier among the best cities to live in. Vancouver is very popular also among Canadians and the high standard of living is visible at every step. Overall well-being is reflected in the people. Everybody is happy, smiling, and very helpful. Once we got lost we were approached by a local man and instead of showing us on the map where we are, he took us to that location to make sure that we found what we were looking for. Our first steps led us downtown where we just went for a walk around the city center. Everywhere was clean and neat and everything at that time with several accompanying measures connected with the Olympics.

Today we started with an early morning trip to Whistler, a ski resort that is 120km far from Vancouver. The reason – biathlon races started today… Whistler is a beautiful mountain village located between Blackcomb and Whistler mountains. Upon arrival, we immediately moved to the biathlon venue. Tickets that I bought almost a year ago were right on the VIP Tribune where we sat next to people like Prince Rainier of Monaco, Sergey Bubka, etc. Even better though was happening right on the track. After a great run, we have seen a “silver” finish of our Anastasia Kuzmina. The flower ceremony was right after the race on the premises.

After the end of the race we went back to Whistler and on the way down we took a picture with the Slovak women’s ice hockey team who also went to cheer our biathletes. In the evening we managed to sneak in and see the medal ceremony with our silver medal. Perfect finish of the day and after the evening show on a snowboard we ran down to the station to catch the last bus back to Vancouver.

The weather today was perfect and we decided to spend the whole day wandering around Vancouver. We started as usual in downtown, then we moved to the harbor, from there to Chinatown, then to the marketplace and we ended up best as we could in the famous Stanley Park. A huge park with an area of 400 hectares is easily accessible and very popular not only for tourists but also for locals. Everyone here is on bicycles, skates, or just walks same as we do. The park has a fantastic atmosphere also because it consists of a peninsula with a beautiful northern coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Slowly it started getting dark and we still had one more highlight of the day ahead of us for which we needed to dress properly. It was the ice hockey match Slovakia vs Czech Republic. To see such a great match in the sold-out arena – home of the Vancouver Canucks was for me the experience of a lifetime.

For the second time, we came to Whistler for another round of the biathlon races. This time it was the men’s race and again with the medal finish when Palo Hurajt managed to get the bronze. Right after the race we went to Whistler to explore it more closely and especially what we like the most – the mountains. We took the cable car Peak 2 Peak Gondola which connects Whistler and Blackcomb mountains to enjoy the views from the top. It’s a wonderful feeling when you are on the other side of the globe and you still feel at home because these hills are very similar to our High Tatras.

The ride up did not last very long and it was worth it. On top of Blackcomb (2440m), we went for a walk around, took a few pictures with the Indian totem Inugchuk and went back. After returning to Whistler we also managed to get tickets to the skeleton competition. It’s a crazy sport because, in the fastest areas, the athletes reach speeds up to 150 km/h but on the other hand it’s really exciting to see it live.

Our stay in this amazing city was about to end and the last day we decided to spend in the famous Vancouver Aquarium. It is the largest marine aquarium in Canada and there are over 70 thousand marine animals. We liked the most dolphins and Belugas which are among the endangered species.

From there we proceeded to the city and enjoyed a walk through the center and then we ended up on the beach. In the evening we managed to get to the Slovak Olympic House so we could taste some of our delicious goodies and also meet some of our athletes.

What to say at the end? We knew we will like Canada but we didn’t expect to be so impressed by Vancouver. And it was not just because of the Olympics. The city itself, people, nature, all this deserves the title that Vancouver wins every year in the poll of the best places to live on earth. So when you one day go to Canada be sure to visit Vancouver as well. Just be careful, you might stay here for good…

Tip 1:  In Vancouver make sure you visit the downtown, marketplace, Chinatown, Stanley Park, and aquarium. The city is also famous for its delicious sushi and tea.

Tip 2:  Go for a day trip to Whistler and take the cable car Peak 2 Peak Gondola. The views from the top are stunning.

Tip 3:  If you are visiting Vancouver in summer go to the beach and enjoy swimming in the ocean.

Total costs:  5 nights  (Flights + Accommodation + Meals + Tickets + Transfers):  £730.00 

(Prices as of February 2010)

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