Does Vancouver Live Up to the Hype?
Plus, Ina Garten's favorite cheeseburger and a New York City show you must see/
It’s a disease of the traveler’s mind—there’s probably a German word for it—that when a destination charms you, you begin to think, “I could live here.” You weren’t hunting for a new home. In fact, there’s nothing practical or realistic about this sequence that repeats over and over. But if you’re like me, you become obsessed, looking up real estate, how good the airport’s connections are, how brutal are the winters, and so on.
Mexico City, Madrid, Zurich, Cape Town, and countless others have all left me pining. The latest spot for which I both yearn and have turned evangelist for? Vancouver.
If you’ve been to Vancouver, there’s not much I’m about to tell you from my handful of days there this summer that you don’t already know, so feel free to skip to the Department of Grievances and industry news. However, if Vancouver is on your list but not high up, or if you’ve never even thought about going, I’ll say this succinctly—go!
The romance starts before you even land, as Vancouver has one of the most dramatic approaches of any major city, on par with Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, and Hong Kong—all cities where the mountains meet the sea. The airport is efficient to get through—an experience akin to a smaller regional one in its ease and simplicity. And the city itself, rising up on a peninsula in a fjord, grabs your attention and never really lets it go. I’d long been told Vancouver was enchanting—and it met that hype.
As I’ve ruminated and proselytized in the weeks since, I’ve found myself trying to think about Vancouver in terms of what makes a city a great one to visit.
The first is that we are drawn to places that have something culturally we can’t get at home. It could be the sense that you’re experiencing a way of life utterly alien. It could be the architecture, the history, the fashion, the nightlife, and so on. Some cities, like London, New York, and Paris, have all of that. In Vancouver, what I mostly felt culturally was a lament that they’ve sort of perfected a lot of the urbanism wishes so many who care about cities in the U.S. have. There are spectacular urban parks (everybody will tell you about Stanley Park being bigger than Central Park) and bike paths that crisscross the city and wrap along the water with dramatic views of the surrounding mountains, the beaches, and the skyline.
For a variety of reasons—highways, heavy industry, less-than-pretty rivers—American cities historically have done a poor job of activating their waterfront. In Vancouver, it’s easy to be filled with envy at the miles of beaches throughout the city, all filled with people. One could even argue that after Miami, it’s the most beach-oriented major city in North America. I would also kill for a spot on the river in my home city of D.C. as easy and consistent as the Cactus Club Cafe on English Bay Beach in Vancouver’s West End. (I know it’s a chain, but my meal was good and since most things on the water in the U.S. are either terrible or wildly expensive or both, this felt special by comparison.)
What else makes a city worth visiting? Beauty? Vancouver has some of the most envy-inducing real estate porn in the neighborhoods stretching from Kitsilano through the university. (Which makes sense given Vancouver’s real estate market is one of the most expensive in the world.)
The undulating harbor set against the skyline is postcard-perfect. While it isn’t teeming with “great” architecture that you’d create an itinerary based upon, there are enough modern works by luminaries like Arthur Erickson to sprinkle throughout a visit. Plus, there are fun areas like Gastown that are full of cool turn-of-the-century buildings littered with exciting restaurants and bars.
Not only did I love the design of Erickson’s Museum of Anthropology at UBC, but the collection was fascinating. And it was definitely a trip for a New Englander to stroll down the embankment below the museum to the picturesque Wreck Beach where couples smoked joints on blankets, families had picnics, lone men propped on fallen trees reading books, and old women floated in sparkling water—all naked.
But experiencing something different is a big part of why we travel, no? (I am not happy I also experienced seeing somebody shoot up on the street for the first time, but I suppose it was insightful to see firsthand that side of west coast life.)
And while I can’t speak to Vancouver’s nightlife, as I was asleep long before midnight every night, what it does have is unparalleled access to nature. It was more of a drive than I anticipated, (and wildly pricey) but the hiking in Whistler was jaw-dropping. I did the Harmony Lake to Musical Bumps to High Note Trails, which was roughly six miles. It started out with what felt like a death march through Mordor, but had an unforgettable payoff with a toe path on the mountain face overlooking the turquoise Cheakamus Lake.
Driving back just before dusk, my friend who was kindly taking me around had us stop for a dip in the black waters of Brohm Lake. Refreshed, the surreal cherry on top to turn me green with envy was a cinematic sunset drive back to Vancouver with the light slowly disappearing beyond the islands in the fjords.
To say that I’m itching to get back to do more hiking throughout this corner of British Columbia would be an understatement. But I am very much eager to return to get to know the city even more—which is the ultimate sign that a destination has hit the mark.
I stayed at the Sylvia Hotel, which was right on the beach in the West End. It was a cute ivy-covered hotel, but I should note that the decor seems very much untouched since the late 1990s. I had a great meal at Oku Izakaya, the fried chicken is still something I dream about, as well as the yellowtail with Wa-Chimichurri Sauce. There is an arugula salad, however, that I would caution you against unless you like TRULY bitter foods. Afterwards, we all went to nearby Bar Tartare which was teeming with people in their 20s and 30s both inside and at tables out front
DEPARTMENT OF GRIEVANCES
Not everything needs to be gourmet, and in fact I think we’d all be better off if many of our low-brow indulgences were left alone by the high-falutin types. I myself have not ventured into Harrods to try its new gourmet hot dog stand from Michelin-star-chef Jason Atherton (when I first read the headline I thought it said Jason Aldean, which actually might have been more fun). However, as a matter of principle I loved this Guardian review ripping the whole premise from start to finish. The dogs cost up to $28, and, as the reviewer writes, “like the concessions belonging to Givenchy and Loro Piana standing sentry either side of the doorway, the counter sells things that absolutely no one needs.”
If you’re in New York City at all this week, I cannot recommend going to Doug Wheeler’s Day Night Day at David Zwirner enough. It’s one of the trippiest things I’ve experienced, very meditative, and for some reason it also had me and the elderly couple who had the same time slot giggling nonstop. (Sadly, I went back while tripping on mushrooms in the hopes of experiencing it again in that state and the waitlist to get in was closed. Definitely go earlier in the day.) A giant eye roll, however, at the docent who I asked for more info on how Wheeler pulled off some of the illusions. He gave an irritating and curt but on-brand response of “well, decades of research into light and physics.”
Washington, D.C. is one of the easiest cities to have guests—there are so many museums and attractions and historic neighborhoods that visitors have no problem entertaining themselves. It’s also one of the easiest “touristy” cities to live in, as tourists never come en masse to the parts of the city people like to live. A big part of that is that the Mall—home to many of the museums—is so expansive that you can have millions down there and it not make a dent. But I’ve always been at a loss when asked by visitors what they should eat while visiting all the museums. The Mall has no good options besides food trucks and cafeterias and is so big, so spread out, it can take ages to get to neighborhoods with great restaurants. (It also always just felt like such a missed opportunity, since there are so many beautiful nooks throughout as well as pretty venues.) Well now one of those historic tourist kiosks next to the Air and Space Museum is being turned into a pizza and natural wine bar starting Friday, October 18!
LoungeBuddy, the website used by travelers to navigate lounge options at various airports, is closing down soon. Even though I’ve often found its usability frustrating, I’ve utilized the website a lot. Especially since airports themselves do a poor job providing information about what lounges they have, where they are located, and who they are available to. That goes double for many foreign airports. Sadly, American Express seems to see little value in keeping it alive.
Los Angeles has more strange museums than maybe anywhere else in the world, so after seeing this write-up in the Los Angeles Times called “These are the most fascinating L.A. museums you’ve never heard of” I’m ordering the book by Gibbs Smith documenting all these spaces. What a fascinating project!
I don’t know quite yet what to make of United’s splashy new international routes, which are also the largest international expansion ever for the airline. The new additions include Greenland, Senegal, Palau, Mongolia, Madeira, and Palermo. It really seems like United understands the market-making power the airlines can have internationally and the unslaked thirst on the part of so many habitual travelers to have easier access to places that aren’t traditional destinations.
There’s a little nugget tucked away in a fun/funny piece about WNBA players lamenting their lost frequent flier status once the league switched to charter flights. “Flying is ‘the least efficient way to earn miles right now,’ because of changes to airline frequent-flier programs. Credit-card perks and other rewards programs are superior.”
Somehow, Disney is getting even more expensive. I guess it’s now a full on game of chicken with families amidst a general tightening in the travel industry.
INDUSTRY NEWS
The best hamburger Ina Garten has ever had is at this surprising D.C. restaurant
Roughly 60% of haunted house attractions don’t make it past the third year
Wynn Resorts has been awarded the first casino license in the United Arab Emirates
The EU delays biometric entry for non-EU residents yet again
Neo-Nazi slips to his death climbing Hitler’s favorite mountain
Uber is launching a shuttle service to LaGuardia
Turkish Airlines made an emergency landing at New York’s JFK after the captain died onboard
Hong Kong is still struggling to bring back tourists
The Minneapolis airport is on an absolute tear
Cancun eliminates its tax on passengers traveling with more than one large electronic device
What are the good luxury hotels there?
I always love Vancouver and how much there is to do there. Bill Reid Gallery being one of my favorites and a good walk through Stanley Park.