What a packed weekend! We did lots of things from Thursday until Sunday!
Let’s start with Thursday. I went to a Hockey game with some friends of mine, which was so great! It was the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena against the Seattle Kraken. The whole vibe and the experience there was amazing! You definitely know that this sport is a national sport for the Canadians. Some shows in the break and an exciting game with some fist fights made that event super special. There were also some representatives from the indigenous peoples showing a cultural music performance, in special regards to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the day that honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Unfortunately the Canucks lost in the overtime against the Kraken 3-4. But overall, it was such a great experience!
On Friday, I was thinking about spending time in nature. So therefore I met with a friend of mine to go to Lynn Canyon Park with its suspension bridge. The park with its nature was so amazing! The weather was nice, so I even needed to cool myself with the fresh spring water from Lynn Canyon. In the evening, nearly 30 people from INTERNeX got together to go to the Richmond Night Market, which was also a great event. So many colourful lights and lamps illuminating the night sky, and even a live-band was playing there! We got to try so much food like flower-onions, Takoyaki (fried squid balls), grilled meat on a stick and finally the best thing for me: Beaver Tails! It’s like a long fried dough with some cinnamon and sugar, but you can also try some other flavours. I was waiting so long to try those and I got the chance on Friday. It was so yummy, you need to try it! The night market is going to be open until this Sunday, so if you don’t want to miss this special experience, go there on the weekend!
Since you never get enough of Vancouver’s Nature, I went to the UBC Campus on Saturday to visit the Botanical Gardens with a friend. The quiet place of Nitobe Memorial Garden is a true masterpiece in the ever busy town of Vancouver. With the head full of the experiences of the Hockey game, the night market and the gardens, I met another friend group to watch the Vancouver Whitecaps this time at BC Place. This was also a special experience because I can compare the soccer situation here pretty well to the situation in my home country Germany due to the fact that I’m supporting a club there. The quality of the soccer is not comparable to the soccer in Europe, but then again you also can’t compare the hockey quality in Europe to the quality here. =) I guess both Europe and North America have their own national sports. In the end, the Whitecaps scored two goals and won 2:0. That’s what you call a successful evening!
On Sunday we went to Whistler Village. This village is about 2 hours north of Vancouver and we went there by bus. I did find it very easy to hop on the bus and then 2 hours later you are there, voila! Whistler is known for its nature where hiking and mountain biking are the highlights during the summer season and during winter you can go skiing and snowboarding.
We started the day in Whistler with a short coffee break and then we headed to one of the bike rentals to get some mountain bikes for our activity – biking to Lost lake and Green Lake. We were so lucky with the weather, the sun was shining as we were biking along the trail in the forest. When we reached Green Lake, we totally understood how the lake got its name. The lake is fed by glacial streams and the water was freezing cold but so refreshing. Definitely worth a swim if you are up for it on a sunny day! The location of both lakes had such a stunning view, a big recommendation when you are going to Whistler in summer!
After a great time by the lakes, we went back to the village to return the bikes as we were exploring the village in search of lunch. We bought some classic poutine, salad, a lot of water and some soft drinks to keep us hydrated in the warm weather. In the centre of the village we found a park table with a parasol so we took the chance to have our lunch there enjoying Whistler Village.
For the next activity we went up to the mountain with the Black Comb gondola. It took us about 25 minutes to go up with the gondola, and hey; what a view! We stopped at the first mountaintop taking in the beautiful view before we went to the next gondola, the Peak 2 Peak with a 360 degrees experience which provided a perspective of British Columbia’s rooftop with views of Whistler Village, volcano peaks, coastal rainforests and glaciers. The Peak 2 Peak gondola is 4,4km long which is the world’s longest unsupported span for a lift of this kind at 3.025km height. It’s the world’s highest lift at 436m above the valley floor. So cool!! When we reached the other top we saw the Olympic Games statue shining in the background so we were totally in for another group photo in front of that statue. On the mountain they had a lodge serving coffee, food and other beverages. They even had a game in the centre of that patio which was a lot of fun for us and other visitors. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go up to the face of the mountain where they had a suspension bridge because of preparations for the upcoming winter season, so let’s go to Whistler as soon as the winter season starts!
After a few hours our visit on the mountain reached an end and we decided to go back to the Village with the two gondolas to meet the rest of the group and do some shopping before going back home to Vancouver. I can tell that Whistler is such a beautiful village that offers a lot of sightseeing and activities, so if you are going to Whistler in the near future, I’m sure you will enjoy every second of it, like I did!
We hope you had a great weekend and we hope to see many of you on Pub Night this Wednesday 😀
Cheers
Ida & Tino =)
INTERNeX Canada 