SUN!

Today was the first sunny day in the week and a half that I have been in Vancouver. I was going to try to catch up on e-mail but I decided it was just too nice to be inside. I went Granville Island.

To get there I took public transit. Of the large cities in North America, Vancouver has the lowest rate of automobile commuting. Since my Olympic accreditation lets me ride the transit system for free, I decided to join the rest of the city in a car-less trip.

I caught the bus in my neighbourhood (I just flashed my Olympic accreditation to the driver) that makes a short trip to the new Canada Line Skytrain. The Skytrain in Vancouver is a driverless rail system of relatively short trains--about half the length of subway trains you might be used to in New York, Washington D.C., or Toronto. (Yes, the woman in the front of the train reading the newspaper is not driving.) Much of the system outside of downtown Vancouver runs on elevated track down existing road and rail rights-of-way. The Canada Line is a new line and was built for the Olympics. It runs from the airport to downtown connecting there with the other Skytrain lines and the Seabus. Like in Atlanta and Washington D.C. it is so smart to have a rail system serve the airport.

At the Olympic Village station I transfered to my third form of public transportation--a light rail system. To prove that there is a unique way to sell everything, Bombardier, with the cooperation of the City of Vancouver, has installed a temporary light rail system connecting the Canada Line Skytrain and the Olympic Village to Granville Island. (Bombardier is the Canadian company that makes the Canadair jets as well as light rail and subway rolling stock for systems like New York City.) They brought the trains all the way from Brussels, Belgium to run them as a free trial for the Olympics. They hope that Vancouverites (and the city) will fall in love with them and want to keep them and expand the system. They are nice trains and make it easy for people to get to Granville Island which will be a busy place during the Games.

Granville Island is sort of an island in False Creek on the western side of downtown. It is a delightful collection of older industrial buildings with character that have been converted into retail shops, theatres, restaurants, food shops, and an indoor market. Starting today the free parking on the island ended for the duration of the games so I suspect the light rail system will be busy. You can also access the island from downtown by taking a small water taxi. It is a lovely setting surrounded by water, boats and the city. The Granville Street bridge sails way over your head.

The market was rather quiet on a Thursday morning. I stocked up on food for the next few days.

The restaurant on the island called Bridges (I kid you not--look on the awnings) has been taken over by Switzerland and the Swiss Broadcasting Company for the Games and will be operating as Swiss House. Think chocolate and cheese. Apparently their plans are to sail Swiss medal winners down False Creek from receiving their medals at the Stadium to Swiss House for a celebration.





It was a great day to be outside and do something that all visitors to Vancouver should experience.