Our short flirtation with Vancouver is almost over... : ( With one crying eye we are preparing for our departure, since there is simply too much to see to stay monogamous for much longer. The plan is to at least attempt to scratch the surface of British Columbia with our next stop being Whistler. We are leaving early in the morning to catch the Greyhound - it's only a 2 1/2 hour drive. Coincidently and funnily enough we gonna stay in the same accommodation as the Olympic Team did this winter/spring. I guess Whistler is only this big, hey. Even though famous for being a world class ski resort I am sure Sascha and I find something to do that does not involve any snow.
Apart from making lots of travel plans - (we decided that we couldn't resist the temptation to cross the U.S. border after all...but more about that soon to come...) we also invested a bit of time into exploring Vancouver's beaches. Easily enough they are called 1st, 2nd and 3rd beach - as I mentioned before - you neither have to be smart nor over 5 years old to be able to figure out this city...if only life could always be this simple. All three of them are lovely and have a very special atmosphere. It seems that after 5pm the whole city migrates to the beach to have BBQs, play guitar, sing, dance, exercise, laugh and simply enjoy each other's company.

Other than that, Sascha and I found out what the city's nickname "Hollywood North" entails...For three days in a row we've been tumbling into film sets. One time they went to great lengths to make it look as if the scene was shot in Boston with different police cars and everything.

Another highlight of our stay and a famous Vancouver legend (his name has been mentioned in the Lonely Planet Travel Guide in various editions) was our tour guide Erik. The fact that he led as through the beautiful scenery of the Grouse Mountain and the Capilano suspension bridge was almost secondary - what really impressed us was his personality, attitude and life style. A few months shy of his 70th birthday he was fitter than our entire group taken together. He climbed, jumped, talked, pointed out stuff - without being out of breath once. Instead he happily chatted away about the fact that he had such a crab childhood that the only thing he wanted to do as a young boy living in Copenhagen was to immigrate to a country far, far away from all the drama...Funnily enough I could somewhat relate to that...Anyways, he was decided to go and live in Australia - but that never happened! He saw one picture of Vancouver in a shop window and that was all it took to convince him. He's lived in Vancouver ever since and has been working as a volunteer for the city for many years, doing two 9-hour guided tours a week. All unpaid...and it seems he couldn't possibly be more content and happy. During the past 15 years he's never fallen ill or canceled a tour- and to be honest, even though magnificent, I am not surprised. This man utterly loves what he is doing and I have rarely come across a person that seems to get as much satisfaction out of his/her livelihood (even whilst getting paid for it)...Well, you can tell I was deeply impressed by Erik - the fact that he had traveled to 84 different countries and went around the world four times catapulted him right into my top ten of role models : )