Good god, where do I begin to describe my Canadian experience? I’ve been back a week now and only just caught up on my sleep / felt the hysteria of it all begin to subside.
Well, first impression: Canada is beautiful. Well, the parts I saw of it anyway. Which were: Vancouver, the stunning Sea-to-Sky highway up to Squamish (where Chris and Luisa live), and on to Whistler (famous ski resort) and Pemberton (previously unheard of tiny town of about 3000 people, now getting its first festival which will feature, among other people you may have heard of, Coldplay, Jay-Z and NERD). Vancouver was a great mix of urban town in a mountain and harbour-front setting, with a laid back pace and a stylish vibe. Luisa and I did a LOT of walking both days we were there, taking in sights like Stanley Park, Gastown, the Lookout Tower, Kitsilano and Granville Island.
On the second day we met up with Chris, and had dinner prior to the amazing coastal drive up to Squamish. The sun was setting, the Howe Sound was sparkling, and the mountains and islands behind were silhouetted artistically. Their new home is simply stunning; swapping a one-bedroomed flat in Hackney for a three-bedroomed bungalow on the outskirts of a small, mountain town was always going to be a good idea. They have a huge decked yard, right next to a massive rockface which is continually swarming with climbers, and live in the shadow of The Chief, a huge granite monolith that it is almost compulsory to climb. So I did. More on that later.
Basically, though, Chris and Luisa’s new life is all about the outdoors – ski-ing in the winter, mountain biking and hiking in the summer, and a lot of hedonism all year round. Their new town may be small (16,000 residents) but it has AMAZING places to eat (I ate the best sushi I’d ever had in Sushi Sen) and a lively social scene (so I’m led to believe). But their good friends Conrad and Danielle live an hour and a half away in Pemberton, and gatherings occur there and in Whistler on regular occasions. Canadians do love to ‘party’.
