Vancouver - The Chosen One

You might wonder why I decided to name the article in this specific way. The reason is simple – the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic games. Yes, that’s right. On July 2, 2003, the International Olympic Committee selected this Canadian city as the best to host the 2010 games. Athletes, spectators, sport fanatics – they will all come to enjoy a few weeks of pleasure in this little urbanized paradise. The Olympics are one of the most wanted events, with the European and World football championships, and the honour to be chosen to be the host city is extremely prized.

Vancouver is a Canadian city found in British Columbia. The estimated population of the region as of 2001 is around 600,000. Although, the official languages in Canada are French and English, in this city the most spoken ones are English, Chinese, Punjabi and German. As you can see, this is a multilingual cosmopolitan place where everyone can get along. It is located in the Pacific Time Zone.
This is a place a person can enjoy throughout the entire year. It doesn’t matter if it’s Summer, Autumn, Winter or Spring – Vancouver has the parks, mountains, bays and people to make you feel good. There are over 12 leash-free parks only, can you imagine how many more are there when you don’t bring your puppy with you?

There are many things to view in the City of Vancouver. First of all the Olympic venues near the City itself are not a small number: Canada Hockey Place, UBC Thunderbird Arena (also known as the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre), Vancouver Olympic Centre and the Pacific Coliseum. They are all very accessible, as is the entire city. Then we must note the incredibly different and specific buildings and locations, the Vancouver Aquarium, the Museum of Anthropology, VanDusen Botanical Garden, Queen Elizabeth Park and especially the famous Stanley Park, which is one of the most visited locations.

One of the most prized characteristics by the local politicians is the accessibility. In 1990, the city was the very first to provide scheduled bus service to people with disabilities. The transportation machines of all Lower Mainland are 100% accessible, so are all rapid transit stations of SkyTrain (except Granville Street).

When you visit the City of Vancouver or Canada anyways, it is recommended that you use local currency. The Canadian Dollar can be exchanged banks, certain companies, offices of foreign exchange brokers and members of the credit union. However, it would be better for you to have the money in you when arriving, because some restaurants, merchants, hotels and other of the kind accept US or other currencies at a pre-determined rate, which may differ from the daily one, announced by the financial institutions.

You might want to check all rules and regulations of the city before visiting. One of the most spread habit is smoking, so here is some information: Within the City of Vancouver, smoking is forbidden by law in all indoor public spaces and within six metres of an entryway, window that can be opened or any other air intake opening of a building. To be sure – check for locations and places with the smoking sign.