So. We made it! Our journey to Vancouver went smooth as silk and we entered the country of brownbears without any hazzard. We are now proud owners of a beautifully crafted, printed 1year Visa which I am already afraid to lose somewhere on the road…

Vancouver greeted us with an icy drizzle but coming from Berlin, we didn’t even notice. What we immediately realized, however, was the extreme politeness of the Canadians. This loveable stereotype seems to be true! “Excuse me, Sir” here, “Sorry for the inconvenience” there and cheerful “Hi there – Bye Now“s everywhere! And we’re not making it up when we’re telling you that we already scored two free busrides! Jeez, Canada, we’re already in love with you. That first night, the jetlag hit us hard and we went to bed pretty much straight after we had checked into our AirBnB.

Naturally, our time in Vancouver didn’t stay as sleepy. Yes, our jetlag drove us to bed early every night but we did walk around all day. In fact, we did a 33km sightseeing-run just yesterday because I guess that’s what happens when we feel like it’s been too long since a decent workout… Click on the picture below to see how we animated our route with Strava & relive (two very recommendable apps).

“Vancity” itself is pretty cool: There are looooads of great coffee shops around and we also loved that it’s a perfect city for biking and walking (nice parks and broad bike paths which are separated from pedestrians as well as cars – Berlin, pleeaaase take a leaf out of that book! Please!). We especially loved the vast Stanley’s Park, the markets on Granville Island and the fact that you can see snowy mountains looming behind the scyline. Yet, we also noticed a great number of homeless people but can’t really say more about this issue without having done any further research…

Industrial “charme” …

Runnind about

View from Stanley Park

What an awesome scenery for a run!

Naturally, we took some breaks in between to enjoy the scenery

Today, we’ll jump on a Greyhound bus straight to Whistler Village. Whistler-Blackcomb is THE biggest ski resort in Canada and internationally famous amongst snowlovers so we’re hoping to find a job there. The prospect of spending the winter skiiing/snowboarding is just too tempting and all staff members get a free season pass as well as discounts on gear rentals and accommodation. Wish us luck! And now lean back and enjoy the first result of the – also very recommendable – 1secondeveryday app. The short clip shows us travelling to Canada and running about Vancouver.