A touch of Glass
Claire Hewitt drinks in all the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of Vancouver
Shimmering in sunlight, its mirrored skyscrapers sparkling like diamonds against a backdrop of mountains, it’s no wonder Downtown Vancouver is known as The City of Glass.
And there is no better place to take in that panorama in all its splendour than from Queen Elizabeth Park, which sits on Little Mountain, the highest point in the city’s West Side.
Created from a disused rock quarry, and spanning 130 acres, it has so much more to offer than views of the city. It’s worth taking a few hours to wander around its formal gardens, featuring specimen trees and plants from around the world. When I visited in spring, the blossom trees in the arboretum were in full bloom, providing a pink paradise to explore. And if that was anything to go by I suspect the rose garden when in full summer bloom is something to behold.
The park’s Bloedel Conservatory, a temperature-controlled dome housing tropical and subtropical rainforest plants such as orchids and banyan trees, is a must, as much for the exotic birds that live there, including macaws and cockatoos. They all have names, and be careful what you say to them – they talk back.
My favourites were the Chinese pheasants, easily spotted wandering around in the undergrowth with their yellow