DAY 1 in Canada - if it all continues like this.....

This was in a way our wake-up day after our long trip.  Getting used to Canadian and Pacific habits.  Not difficult at all.  It is not only a nice place here. It is also a place, where you very quickly feel at home :-)   It is in many ways very European - but also very different.  The time difference of 9 hours from home is the most striking different. In order to be aware of that I have decided to carry two watches:  on the right arm with Canadian-Pacific time and on the right arm with Central European time!

 The name Vancouver ( the stress is on 'cou, when you pronounce it correctly ) comes from the British naval discoverer George Vancouver ( 1757-98 ).  He traveled with his ship all over the Pacific coast around here and made it a British possession. Therefore, you find his name - not only in this city, but as the name of a smaller town in the State of Washington in the US just south of here and also of Mount Vancouver in Alaska.

 And the province here is called British Columbia. Why Columbia?  This was at the time a poetic female name for the new world, the Americas.  That's why you meet the name in many contexts over here.

 The city of Vancouver itself has today about 650.000 inhabitants. And greater Vancouver is about 2,5 million people, about half of British Columbia.

 Our foot excursions today brought us to several places, not least a fantastic and very lively restaurant called Steamworks Brewery.  Their own beer and also the food was very nice. Our waiter was Irish, and the menu was dedicated to Oktoberfest.  So do not claim, that Europe is not present here!

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