Leaving Ourselves Behind

Well, we’ve been home almost three months now; our wings clipped as we look to move from our condo into a house. We had decided that it was time to balance our lives a bit more – less travelling and more time invested into all the elements of a “real” life – more time with family, grandkids, friends and hobbies. So far we haven’t found our dream house, or even a house that we could turn into our dream house, or even a house that we don’t hate, so the search continues.

In the meantime we are itching to travel somewhere, but common sense dictates that we stay here and finish what we started. It occurred to us that we could take two or three days away without risking our real estate hunt, and so we zeroed in on Vancouver.

We lived in Vancouver in the early 80’s, and although we’ve been back many times, we haven’t recently returned as tourists. Since our kids and grandkids and extended family live in Vancouver, we travel the well-worn path from ferry to their houses and back again; seeing so many of the city’s sites from a distance.

If you’ve ever returned to a childhood home or to a place you lived as a young adult, you will appreciate the disconnect between the past and the present. We wandered the city streets, seeing our younger selves at every turn, but in a different environment. All the tall buildings! All the shiny stores! We were visiting a city we could no longer afford to live in, besieged by memories of a time that is gone forever.

In 1983, we worked in the hospitality industry and in 1983, a waitress and a bartender could buy a house in Kitsilano. We were undeniably house-poor, but it was possible. We cobbled together our meagre savings of $4,000, a government grant of $3,000, and a loan from my parents of $10,000. We bought the worst house on a lovely street for $90,000.

We were thrilled to own a home and worked doggedly on renovating this house, including the not-insignificant job of scraping and painting the entire exterior (done by Stephen). I would put money on the fact it has not been painted since.

This is our house, photo taken a week ago:

This was our carport. we checked the licence plate on the vehicle – it has not moved since 1996, and it would appear that nothing has been done to the carport for at least that long.

We can’t for the life of us figure out why anyone would be sitting on such valuable real estate – the land alone would be worth a lot. It appears to be vacant, and has been that way for years.

These houses are on the same street- just a few doors down. They would be worth a few million dollars and it must grieve them to have this firetrap as a neighbour.

One of Vancouver’s huge attractions to me are the diverse neighbourhoods and the fabulous architecture. It is endlessly entertaining to stroll street after street, admiring gardens, peeking into windows and appreciating the sense of community, with Little Libraries and theme gardens.

I particularly love the little garden scenes that residents create, for the benefit of their neighbours and passersby.

Every neighbourhood has a focal point – Kitsilano is filled with three-story mid-century apartment buildings and craftsman bungalows. The West End is made up mainly of older apartment buildings – many of them leading down to English Bay. I love these well-preserved grand old ladies, with their high ceilings, paned windows and inlay wood flooring – the antidote to the 500-sq.-ft. boxes that populate Yaletown.

One of our very favourite things to do when we lived in Vancouver was to walk or bike the seawall in Stanley Park. The entire seawall is 10 km., and we set out to walk the full length but were thwarted by hunger – we began our walk just before lunch without so much as a granola bar to tide us over. Poor planning.

We did manage about 6 km. of the seawall though – enough to spark a flood of memories. Lion’s Gate bridge in the background.

An iconic Vancouver sight – joggers everywhere and always in shorts, even if the roads are icy and everyone else is bundled up.

You will always want to seek out Asian cuisine in Vancouver – the variety and quality is simply the best. We lucked out with this Vietnamese place – a massive bowl of wonton pho and a pleasant chat with the server, who came by when he saw me looking at the family photos on the wall. He is the youngest of a third-generation family business, and probably responsible for the design update.

Going to Chinatown was an eye-opener for us. Chinatown developed in the downtown core over 100 years ago and for many years was a vibrant centre for new immigrants. However, as Chinese began to move to Richmond, the area fell into decline and while efforts are being made to revitalize Chinatown, it faces a lot of challenges; especially since it borders on the Downtown Eastside.

We visited the Chinese Storytelling Centre, a fabulous interactive museum which is Canada’s first permanent exhibit space telling the story of Chinese Canadians, with artifacts from the 1800s.

Now we certainly knew about the racism that existed (still exists) with new Chinese immigrants, but the stories of the workers brought over to complete the railway were horrifying. They worked almost as indentured slaves, with terrible dangerous working conditions and a high fatality rate, and when the job was completed, they were denied the return passage to China that had been promised to them.

The museum also told the stories of several prominent Chinese individuals and their struggles to be accepted and to prosper in their new country. It made for quite heart-rending reading.

We poked around Chinatown for a bit but aside from some restaurants and a few shops the district felt quite downtrodden.
Buildings like this one were common – a glimpse of their former splendour. Who knows – if a revival of the area is successful, the streets may once again be colourful and bustling.

A typical Vancouver alley – complete with street art and dumpsters. Probably best avoided at night.

I used to love the shops in Chinatown – filled with treasures like tiny dishes, chopsticks, paper fans and beaded purses. Chinatown still has fascinating shops to explore, but they seem to lean more to medicinals, spices and dried fish.

Before the Downtown Eastside became the Downtown Eastside we know today, it was a poorer postal code with a colourful history and filled with such landmark businesses as Woodwards, Wosks and the infamous Army & Navy. The Army & Navy began in 1919, selling surplus military goods and it morphed into a department store that offered clothing and housewares at unbeatable prices.

Not just for the budget shopper, the Army & Navy began bringing in the crowds with its famous annual shoe sale. People lined up to grab shoes – and not just any old shoes but designer boots and pumps and sandals worth hundreds of dollars – to be had for $30 or $40. It was mayhem – I went to one sale and came out with a glorious pair of Italian leather low-heeled sandals with an ankle strap. They were heaven to walk in and always looked gorgeous – how I wish I had kept them to have duplicates made – I have never found another pair of shoes that come close.
An archival photo – I love the fact that people still wrote checks in those days.

Another favourite shopping mecca was Granville Island Market. We went there almost weekly, as the meat, seafood and produce was exceptional and affordable.

I admired this impressively engineered fruit display, but was a little taken aback at the price – $17.99 /lb. for the raspberries.

I loved the flower stands then and I love them now. A wonderful aspect of living in Vancouver – so many corner grocers to grab a bunch of tulips or a houseplant – on display outdoors all year.

Granville Island Market consists of the main food market as well as a number of other buildings housing shops, studios, and restaurants.

The market is also accessible by a cute little passenger ferry that sails back and forth between False Creek and the West End.

Look closely at the little sign in the foreground with a seagull – you can’t read the print but it is warning you about the aggressive tactics of the seagulls as they swoop in to separate you from your food.

We talked to a couple of young women from England – in Canada to work at Whistler for a few months. One of the women had a cookie snatched from her hand by a seagull and the bird had punctured her skin. She was on the phone trying to determine if she was at risk of rabies or avian flu or some other horrible fate, but in the end I think they just headed inside to see if they could find first aid of some sort.

We ended our visit with a tour of the downtown. New to us is the beautiful library, which was constructed to resemble a Roman Coliseum. I love libraries and would haunt this one if we lived in Vancouver. Spacious seating, clean washrooms, soaring ceilings, and lots of attractions other than books – a true meeting place.

Other dramatic buildings nearby.

The Art Gallery. We hadn’t left ourselves enough time to visit it properly, but it’s on the list for next time.

Neon signs play a big part in Vancouver – that delightful juxtaposition of old and new that so defines this city. I think that is something I most admire about Vancouver – its ability to move with the times and change, but also to respect the past and maintain a good mix of both.
This sweet little corner grocery store in the West End is an example of that ethos.

The old dry cleaning business whose walls are adorned with a modern mural.

We left Vancouver with such a jumble of emotions. If we had stayed we would have followed in the footsteps of many long-time Vancouverites – we would have become land-wealthy. We could have helped our kids to buy houses in Vancouver – a door that is almost closed to them now.

At the same time, I really mourn the loss of the Vancouver we knew, and no, this is not a Make Vancouver Great Again lament. I just mourn the loss of a city that at one time gave back to its citizens; it was a city that allowed more people to live better.

If our travels have taught us anything, it is that we are most definitely among the “haves” of the world, and yet, Vancouver makes us feel like “have-nots.” That’s not healthy, nor is it accurate.

Still – lots to enjoy and accept Vancouver for what it does offer. We will definitely return as tourists since we’ve left so much undiscovered. And in the meantime, we will watch our grandson play soccer, go for an ice cream in Queen Elizabeth Park, pick up mandarins at Donald’s market and not live in the past.