Vancouver

May 9, 2013 – May 12, 2013.

Not for nothing is Vancouver’s motto: ‘By sea, land and air we prosper.’

I was whisked into the sky on a scintillating seaplane tour across the city, guided up mountains past grizzly bears to a viewing platform on a wind turbine and soaked to the skin whilst cycling along its delightful downtown waterfront area.

In just two and a half whirlwind days, it became quickly apparent why Vancouver consistently rates highly in various lists of the most liveable cities in the world.

Such statistics often seem meaningless, acting as an easy way to attract tourists and entice people to move to the Pacific Northwest.

Yet Vancouver’s cleanliness and friendliness are striking features and its setting, in the shadow of the majestic North Shore Mountains, simply breathtaking.

Flying in the luxury of British Airways (BA) club class from Heathrow to Vancouver international airport, via Aberdeen, I felt like something of a minor – extremely minor to non-existent – celebrity and I was given first class treatment throughout.

Fittingly, British Columbia ‘s biggest city has long been a favourite for Hollywood with the X-Files television series and many major films located in Vancouver.

When six police motorcycles screeched into the downtown area I thought the authorities had discovered I was a mere sports reporter and deportation back to a not so sunny Scotland awaited.

Thankfully Vancouver’s finest were merely patrolling a cordoned off film set, as armoured clad extras and Swat team vans were put into place during the shooting of a remake of notorious 1987 science fiction action thriller Robocop.

• 

Unlike the film, there were no artificial ingredients on a tour of the Granville Island public market, but with jetlag from the nine and half hour flight setting in I may have resembled something of a cyborg.

From prosciutto to pierogi and salsa to smoked salmon, the food and craft market was full of edible delights from across the world, yet with an emphasis firmly on local produce.

With its distinctive green copper roof, the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (900 West Georgia Street) is an architectural focal point in the spotless downtown area.

The grandiose old building, which has been a city landmark for 74 years, was our opulent base for the brief British Columbia sojourn.

A brisk walk though the city centre instantly showed the diversity of Vancouver with Japanese sushi bars and Chinese eateries particularly prevalent around the Robson area.

An evening of succulent salmon, beef and chicken sliders, washed down with honey lager brewed at the shining Fairmont Waterfront hotel (900 Canada Place Way) concluded a first day stuffed full of fine food.

I had the chance to walk off my pot belly, while still adjusting to the eight hour time difference on an altogether more adventurous second step out in Canada’s third largest city.

Crossing the iconic Lions Gate Bridge into the north metropolitan area of Vancouver was like changing seasons.

It took a mere 20 minutes to swap the serene sunshine of the city for the snow packed North Shore mountain range.

Before rising up the 4,039ft ascent to Grouse Mountain, I paused to take in two grizzly bears.

They lazily pawed at each other, before perhaps noticing the slack jawed Scottish tourist gazing on and promptly staged a shadow boxing session.

From the wonders of nature it was a man made construction that dazzled as we were hoisted further into the sky on the Eye of the Wind – which is billed as the world’s first wind turbine.

At the peak of its small but perfectly formed viewing tower, the wondrous Vancouver landscape emerged: a blur of blue sky, enveloped by snow capped monoliths wrapped around a glass sheet of water with a huge crop of concrete and steel soaring out of the ground.

From one high to another, quite literally, we walked the tightrope of the Capilano Suspension Bridge (3735 Capilano Road) across the Capilano River, 240 feet above the ground.

Scanning the scene out of the corner of my eye for more vigilant police, I made it across unscathed although it is definitely not recommended for anyone with a fear of heights.

Thrilled but tired, a specially prepared banquet at the trendy Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel (1038 Canada Place) awaited.

Innovative young chef Will Lew produced a menu fit for the stars with a succulent sushi bowl to start and delicious dishes of pork and halibut, ending the meal with lemon curd pie.

People make places and the overwhelming hospitality provided by the Fairmont group’s Nancie Hall more than made up for missing out on a Vancouver Canucks ice hockey play-off game.

The perennial underachievers were sunk and eaten up by the San Jose Sharks, but we avoided a similar fate at the Vancouver aquarium the next day.

As I surveyed a fleet of fancy boats – the prized possession of real celebrities no doubt – while cycling like a child just coming off stabilisers along the waterfront at Coal Harbour, it began to bucket down.

From the look of me I could have been sleeping with the fishes rather than admiring them in the expansive aquarium (845 Avison Way).

Penguins pottered about and dolphins dived on demand for the crowds but the most curious creature was the bulky Beluga whale which wiggled through the water.

I had just about dried out when we whizzed into the clouds on a Harbour Air seaplane tour.

The initial giddiness of a rapid ascent subsided as we glided over the plush Gulf Islands to the west of the city beside Vancouver Island.

Tiny houses with tennis courts looked like green floating plates balanced on vast swathes of deep blue and it seemed like an ocean away from the built up city centre.

It wasn’t long before the pulsating panorama came back into view from a completely different vantage point, from the lush Stanley Park to the stunning skyscrapers crammed in tight, jostling for space and admiration.

It is clear that a mountain of money was poured into the area for the 2010 Winter Olympics and downtown positively gleams.

Yet a snappy stroll into the historic Gastown district with its Peruvian restaurants and Native American art shops, and the slightly off putting Chinatown area showed its rougher edges.

Rather than ending on a down note, it showed the contrast of a truly cosmopolitan and captivating city.

The long flight home was eased somewhat with more special treatment in BA Executive Lounges at Vancouver and Heathrow airports before it was back to the real world of fending off frostbite while reporting from football press boxes across the country.

This article appeared in The Press and Journal newspaper (Scotland) on Saturday, September 7, 2013.