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TRAVELING IN THE GREEN LAND
PART 2
By DAVID CAMPICHE
FOR COAST WEEKEND
This is the second installment of a two-
part series about the author’s recent travels
in the Northwest. The first column explored
Seattle; this column focuses on British Co-
lumbia cities Vancouver and Victoria.
S
ome people consider travel the
ultimate adventure. Crawling out
of Seattle’s morning traffic, we
headed north to Vancouver, British
Columbia. One shouldn’t confuse travel
with getting there. The transit was fierce,
but for our aggravations, we would be well
rewarded.
Vancouver is a nexus of immigration,
a city bursting with some of the finest
Asian cuisine in all of North America. The
metropolis is bursting with people from
many diverse cultures and nationalities. It
is a colorful city. It is relatively large. In a
major city crowded with restaurants, even
the smells taste good!
Our neighbor to the north, like the U.S.,
has a history of attracting immigrants
seeking new opportunities, a chance to
get ahead and/or secure safe asylum. This
makes for a very diverse and colorful pop-
ulation.
Vancouver
Any visit to this silver-hued city (it was
foggy and raining on arrival) must include
the exploration of the Native American
collection at the University of British Co-
lumbia. The collective tribes of the Cana-
dian coast produced (and still produce) art
work of world distinction. The carvings,
generally from tight-grained cedar trees,
are remarkable in scope and craft. They
throw my imagination into cartwheels. The
university’s collection is large and magical.
Hundreds of masks and totems and sil-
ver-carved jewelry of bears, eagles, whales,
even frogs, caress the imagination. Plank
longhouses and sleek cedar canoes and
loads of historical information line the halls
of this museum.
The next day, a walk down Hornby
Street exposed the Vancouver Art Museum
and the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest
PHOTOS BY LAURIE ANDERSON
LEFT: Looking down Hornby Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, one can glimpse the water and mountains through clouds that flank the city.
RIGHT: Viewed from any angle, the Parliament buildings in Victoria, British Columbia, are an imposing structure.
Coastal Art, fine shops and cuisine, and
a tea house around the corner on Georgia
Street that surpassed our expectations with
the grand cru teas and one of my favorite
meals ever. The Vancouver Art Museum
had a show of more than a hundred pieces
from the contemporary Coast Salish artist
Susan Point. Here is a woman in her prime,
a force representing her people and an in-
spiration for all artisans. Her works weave
together past, present and future.
Also featured and running until Dec. 3 is
an extraordinary collection of Emily Carr’s
called “Into the Forest.” Carr is a local trea-
sure, a woman forever linked to the fertility
of nature and love of Native peoples.
Aside from all the art and Mario Corsi’s
divine pasta (Red Lion Bar & Grill in West
Vancouver), there remain thousands of
galleries, Chinatown, exploding markets
with fruits and vegetables, meats and sea-
foods, shops galore, fat with consumables.
There is a colorful, exultant and defining
aquarium situated in lovely Stanley Park, a
Garden of Eden in a city surrounded by 2.5
million human beings. This city is seduc-
tive like a dangling salmon lure. And so
blew by two happy days. Had it been three,
my stomach would never have survived.
Victoria
Through the Gulf Islands, we traversed
by ferry, trundling through waterways both
narrow and expansive and always captivat-
ing, painted on this day with broad swaths
of quicksilver and gilded spume.
In the midst of urban sprawl, Victoria,
British Columbia, remains a sweet city.
We arrived by water, were surrounded by
water, and two days later, left by water,
feeding our wayward souls with good pub
food, East Indian delights (Masala Bites),
and healthy veggie cuisine at Rebar. We
ate an impressive plate-lovely breakfast at
the stately Empress (though felt that the
famous tea was overpriced) and, later, la-
dled in mouthfuls of gelato on Government
Street.
The second morning merged into the
basket of delights at Buchart Gardens.
Don’t miss it. Here are ideas to be carried
forward for decades. No matter what time
of year, this garden amazes.
Never to overlook is Victoria’s Royal
British Columbia Museum. No museum has
exhibited more elegantly the contribution of
artwork and culture of these First Peoples
than this provincial museum. I have person-
ally visited here more than a dozen times
and never failed to grow my appreciation
for a culture that nearly disappeared into
the Canadian mist. Today, the force and
talent of these First People will continue to
inspire us.
Appraisal
Vancouver and Seattle are clogged with
humanity. Victoria is smaller and more
intimate, but ultimately will face many of
the same challenges. As deserts expand in
Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and southern
California, folks are beginning to follow
the water. Witness Astoria, the new darling
of the Columbia-Pacific region. I, too, have
seen my world change, some for good,
some for bad. The question remains: What
will be our future?
The great Haida artist, Bill Reid, left a
towering legacy. His namesake gallery on
Hornby Street in Vancouver is a revelation
and joy, and his words are inspirational.
Reid was an optimist, who, in the time
of desperation, carried his people on his
back. Such leaders are rare, but consistent
with history and time. Revelations come to
those who dare to have them.
Get in your car and travel north-by-
northwest. CW