While sitting in a just landed plane in an airport, one can’t predict what a city will be like. Well, for Vancouver, that was not true. It was raining. The little sockets in the plane, ‘windows’, were full of thin streaming water lines. The run way was dark due to the water stain. The sky was frowning with the dense, dirty and dark clouds. It seemed almost out of a Hollywood movie. While this climatic theme was surrounding my arrival in ‘Raincouver’, what changed my perspective right away was the people living in the dark city. 

In every essence, the light of this city doesn’t come from the sun, but from the people and their lifestyles. Big smiles, conversations longer than expected, eye contact longer than strangers hold, clothes brighter than any city with 70 - 80% rainy weather conditions - these were a few things that got my frowned face drifting towards a sunny smile face.

Vancouver, even though a rain prone city, is a very outdoor oriented place. Bikes, skateboards, long boards, roller blades, surf boards and water sports equipment is everywhere. There are hiking trails that had bus stops at the entry points. The architecture of the buildings is just inviting. Even the homeless have a thing going on and own a part of the city where they can be themselves. 

Calgary and Toronto are big cities too, but they are big due to their commercial and financial opportunities. Vancouver is big due to its lifestyle opportunities. Everyone I met was happy doing whatever they were doing, even the homeless. The city is full of ‘Cheech and Chong’ characters with their hippie vans and fizzy unmanaged beards and glowy faces. “People here are living in a different dimension, totally oblivious of the realities of 21st century.” I imagine, Hunter S. Thompson would say something like this if he saw the downtown population. He would probably say this while smiling, with a smoke pipe pinched between his lips, thinking - what a great city. 

Really, what a great city. City with no highways, but bike friendly roads. City with a downtown of residence high towers instead of commercial sky scrapers. If Canada was a house, Toronto would be the home office, Calgary would be the living room, Montreal would be the guests room and Vancouver would be the Backyard. 

There is so much more about this city that I felt in the past few days that I can’t share. But I do know one thing, Vancouver is the most lively and refreshing city to live in, in Canada. I still haven’t seen whistler and other towns close by and I surely am certain to come back here to check them out, perhaps on a bike.