Summer Highlights - Welcome to a
Sizzling British
Columbia
by Judi Lees
Fragrant, spring days, followed by dazzling, warm,
summer ones, herald a season of celebration in Vancouver offering a
banquet of new attractions and special events. It promises to be a sizzling warm-weather season
in Vancouver!
Sit under the mammoth blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau at Concord
Pacific Place in Vancouver to experience one of Canada’s most renowned
and best-loved presentations.
Cirque
Du Soleil has returned to Vancouver
for the second time in a year because of the overwhelming audience
response. Until June 13, audiences will thrill to Quidam. Pronounced
‘key-dam’, it is a Latin word for an anonymous passer-by, someone living
lost amid the crowd. As always, Cirque Du Soleil will fascinate with a
glamorous presentation of breathtaking aerial contortions, colorful
clowns, amazing, ongoing antics all set to stimulating music. It is not
to be missed.
Elsewhere in Vancouver, the buzz on the streets is about two new
attractions -- what’s going on under the busy routes of Gastown as well
as what is happening in North Vancouver treetops.
Located underground and opening June 1 is
Storyeum: A Magical Mystery
Tour. On an enchanting, ‘virtual’ journey that entails live performances
and storytelling visitors relive British Columbia’s past. Once
transported by elevator, guests move back through time, strolling a
salmon stream, into an ancient forest, stop at a Long House, board a
tall ship and there are visits to a gold rush village and a rail road
town. It’s a little like moving from one dramatic movie set to another.
Meanwhile at
Capilano Suspension Bridge there is action in the
evergreens. The new Treetops Adventure sees non-vertigo sufferers
venture along 200 metres of walkway strung throughout the trees for an
eagle’s eye view of this verdant green space. Visitors have always
flocked here to cross the wood-and-cable bridge that hangs 70 metres
above a rushing river and steep canyon. Now, the multi-functional park
that also boasts totem poles, interpretative walks, gift store and
restaurant, adds this swaying walk amid lofty evergreens as well as the
new ‘Cliffhanger Walk’ that borders the canyon’s edge.
Vancouver visitors now have the option of an easy day or weekend
excursion to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
Harbour Lynx is a high-speed,
comfy, passenger ferry, that takes 80 minutes for the harbour-to-harbour
trip. You arrive at the prettied up waterfront in Nanaimo and everything
from fine restaurants, galleries, antique shops, historic points, and
museum are close-by. There are six departures daily.
In Vancouver, the latest addition on the spa scene is geared to guys.
The Absolute Spa in the Fairmont Vancouver Hotel, Canada’s first men’s
spa, opened April, 2004. Macho males who lust after deep tissue body
massages and pedicures no longer have to wear women-size robes in a
pampering pink atmosphere. The Absolute Spa boasts pedicure chairs with
video games and computers where stock prices can be checked plus a décor
rich in earth tones.
From the tried-and-true to the spanking new, British
Columbia’s attractions are synonymous with a good time. Discovering
British Columbia is as easy as calling toll-free 1-800-HELLO BC (North
America) or HELLO BC (435-5622) in Greater Vancouver. This reservation
and information service provides free help and advice in planning a trip
to British Columbia, from travel ideas and tips to booking your
accommodations, tours, and transportation. You can also order your free
copy of the BC Escapes™ Getaways Guide. And be sure to check out the
Tourism British Columbia web site at
http://www.HelloBC.com.
