Arriving to Vancouver

Flying to Canada for the first time, to Vancouver more precisely, was a different experience for each of us (and I mean a small family of three: myself, my husband, and our son). It happened over 10 years ago. To our son, whose age was still counted in months at the time, this sure was just one of those trips mom drags him on. Being used to be on the go from day one, he didn’t really get all the fuss and so this time around was no different. To me, honestly, there was lots of trying to enjoy it, as much as a young mother could. I’ve been only minimally involved in the planning of the trip and there were simply too many things I didn’t know. Plus, I didn’t really speak English at the time. That loaded statement “you’re changing your life forever” flew by my ears and I don’t recall it. But there was this very sad picture of our parents saying good-bye at the airport in Timisoara, Romania. At the time I didn’t realize how sad their faces were. Even though we were moving to Vancouver from Munich (Germany) we decided to take three weeks off and we went to spend some time with our parents before flying away.

So let’s go back to arriving here. Well, to my husband, this whole trip was a whole different story. As he was watching over the Rockies from his window seat (and it was a beautiful sunny day) I noticed how he was barely breathing. I remember feeling somehow annoyed. He was living a dream, I was too preoccupied with our little son to even get a sense of how big this step was for us. First day of May. I didn’t understand much at the time, even though I thought I did. The plan was to move to Canada, so we were moving. All the invisible wheels turning behind this gigantic mechanism were not my troubles I thought. And that’s how my life has changed. Forever.

A friend was very kind and picked us up at YVR. I remember how different my first impression was. Things seemed small. With heavy eyes I was watching out of the van’s windows at what I thought was really ugly architecture. Of course, I didn’t know it’s impossible to see anything pretty on your way from the airport. Then we arrived at their condo in North Vancouver and I fell in love with the Lion’s Gate bridge view from their balcony. I remember sitting there with a glass of wine starring at it the whole evening. We were so lucky to have such gracious hosts!

Two days later, back on the go, we moved our luggage into a rented car and embarked on a two weeks’ road-trip around British Columbia – our very first Canadian journey. The plan was to stop for the first night at a hidden in the forest cottage on Sheridan Lake, then stay a couple of days in Prince George (as I had to visit UNBC), drive on Yellowhead towards Jasper and the national park with the same name, stop for three days in Edmonton, then Calgary, then stop in Banff for a couple of days. We drove north on the Ice Fields Parkway towards Mt. Athabasca, did some hiking, and came back to Lake Louise (which I fell in love with, forever). On our way back to Vancouver we stopped at Yoho National Park, then spend a night in Revelstoke, and Kelowna was our last stop before returning to North Vancouver. I still remember pretty well many of the amazing Bed & Breakfast locations we stayed at throughout this trip. They have added that local flavor to the evening tea or to our breakfast time, allowing us to engage with our hosts and to learn about the local culture. I recall wondering at the time what was so particular about the Canadian culture. Why do people have so much fun saying ‘eh?’ at the end of pretty much every question? But it’s true, this trip helped us see how huge, how beautiful, and also how delicate British Columbia, our new home, is. Even though I didn’t provide much insight here about our each stay, especially in Prince George, I hope to come back here someday and write more about our first road-trip in Canada.

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