Happy Halloween!

I believe that I am constitutionally obliged to say "Happy Halloween" being in the USA. Halloween is certainly a big - and commercial - event here in America. Dressing up appears to be de rigeur - and not just as ghosts or witches. The hosts of the Today Show on NBC this morning dressed up as fairy tale characters - not sure if this work work with the Today Programme in the UK though...

Books & Bushes

Arrived into Portland Wednesday evening on the Amtrak Cascades train. After my earlier comments about American trains this one, disappointingly, didn't have the acres of legroom that you usually get. However, it did have leather seats (even in standard class) and showed a film during the journey so it is not bad considering it only cost me $44 to get all the way from Vancouver to Portland!

For my first day in Portland I headed out to Powells' bookstore. This is the largest independent bookshop in the US, taking up a whole block. I found that, had I been in Portland earlier the day before, I could have attended a Guardian event on the elections there. Never mind! After that I went to the Museum of Contemporary Craft, which had a great exhibition on using everyday items in unexpected ways, including a display of cotton reels which, when you looked at it through a glass sphere, became a classic Campbell's soup tin!

After lunch I walked through the Tom McCall Waterfront park. Now this, apparently used to be an expressway - it sounds very green that it is now a park until you see that there is still a fairly large road next to it! Then, to continue with the book theme of the day I visited the central library in the afternoon, before going to the movies to see "W" - a surprisingly sympathetic biopic of George W Bush by Oliver Stone.

So much more than TV Times...

One of the interesting aspects of Vancouver is the TV situaton there. Being close to the border there are both US and Canadian stations available. However, they protect the market for selling US TV shows into Canada by ensuring that the station switches to the local station with the rights when the show comes on. Therefore, on Monday night the "local" NBC affiliate switched from City TV to Global TV as it moved from "Chuck" to the new "Heroes". What this does mean, though, is that the job of a Canadian TV scheduler must be quite dull, as it mainly covers reading TV Guide to see when the US show is on and flicking the switch.

By the way, if you ever thought that dancing on Strictly Come Dancing was bad, you'll be glad hadn't seen Dancing with the Stars in the US. Last night saw Cloris Leachman (an actress) finally leave in week six. In the UK contest she would have made someone from GMTV look good. Even in the group dance (an old-skool hip-hop dance!) she had to stand at the back as she couldn't take part actively. See here for her taking part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVmnk6aF_40. However, fair play to her - she is 82!!! What's noticeable compared to the UK is that even this dance gets 5's all round - there's definitely vote inflation in the US!

Stopping in Seattle

How's about this for a holiday experience - using wi-fi in a trendy Seattle coffee shop. It's just the kind of place Frasier Crane would frequent (if he ever went down the "wrong" end of town that is - I wouldn't recommend the station area as a "must see"!). It's even called Zeitgeist! Am in Seattle as the stopping off point on my journey from Vancouver to Portland - the bus got in an hour early so I have 2.5 hours to wait! Only another90 minutes to go though...

The Englishman who went up a mountain to find it still being built

Vancouver maintained its batting average with another beautiful day Tuesday. I started the day by heading to the Vanier Park. Here I walked around the area and visited the Vancouver Museum, which told the story of Vancouver over the years. One of the best exhibits there was a proper 50's/0's jukebox which you could use and play music of the time on. Another impressive item was at the end of a special exhibition on Stanley Park, where they had two screens of photos of the park streamed from the internet, and some "viewpoint" looking stations which you could use to select the picture you wanted to see in more detail and have it come up on a big screen.

After lunch I headed across town and caught the seabus to North Vancouver. From here I took a bus to Grouse mountain. Here you took a cable car up to the top of the mountain for views of Vancouver and other attractions. Getting to the top, the views weren't that clear (despite signs to the contrary at the bottom) as the city itself was quite hasy. However, the actual area was a big letdown. They had the builders in (preparing for ski season no doubt) which meant that a lot of areas were fenced off and those that weren't had diggers etc working around them. Whilst I appreciate that it is off season, to not even be able to walk to the peak due to building was a bit much, particularly as it was still full fare (nearly £18!)! Still, managed to look around a bit, take some photos, see two bears who were living on the edge of this building site and watch a film of aerial photography before running out of things to do and heading back to town.

Is it summer?

Another beautiful day here in Vancouver - slightly warmer than it has been as well. Walked across the river to downtown this morning, with the first destination being the Vancouver Art Gallery. Here there is no permanent collection on display but a collection of special exhibitions. At the moment the main focus is on feminist art (am obvious exhibition for a single male to visit!) - it included some good abstract art, but also in parts seemed as if it had been curated by a man...

For lunch the weather was so good that I was able to sit outside in a t-shirt. It was a good job the colours on the trees showed it was autumn, as otherwise I wouldn't know! After this I had a wonder through the main shopping district in the downtown area before stopping of at the Vancouver central library. This is an intriguing building built in a "Roman Colosseum" style. It apparently has a "green roof" as well, but you weren't able to go up and have a look at it!

Walking by water

For my first full day in Vancouver I headed by bus to the waterfront area of town. Vancouver's growth over the years has been based on its role as a port and today it is still important, particularly for the cruise industry. First stop was the Vancouver Lookout! Harbour Centre Tower which gives 360 degree views across Vancouver. Given the number of towers I went up last year in Japan I couldn't pass on the opportunity! Also in the area was a steam-powered clock which was a slightly odd sight with the steam almost obscuring the clock-face!

Next was a visit to Canada Place. This was built for the Expo and is the stopping off point for many of the cruise ships, although none were in town today. It did, however, give a good view of the water planes taking off and landing. This was followed by a walk along the sea wall to Stanley Park. Here's a large green area on the edge of downtown, incorporating many walks and lots of wildlife. I saw some raccoons, as well as squirrels and many types of bird on just a short walk around the "lost lagoon".

An interesting innovation at the Lookout tower was that your ticket was valid or the whole day. This therefore enabled me to head back there after having some dinner to watch the sun go down and to get a view of Vancouver at night. Better than one occasion in Japan where I sat in a tower for the best part of an hour waiting for sunset to happen!

Under the bridge

Greetings from Canada! After an early start to catch the train (although, given the time difference from home, I was up with plenty of time) I caught the Amtrak Cascades line up from Seattle. The train, whilst relatively slow (4 hours for 140 miles) was a comfy way to travel. The legroom on US trains is superb - I certainly can't complain and that's saying something. There is nothing comparable in the UK. There were also some great views - if you were sitting on the left-hand side of the train. Unfortunately I was on the right...

Got to Vancouver and found my hotel. After some trouble with a last minute cancellation of the room I had booked through Octopustravel, I had booked a hotel last minute. Location-wise it was a little further out than I would have liked, but it is not too far and OK for the price. After checking in I walked over to Granville island, which is close to the hotel. This is a curious place, a mixture of arts community and cement works, with the main bridge to downtown cutting over the island. Still there were several galleries (both commercial and student art) to visit and a fantastic indoor market with all sorts of great-looking fresh produce (no kitchen, so no cooking, so no purchases, I'm afraid!) which, coupled with the weather made for a great afternoon.

Sleeping in Seattle

After the problems of getting to the airport, the flight over was smooth going. Only issue was the delay caused by the Queen returning from Slovenia & Slovakia just as we were ready to take off!

Seattle last night was only a stopover - time to grab a burger and get some shut-eye. This morning I take the Amtrak train to Vancouver. I'll see you from there!

Of T5 and transit trouble

It wouldn't be a holiday without some form of travel trouble. I start my North-West American Adventure on the hard shoulder of the M32 just outside Bristol - my bus breaks down (having been late due to technical issues) and we end up leaving Bristol about 1hr 45 later than we should be. Through this some poor customer service from National Express who (a) sent us out on a dodgy bus and (b) did not communicate AT ALL with the passengers during the time we spent sitting on the hard shoulder. Even the back-up bus appeared to get lost reaching us...

Anyhow, made it eventually to the new, shiny T5. They seem to have ironed out a lot of the issues, although finding departures from the bus depot was near impossible. Am now in a lounge (makes a nice change!) - all very swish even if it is just a "satellite" lounge (T5 is actually three terminals). Just a few minutes before the flight opens and I can get on my way. See ya later!