Inside Vancouver

Vancouver Bar Photo contest: Win free dinners for a year

by Remy Scalza in Events on May 14, 2012

Photo credit: vacantready | Flickr

When I wrote recently on Vancouver’s favourite hotel bars, one name came up over and over again in comments: O’Doul’s – the jazz bar on Robson Street.

Sadly, O’Doul’s days are numbered. After more than 40 years, the bar and restaurant are closing their doors at the stroke of midnight on June 2. No more live jazz. No more fancy little appies (What other bar serves smoked buffalo carpaccio?). No more artsy refuge for hep cats on Robson.

But don’t despair yet. To celebrate its long history, the bar (part of the Listel Hotel) is hosting a unique photo contest. If you’ve taken a snapshot or two at O’Doul’s over the years, now’s the time to dig out those old photos. Continue reading:
Vancouver Bar Photo contest: Win free dinners for a year

All-Star Concert with Sarah McLachlan: Rick Hansen Celebration 25, May 22

by Remy Scalza in Uncategorized on May 11, 2012

Photo credit: RickHansenFoundation | Flickr

Twenty-five years ago, Rick Hansen made his way around the world: in a wheelchair.

Left paralyzed below the waist after a childhood car accident, Hansen set out from Vancouver in 1987. He logged more than 40,000 kilometers in 34 countries in his epic two-year odyssey, raising $26 million for spinal cord research in the process.

This year, Hansen – a dedicated activist who has since raised more than $250 million – has been busy commemorating the 25^th anniversary of his original tour with trips around the world.

Now, he’s about to return to Vancouver for an all-star concert. Continue reading:
All-Star Concert with Sarah McLachlan: Rick Hansen Celebration 25, May 22

Summer Snapshot: 2012 Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival preview

by Remy Scalza in Events on May 8, 2012

Photo credit: John Biehler | Flickr

Each summer, Vancouver hosts the biggest Pride parade in Western Canada: Hundreds of colorful floats and more than a half-million spectators jam downtown streets to cap off a weekend of street parties, beer gardens and summer fun.

Details are already being released, and this year’s festival is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ever. The 34^th installment of the summer classic features a full line-up of Pride-themed events, culminating in the parade Aug. 5. Here’s a preview of what’s in store for you early planners out there: Continue reading:
Summer Snapshot: 2012 Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival preview

Haunted Canyon? Ghost-hunting at Hell’s Gate Airtram

by Remy Scalza in Family Friendly on May 7, 2012

Photo credit: KyleWiTh | Flickr

When Simon Fraser, the great fur trader and explorer, first stumbled upon British Columbia’s Hell’s Gate canyon in 1808, he declared: “This was a place where no human being should venture.”

From the raging rapids of the Fraser River, sheer rock walls rise to a height of more than 1,000 meters. Over the centuries, hundreds of miners and railroad workers plunged to their doom here.

It’s no wonder the place is haunted today.

Ghost sightings are a regular occurrence at the Hell’s Gate Airtram – a gravity-defying cable car that zips visitors across the canyon at dizzying heights. In recent years, guests and staff have reported all sorts of paranormal activity, from mysterious shadows to objects falling off shelves.

Continue reading:
Haunted Canyon? Ghost-hunting at Hell’s Gate Airtram

Yaletown’s Secret Garden: Emery Barnes Park Opens

by Remy Scalza in Green City on May 4, 2012

Vancouver has plenty of big, eye-popping, mind-blowing parks, from the primordial forests of 1,000-acre Stanley Park to the manicured flower beds of VanDusen Garden.

But it’s the little parks – the unexpected green spaces in the midst of all the urban sprawl – that really set the city apart for me. I’m talking about all those tiny, one block parks and gardens cherished by neighbourhood residents but pretty much unknown to everyone else.

In Yaletown, that secret green oasis is .39-hectare Emery Barnes Park. Dwarfed by 20-, 30- and soon-to-be 40-storey condo towers, Emery Barnes officially opened last week: an unlikely island of green in a concrete jungle. Continue reading:
Yaletown’s Secret Garden: Emery Barnes Park Opens

Vancouver Bar Photo contest: Win free dinners for a year

All-Star Concert with Sarah McLachlan: Rick Hansen Celebration 25, May 22

Summer Snapshot: 2012 Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival preview

Haunted Canyon? Ghost-hunting at Hell’s Gate Airtram

Yaletown’s Secret Garden: Emery Barnes Park Opens

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