Whistler-Blackcomb

So we started off our skiing adventure on Blackcomb and Whistler Mountains - changing daily the mountain or during the day thanks to the Peak2Peak Gondola. The first days the weather was very snowy and windy.

Great for us, the last two days it cleared up - at least in the valley.

But on the peaks, there were still heavy winds and flurries, so we hurried up to get lower and did some gladed runs through the trees with great powder - going "off piste" is not an offense, it is a MUST!

I didn't know that 7th Heaven is that cold, so I better stay on earth:

Skipasses: big paper passes with a rubber band (very old-fashioned), staff is scanning them at the valley stations. Most of the staff on the lifts, schools, hotels and lodges is from foreign English-speaking countries like Australia, New Zealand, England, but you can also find Germans, South Africans and other nationalities. It is said that a collapse of the skiing industry in Canada could cause a serious rise in unemployment figures in Australia.

Hours of operation: 8:30 to 3:00 (depending on month)

Lifts: 3 gondolas incl. Peak2Peak, several 4-seater chair lifts (only one with bubble), some smaller chairs and some T-bar lifts.

Trails: different labeling system (more on that in Sun Peaks) and not all of them are groomed at night. There are trails for every ski type - just there could be more runs to the valley as the handful there is gets really crowded in the afternoon.

Snow: mostly powder, and if not it was very nice soft snow that you can even handle easily after a long day of skiing.

Specials: Mountain hosts offering you a free orientation tour - our host took us to the powder bowls and through the trees.

The only animal we had seen.

Whistler Village in the evening

www.whistlerblackcomb.com

Our adventures live on video - enjoy!

Vancouver to Whistler: Sea to Sky Highway

We went back to the airprt, picked up the rest of our luggage and rented a car - a Mitsubishi Outlander. We stored our luggage inside, switched on the GPS and moved in direction of Vancouver. We entered Stanley Park, crossed the Lions Gate bridge and hit Highway 99 "Sea to Sky".

Lions Gate Bridge

Unfortunately, the weather was very bad - raining all the time and visibility very low. So we did not see much from the splendid coastline. The only viewpoint we made use of was Shannon Falls. From the parking lot we walked a nice forest way uphill to a platform from which we saw the falls.

Shannon Falls

forest way

The recreation area near the parking lot also had a stone walled toilet house, but they had hung up the following sign:

So instead, I used one of the following huts:

The highway that is not an "Autobahn" but more like a "Bundesstraße" (federal road) we were allowed to drive a maximum speed of 60-80 km/h (there should be some parts which are 100 - where?). On the way, we also saw a lot of interesting signs - here is one of them:

Around 11 am we arrived at Whistler, got our ski passes and off we went to the mountains.

Review: Barclay Hotel, Vancouver

General appearance

The hotel looks nice from outside and lobby, but if you venture beyond you see the corner where it's worn.

Location

The Barclay Hotel is on Robson Street - the runway of Vancouver. Even it's several blocks from the SkyTrain, you reach it within 15 minutes.

Room

Our room was small and cosy with two beds looking oout on a side street. Bathroom was a bit unclean, but okay for one, two nights.

Room 322

bathroom

Breakfast

There is a breakfast offer for less than 10 CAD in the adjoining "The Den".

Other

Nothing.

Vancouver, B.C.

Two flights (Munich to Montreal 8h30 and Montreal to Vancouver 6h00) brought us to Vancouver in British Columbia - due to the weather in Munich & Montreal and strong headwinds we arrived only after midnight and we checked into Barclay Hotel on Robson Street at 1:30.

Starbucks on Robson

Nonetheless, we were awake quite early and had breakfast at Café Crêpe. Besides this franchise, we saw a lot of Blenz Coffeeshops and uncountable Starbucks. As we found out later there 47 Starbucks in Downtown and about 250 in all Vancouver. On Robson Street there are at least 5 and two are facing each other on one crossing. So enjoy your coffee.

Entrance to Marine Building

Stomachs filled, we headed to the waterfront looking for some landmark buildings: Marine Building, Canada Place, Vancouver Lookout. Canada Place is formed like a cruiseship and functions as a terminal for the same. From there we saw a seaplane start and head off to Victoria on Vancouver Island (capital of BC).

Canada Place

Back downtown we joined a guided tour run by Steve from TourGuys who led us through downtown and Gastown and told us a lot of stories and history. So if you ever go there, check out their website www.tourguys.ca. It's free and they only work for tips.

According to Steve Vancouverites like to protest and have a riot from time to time - most interesting: public weed smoking in a central place on Victor's b-day, naked cyclists block a bridge once a year (the other months they do it with their clothes on) and the riots took place after the Stanley Cup losts in 1994 and 2011.

Tourist shop in Gastown

The tour ended in Gastown - named after Gassie Jack (a pub owner who brought the first alcohol to Vancouver. It's the oldest part of town, but not everything that looks old is so. Much of it was put there to keep the image with the tourists up. The steam clock is a good example - it's neither old nor running by steam. A lot of the older city buildings are heated by steam and as this builds up pressure you will find everywhere in the city steaming poles, tubes, flower baskets and the steam clock.

Steam Clock

After the tour we moved on to Chinatown. There, the preparations for Chinese New Year were on and a lot of people were at the bank where we cashed the traveller checks. Then we took a break and entered Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Classical Chinese Garden - a serene spot in the middle of the city.

Chinese Garden

We found another old culture on the premises of the University of British Columbia next to the Museum of Anthropology - the totem poles of the Haida and other first nations villages on the coast of British Columbia.

Museum of Anthropology

Haida totem poles

Granville Island Public Market

In the evening, we walked passed the neon signs of Granville Street to the water and strolled from Coal Harbour with the private yachts to Stanley Park. On the way back to the hotel we did some grocery shopping at a Safeway - prices for food are quite high in Canada. So we just bought the essientiels for a quiet dinner in our room.

Granville Street

Coal Harbour

My bags are packed...

... I'm ready to go

I am flying away to the land of snow.

I love to call you up to say goodbye:

I am leaving on a jet plane

Don't know when I will be back again

Oh friends, I love to go

So this is the start of our three weeks Ski Safari through Canada's provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Stay tuned for mountains, pictures, videos and masses of snow.

Vienna

This weekend I headed east on the trails of Sisi, Mozartkugeln and Wiener Schnitzel.

Late Friday evening I arrived at my friend Lena's place in Vienna. Saturday morning we started our stroll around the city with the Hundertwasser House. Hundertwasser was an artist who liked the unusual and disliked straight forms and lines. The perfect form for him was the circle.

All through the city you could find different kinds of street art:

Dustbin sayings

Metro wall poetry

Next stop was the Stadtpark, but all the fountains and flowers were already gone for wintertime.

Then we marveled at Karl's church on Karl's place before we moved on to Naschmarkt (fresh food market). There we bought fish, olives and nuts.

Sacher Cake from Hotel Sacher

As we walked on, we passed by some monumental buildings housing museums and some little huts that got erected for Christmas Market. In front of the city hall we even encountered the first open Christmas Market with hot wine, punch and all the season's sweets.

Hofburg

Then we crossed the ring road into the centre walking through the castle and found also the shopping streets decorated for Christmas even we still had six weeks to go to Christmas Eve. We visited the Dome and then had some Austrian food.

Sunday Lena took me to see Castle Schönbrunn a bit outside the city. I enjoyed the guided tour and think I have to read up on the Habsburg kings and queens, especially on Maria-Theresia, Franz Josef and of course Sisi, the Bavarian girl who married the Austrian prince and became queen.

Castle Schönbrunn

Carriage Museum

Lena had booked a table at the famous Figlmüller for lunch. Here they serve the original Wiener Schnitzel that will be to big for your plate. If you do not manage to swallow all this delicious piece of meat, the staff is well prepared and will hand you paper and a bag to carry the remainders home.

With my stomach full I bid Lena farewell and drove back home to high fuel prices and foggy days.

Frankfurt - Mannheim

Saturday morning I left early for my first AIESEC Alumni Germany assembly as a board member. It took place in the Opera Tower - one of Frankfurts many banking towers. We had a good view and interesting discussions.

Opera Tower

View on Frankfurt's skyline

Opera House

After dinner I moved on to Mannheim to visit Sindhu there.

Castle of Mannheim

Sunday she showed me around town. We went to the Technoseum which is like a playground for small and big kids. There were buttons to press, strings to pull and much more. After walking around Luisenpark we took the elevator up to the TV tower from where we enjoyed a good view on the city.

Technoseum

View from Mannheim's TV tower

The late lunch we took in the city center at a Bavarian restaurant. Then we walked back to the main station where I boarded my train home.