Walking around Vancouver’s Stanley Park

Vancouver, a town located in the Canadian province of British Columbia, overlooking the northern Pacific Ocean, it takes its name from a British explorer, Captain George Vancouver.

Thanks its commendable urban development, Vancouver in 2010 was classified, by an international study, as the first in the world for quality of life. Moreover the presence of the Pacific Ocean “gives” it a mild climate, unlike the other major Canadian cities, and this aspect allows this area to have a luxuriant vegetation.

Surely, one of the most important contributions to the livability of the town, is due to Stanley Park, a spectacular park! It is classified as a city park because it borders the old town but in reality it has many features in common with the most beautiful national parks of Canada. It covers 405 hectares and it was inaugurated in 1888 by Frederick Stanley, the sixteenth Earl of Derby; at that time he was Canada’s general governor and Canada was part of the Commonwealth.

This park is composed primarily of a beautiful forest with about half a million trees high 70 meters, its main features is the dam that stretches for over 14 miles on perimeter of the park. Cyclists love this sort of promenade that Stanley Park has in the inside and then there is the Pacific Ocean outside.

Every year more than 8 million people visit the park, another significant feature: it has about 200 kilometers of paths and roads that are constantly patrolled by a special unit, the Mounted Police.

But the park’s attractions are not over …  Brockton Point where you can admire some authentic totem, carved by ancient native of British Columbia to honor their ancestors.

In Stanley Park it is also possible to play tennis, golf and swimming.There are also several children’s entertainment such as a water park and a miniature railway. And then there is the impressive Vancouver Aquarium, the largest in Canada, which, more than 50 years, houses in spectacular basins, aquatic species of our planet.

I am “devoured” by envy towards lucky residents of Vancouver…and I leave you with a short but “deep” thought: perhaps in a wonderful park like this it’s possible to do something more than the simple walk mentioned in the title …

T H E   V I D E O

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