The Aquatic Center in Vancouver
When I’m traveling, I seek out certain home pleasures. And one of those is swimming. I’m here in Vancouver, visiting with Jeremy. With a little research on the web, I was able to find a great place to swim–the Aquatic Center. It’s not every place that has a 50m public pool. On top of that, it has a large skylight, so that while I was swimming–at least today–the sun was beaming in. It’s hard to top that. At least, when the temperature outside means that it’s only polar bears who are swimming in the ocean. [And I mean the human ones, not the threatened ones–Vancouver isn’t that far north!] And, having traveled a bit in the U.S. and finding it a bit of a challenge to find a place to swim, it was also a pleasant surprise to find that the cost was not outrageous. It was about $5 today, and there are several times a week when it’s only $2. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised that the Aquatic Center closes in the summer–at the point where the weather really is warm enough for people to use the various outdoor pools around the city. One of the things that’s even more amazing to me is that the people who swim at the Aquatic Center seem to take a moment to assess whether they should swim in the “Slow”, “Medium” or “Fast” lane–and, by and large, they seem to get it right. I don’t mean complain about my fellow U.S.A.nians, but it seems that when I’m swimming in the U.S., there are a fair number of people whose attitude is, effectively, I’m swimming here, and if you don’t like it, tough luck for you. Another minor, but real, convenience for me as a visitor is the fact that there are lockers available. On top of that, they take a quarter to lock–and they give the quarter back when I’m done! I suppose it’s all of a piece with the luggage carts in Vancouver airport being free. There are times when I think that I don’t live in a civilized country.
Tags: British Columbia, other lands other customs, swimming, Travel, Vancouver
Bob
May 27th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
I love “U.S. Anians.” What a wonderful term. And if there are times when you think you don’t live in a civilized country: you’re right! Big hugs and cheers from your not-so-distant girlfriend.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Some Canadian friends pointed out that it’s a bit presumptuous of us U.S.A.nians to call ourselves “Americans” as though there were no other people residing between Canada and Chile. A different friend suggested U.S.A.nian to remedy the lexical gap–it has the advantage of being legible, and pronounceable, and, once people get the hang of it, quite clear. I fell in love with it at once.