Vantastic Voyage

A couple of observations:

-- Security: Anticipating trouble in the aftermath of the Canada/USA hockey game, the city put limitations on alcohol sales. The cops were also out in full force. There were close to 10-15 officers on every block monitoring the belligerent crowds.

There were fewer cops roaming the streets Monday -- or so we thought. Apparently, there were numerous undercover cops outside of the Hudson Bay SuperStore. When a drunkard fell over on the street outside the store and attempted to pull down a woman's pants, the undercovers swarmed him.

-- Smells: There are just too many in Vancouver for me to describe, but I’m going try to describe a few.

My greeting to Vancouver was the stench in the hostel – a mix among fish from the neighboring restaurant, body odor from neighboring Europeans and, well, the stench of the hostel itself. Of course, there are the street stenches -– the four p’s: puke, pot, pee and pizza. If you are lucky enough to walk a few blocks in the morning, you can certainly smell all four in a matter of minutes. If I’m lucky, I can leave here with the memory of good smells, preferably Canadian maple syrup and pancakes.

-- MORGAN GOERKE