Please register for wowOwow

First Name: *

Last Name: *

E-mail address: *

Password: *

Confirm password: *

Zip/Postal Code:

Birthdate:

Newsletter subscriptions

wowOwow Weekly Newsletter

Sign up to receive wowOwow's weekly newsletter and get our best picks delivered right to your inbox. Our newsletter content is hand-picked by the wowOwow editorial team and provides the top features, news, and commentary from our site. Subscribing to our newsletter is free and safe. We will never share your email or other information with a third-party without your direct consent.

By registering, you indicate that you have read and agree
with our privacy policy and terms of service.

View
Results

69 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Who picked these cities?

By kermie b on 06/11/2009 12:14 am

e-mail alert

Give me Vancouver hands down and be assured I would be more than happy. The city is downright beautiful, the climate not too cold or too warm, and the people charm me. Could you be bored there … I mean ever ? One look at its location on the map and you will know that the very ease of travel assures that many of the world’s natural beauty spots lie a hot and a skip away. Ski? Just the drive to Whistler is a joy to the eyes … and then its hot-stopping beauty any season of the year would attract me (and does, as a tourist!) My thoughts go to the cedar-planked very long Capitano suspension bridge hanging high over their river and its rain-forest and I can picture myself there. Oh, the places to dine … all the choices … and Seattle and Portland is just a hop and a skip after you have run out of gorgeous places to lift your spirits even further.

The other cities? I know each of them well enough to guide a tour through them, but while English is spoken in the European cities, I will never ever be fluent in languages. The Australian cities each have their own charm and are wonderful to visit, but they can be too darn hot and each is rather isolated in a very large continent. . . and so color me very very happy in Vancouver.

By joan larsen on 06/11/2009 12:52 am

e-mail alert

I was in Vancouver & Whistler last fall, wonderful, both ! Took a seaplane up over the Sea to Sky Highway to the mountains and glaciers, heaven. Loved Victoria also, clean, clear, flowers, sky & water.

I loved Zurich also, and Vienna ….. But I don’t have time left to LIVE in any of these cities, too many I haven’t seen yet. I just hope we can keep on traveling so I can have a meal, see a sunset and stay in a wonderful hotel in a few dozen more ! Time’s a’ flyin’ !!!

By EKA - on 06/11/2009 1:04 am

e-mail alert

Hi EKA . . . my own thoughts are your thoughts exactly. As long as there are places to go and people to see -as that lyric goes — I want to experience all I can. And to me, half the fun is reading and planning about the few upcoming spots in the months or year or so before you are underway. Searching out the small museums, the beautiful sights far back from the super highway, the works, are in the end what often sticks with you. In Melbourne, my goal was to get into the law courts and actually go to the place where the wig and gown were furnished. I was welcomed, my questions answered, and to actually see the courts in session - so different feeling than our country - still remains a highlight. No one I know has done that - even in England. And I too love the "Englishness" of Victoria … and oh! the Butchart Gardens are hard to beat. All this makes me want to be on the road now. . like you.

By joan larsen on 06/11/2009 5:35 am

e-mail alert

I live in WA and I’ve always tried to get over to Victoria whenever I can (though it’s been far too long since my last visit). It’s a beautiful, vibrant city, and so British! If you haven’t already, plan a visit during the holiday season. It’s simply magical!

The only bad thing about actually living there is I wouldn’t get to stay at my favorite B&B. The Empress is wonderful for high tea, but Abigails is more intimate and has the most incredible gourmet breakfasts! So if I moved close by, I wonder if they’d mind setting an extra place each morning? Or maybe they’d deliver? :)

By KatyDid Wells on 06/11/2009 12:19 pm

e-mail alert

KatyDid … You are a gal after my own heart, thinking ahead. And I always say - because it works - nothing ventured, nothing gained. Breakfast should be doable - just promise you will give them plugs in the newspaper:-) I love Washington, but having BC so close is like frosting on the cake! Joan

By joan larsen on 06/11/2009 8:24 pm

e-mail alert

Victoria I describe as Disney without the rides, so quaint and cute and clean. One of the most relaxing places I’ve ever been!

By C. Aune on 06/11/2009 8:48 pm

e-mail alert

Ah Joan, and grab the Via Rail ad lib, would be wonderful. Equally, north on the Pacific, Gibsons region, is one of the most incredibly beautiful places in the world. But, the rain is not for me, forever.

By C jay on 06/11/2009 11:02 pm

e-mail alert

Ahh, Carol, The Sunshine Coast … and as always, you are ten steps ahead of me - even on travel. Where have I not been in this wide world that I truly would care to? A question asked more frequently lately to be honest. And you have answered it. We have talked about Vancouver Island in general and its offshoots, seen from the ground and the air, but never traversed - which for me is saying a lot. I too dislike rain, much as I understand that the intense green that I DO love has to come from downpours - many and often. But your suggestion WILL be the goal, once I am off and running — or even walking at a decent pace again. . which, from the looks of it, may take some time. . but I am very optimistic nonetheless. Just impatient.

Thanks, Carol — actually a goal is a lifesaver. And again, you have provided me a good one!!!!

By joan larsen on 06/12/2009 2:48 am

e-mail alert

Joan -

Yes! The Sunshine Coast - few people know of it. For now, Joan - for you a wrapped lifesaver to be enjoyed at a later time. (Or shall we say, "Candy Kiss"?).

Let me know when you "go" - I have friends living right there - on the Pacific! You may take my place - my wheels somewhat ground me; however, I’ve been told new ones are in the offing that will protect myback with more power adjustments! In the interim, I’ve been put on no-swimming status (the only way I excel in motion) but, alas, there’s never a reason to stop dreaming.

(Incidentally, those friends’ home is ADA!)

Hugs again.

By C jay on 06/12/2009 7:45 am

e-mail alert

Hi Joan,

I would choose Vancouver except for one thing………as you say it’s a knock out City………

I was there in 1986 at the World Fair……..I spoke to a Taxi driver and said Wow I’d love to live in this City.

His response was "Not in the Winter" he said it rains so much the cold gets into your bones. He said he and his family were miserable in the Winter. I haven’t researched this.

We were traveling in our Motor home and stayed at a Park beneath the Capitano Suspension bridge.

I’ve never been to a City that was so clean. Flowers every where. The Citizens really out did themselves for the World Fair. You know I think it had another name, but I still think of it as The World Fair.

Oh to be as lucky as you………to have traveled to all those City’s mentioned. You are a lucky woman Joan.

By Dona Howlett on 06/12/2009 7:34 pm

e-mail alert

Dona … I too am not fond of the damp, much less downpours. My own choice is to live inland, not on the water anywhere, for that reason. There are some towns close by — not suburbs — but within an hour or less which is what my commute is to Chicago now, and I have the best of all possible worlds. I am sure such a combo could be also in place east of Vancouver — and I actually have thought it all out. As for visiting the cities, each stands alone. None like another, each with its own culture, its own charms, its own appeal. I am blessed to have had the opportunities almost drop in my lap — and then to make the most of each of them, squeezing their plusses to the very limit on visits. I am forever thankful that life has provided me as well as it has done for the memories are with me and absolutely glorious! Joan

By joan larsen on 06/12/2009 9:47 pm

e-mail alert

I’ve been to all these cities…….but the idea of living in any one of them is not a happy thought. If I HAD to choose, I guess it would be Vancouver. But I sure would hate all that rain.

By Andrea Brandon on 06/11/2009 2:08 am

e-mail alert

So true, Andrea. I live in WA state and those gray, rainy days can get quite old…

There are plenty of people who don’t mind the rain. Some even learn to enjoy it (after all, that’s why these places are so green and lovely), but frankly, I’m not one of them! :)

By KatyDid Wells on 06/11/2009 1:32 pm

e-mail alert

Don’t get me wrong, WA state and Vancouver are lovely places with lots of fun things to see and do - but I really do like my sunshine. And not hassling with my hair [which is allergic to rain, I swear].

By Andrea Brandon on 06/11/2009 2:05 pm