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We first went for a walk into the Punjabi Market section of Vancouver. Based on wikitravel, it sounded like it would be cool. In reality, it was two blocks of dress/fabric stores (which were cool) and import stores selling ethnic plastic and figurines (which sucked). Oh well: we got some neat pictures of the clothing and a vegetable stand.

One of today's highlights was riding the entire Millenium Line. It basically goes through the eastern suburbs of Vancouver, and really showed us what Transit Oriented Development could look like: small pockets of density clustered near rail stops. So instead of having highrises near the downtown core and decreasing density outward, TOD ends up creating pockets of density: perhaps a dozen 15-story buildings clustered in a half mile from the station. There are still conventional sprawling suburbs elsewhere, but this gives an alternative to a very large dense area like New York has.

After riding the Millenium Line, we went to the waterfront area. It's mildly touristy, but also connects residents with the ferries to North Vancouver. We wandered around for a bit, then went to the Marine Building. Tamara knew it was a great building from the Art Deco era, but had no idea how great it would actually be. It turned out to be fantastic! We spent some time roaming the building, taking pictures inside and out. The interior was a little difficult because of lighting, but we loved the nautical theme and the richness of colors.

The elevator lobby reflects the Art Deco period and the optimism of humantiy towards machines: it looks like a cathedral to architecture, very much in the style of Howard Roark in The Fountainhead.