by Steve MacNaull My wife and I visited Vancouver and we didn't want leave. Maybe it was the perfect weather. Or the freshest seafood and quaffable wines. Those jogs and bike rides around Stanley Park. The masterpieces at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Or simply staring at that scenery of mountain meets Pacific Ocean meets skyscrapers. Whatever it was, three days wasn't enough. Vancouver is getting this reaction more and more as it glows in its post-Olympics tourism boom. Fellow Canadians and foreigners alike are discovering what a West Coast gem Vancouver is. “We're always going to be best know as the stunning city where the mountains and ocean meet,” explains Emily Armstrong of Tourism Vancouver. “But I think all the Olympic coverage also showed that we have an incredible lifestyle here that's urban with the outdoors so close. And it certainly busted the myth that Canada is always frozen.” True that. One of our strolls brought us to English Bay, a downtown neighbourhood featuring a huge plaza with palm trees. That's right, palm trees in a Canadian city. The weather here is mild enough year round to sport palm fronds and that unique blend of South of France vibe with Canuck style. Oh, did I mention this is in the same area as a wide swath of well-used beach and outdoor cafes? While the ideal weather prompted us to walk everywhere, jog and cycle the aforementioned 400-hectare Stanley Park and wobble across the Capilano Suspension Bridge, perhaps our hesitancy to leave comes from our long sessions sitting. From our perch on the balcony of our 19th floor room at the Westin Bayshore Hotel we witnessed the choreography that is the downtown Vancouver waterfront. Located at the edge of Stanley Park and Coal Harbour, the hotel provides a sublime vantage point to watch the steady stream of dog walkers, joggers, cyclists and rollerbladers coming and going from the park. All this with a backdrop of cruise and cargo ships, pleasure craft and float planes buzzing in and out of the harbour. Seated at Coast restaurant we experienced the Pacific Rim cuisine Vancouver is becoming famous for. The atmosphere is casual, but the menu is serious listing beside every dish on the menu the name of the fisherman who caught it, the name of the boat he was on and in what waters. Foodies will also want to take in the massive Granville Island Public Market and eat every meal and take coffee at outdoor tables with incredible views. We also sat a spell at the Vancouver Art Gallery, which is currently showing masterpieces by Renoir, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec on loan from the Museum d'Orsay in Paris. While Vancouver is supposedly famous for its rain, surprisingly it's remarkably sunny, dry and warm in the summer and fall, making this the prime time of year to visit. The rain tends to come in a constant drizzle through the winter and spring. --30--