Vancouver Art Gallery | Emily Carr | Canadian forests | Vancouver Island

Culture
"The Vancouver Art Gallery is really beautiful and very intimate. It exposes people to Canadian artists - not just native First Nations artists, but Canadians who immigrated at the turn of the century and painted some really beautiful canvases. Especially Emily Carr. Before Vancouver became such a cosmopolitan city, she caught the nature of it that was raw and beautiful. Some of her pieces remind me of Georgia O'Keeffe's in their study and colors. Everybody should see her work. She really is a Canadian treasure."

Snack
"There's nothing like Canadian salmon. The best place to get it is Portuguese Joe's Fish Market on Vancouver Island. It's an institution. Joe [Veloso] is a Portuguese fellow who's owned it since I was about 6. His sons are now running it. It's very rustic and has the best chunked smoked salmon on the planet. It's like candy. Joe's is a takeaway place and they recently put up a little coffee stand so you can get a cup of coffee, too."

Nature
"The Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve is the best place to experience the great Canadian forests. It's about a half-hour drive from downtown Vancouver, and it's sensational. There are trails, old ruins of houses, brooks, little waterfalls, everything. It's like an enchanted forest. You'll see history there: nature's history, not man's history. You're walking along these trails, but to the right and left of you is just absolute wilderness. There are some sections where there's hardly any light because the forest is so thick."

Dinner