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Overview Presentations Conference Activities Travel/Lodging/Meals Other Sponsors |
Basic Facts
Vancouver is the most populous city in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located approximately 230km (143 miles) north of the American city of Seattle. In the summer, the weather is mild (22°C average maximum daily temperature) and dry.
The Canadian dollar is the official currency with the following
approximate exchange rates:
| Currency | Value in Canadian dollars | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| US $ | $1.11 | ||
| Euro | $1.43 |
Why Vancouver?
There are several reasons why the Python Workshop is being hosted in Vancouver. The formost reason is that Vancouver is home to a very decidated group of Python developers, including several Python luminaries such as David Ascher (author of Learning Python and the Python Cookbook), Andy McKay (creator of ZopeZen and author of The Definitive Guide to Plone) and Paul Prescod (prolific Python author, educator, speaker and advocate). Furthermore, the Vancouver Python community is growing quickly so Pythonistas from around the world should find kindred spirits in Vancouver!
Secondly, Vancouver is a fantastic city for visitors. The Vancouver metropolitan-area population is approximately 2 million and has all of the museums, restaurants and clubs that you'd expect from a city of that size. What sets Vancouver appart is how it seemlessly blends the natural and the urban. On a peninsula adjacent to Vancouver's downtown core is 400 hectare part. Stanley Park is a haven for joggers, cyclists, inline skaters and people simply out to enjoy it's mixture of natural evergreens, beachs and formal gardens. Stanley Park is also the site of the Vancouver Aquarium, which is home to 60,000 animals. Sea kayaking is also a popular activity in Vancouver. And False Creek, an inlet separating downtown Vancouver from the rest of the city, is an perfect place for kayaking beginners. Canadian goods and services are also very affordable, due to the low value of the Canadian dollar compared to the United States dollar and the Euro.
Visitors with a bit of extra time might also want to visit some of areas surrounding Vancouver. Suprisingly, Whistler, which is world famous for it's skiing, is actually more popular in the summer than winter. This is due to it's wide variety of outdoor activities including fishing, horsebacking riding, mountain biking, hiking, canoeing and kayaking. For those not willing to travel the 115 kilometres from Vancouver, there are several less well known mountain resorts and river adverturing groups located right outside Vancouver.
Vancouver Island is also worth a visit. It is home to Victoria, British Columbia's capital, which is known for it's excellent shopping and cultural opertunities. Vancouver Island is also a great base for whale watchers, sea kayakers, and hikers. It is also the site of some of the best SCUBA diving in the world. Vancouver Island can be reached from Vancouver by helicopter or though a scenic two hour ferry trip.
For for information on Vancouver, see it's Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver.