Angelika: For a long time, we wanted to pay a visit to our Canadian neighbors in the far north. In April, it finally happened. We boarded a plane and headed to Vancouver, Canada, as so many people had praised this city to the skies. Canada is often lumped together with the USA, which understandably annoys Canadians. It's true that many things are similar: for example, we were surprised that the English in Vancouver sounded just like it does in California--our ears couldn't detect a Canadian accent.

The tipping customs are also interchangeable. When you go out to eat, the guest patiently waits for the hostess to lead them to their table. The bad habit of not including taxes in the final price is something Canadians are familiar with as well. There are two different sales taxes: the federal one and the one for the respective Canadian province. If you drink alcohol in a restaurant, a dubious alcohol tax is added. Taxi drivers groan about the high taxes just like everywhere else in the world, and the obligatory American coffeehouse chain "Starbucks" can be found on every corner. On the other hand, Canadians have achievements like a national health insurance for everyone, and Vancouver offers a public transportation system that reliably runs on schedule. Upon arrival, we immediately noticed that Vancouver is much cleaner and less "run-down" than American cities of comparable size.

Despite these friendly conditions, we couldn't avoid the Canadian border control upon entry. Before the terrorist attacks in America, it was apparently quite easy for American citizens or Green Card holders to enter Canada. But those days are gone. So, we dutifully presented our German passports and American Green Cards. Otherwise, we behaved as if we had never stood before an officer of any immigration authority. When we were asked what brought us to Canada, we both initially remained stubbornly silent, only to start speaking at the same time, which immediately made the officer behind the counter suspicious, suspecting that we hadn't coordinated our stories. However, we quickly convinced her that we only wanted to enter Canadian soil for purely touristic purposes.

On the return trip, we immediately stumbled upon another "immigration trap." Right at the check-in counter for Alaska Airlines at the Vancouver airport, we noticed that there was no conveyor belt for our luggage next to or behind the counter. "Strange!" I thought to myself. And then the friendly lady, while handing us our boarding passes, asked us to step behind the counter with our luggage, exactly where the luggage usually disappears. There were no further explanations. So, we strolled down a corridor with our luggage until we stood in front of the duty-free shop, where another lady in uniform was standing, asking for our American customs declaration.

This completely confused us, because you usually fill these out at the earliest on the flight, since after all, we were still in Canada. She then pointed to small desks with the forms and instructed us to return to her with the completed form. Said and done. After she had examined the customs declaration, we were allowed to trudge through the duty-free shop with the customs declaration and our luggage and suddenly found ourselves in front of the counters of the American immigration authorities. At first, we thought we were in the wrong movie. Just to remind you: We were still in the Vancouver airport. But no! We were, so to speak, already entering the USA again in Vancouver. Behind the immigration counters, they finally took care of our luggage. In San Francisco, we thus saved ourselves the passport control and landed directly at the terminal for American domestic flights.

Otherwise, we were surprised by how hyper-modern Vancouver is. Everywhere, architecturally sophisticated skyscrapers tower into the sky, and construction is happening at a rapid pace. Vancouver, as we were repeatedly told, is booming, and everyone wants to live here. However, we missed a bit of the old and cozy charm. There is a tourist-oriented "Old Town" and also a Chinatown in Vancouver, but it doesn't quite compare to San Francisco's Chinatown. For us, the city's appeal lay in its natural beauty: surrounded by water, with mountains as a backdrop, and a huge park, Stanley Park, right in the center of the city. We particularly enjoyed cruising around on the water with the small ferries that operate like taxis, taking you from one point to another. And we had to admit without envy that Vancouver can certainly compete with San Francisco in terms of culinary offerings. The restaurants we visited were diverse and excellent.

• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Colorful life
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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Colorful life
  	Record of the Month
  	"Don't call it Frisco"
  	Cars in California
  	Top product: "Goo Gone"
  	San Francisco Views: Noe Valley