THE CANADIAN PRESS

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk gives the thumbs-up to the city of Vancouver.

"It's like a mini New York City," the American athlete says in a video posted on the new Google service Favorite Places. "It's really exciting, it's all relatively new - lots of shopping, lots of restaurants, only an hour or so outside of Whistler . . . And the Olympics are coming soon, so it's only gonna get better."

Hawk's love affair with Vancouver - and with such places as Tokyo, Australia's Gold Coast, Carlsbad, Calif., and Phuket, Thailand - is highlighted on the new website where celebrities and others list their preferred destinations.

Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore cites Bishop Glacier at B.C.'s Mount Garibaldi as one of his faves. He visited with his wife, Tipper, and says that her photos of the glacier (linked at the website) are "an amazing documentation of the climate crisis."

Charles Veley of San Francisco - considered by many to be the world's most travelled person, according to the website - vacations in Tofino, B.C., each summer. Ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau likes Lake Superior, Lake Titicaca and Bora Bora.

Google says it invited hundreds of local experts around the globe to map their favourite places, from obscure hangouts to world-renowned landmarks.

Others listing the preferences on the site include cellist Yo-Yo Ma, oceanographer Sylvia Earle, surfing champion Lisa Andersen, chef Ferran Adria, pianist Lang Lang, artist Maya Lin, deep-sea explorer Robert Ballard and author Paulo Coelho.

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On the web: google.com/favoriteplaces