Vancouver, Part 2

Day 2 in Vancouver was hot, but the skies were still fairly blue.  A few of the fires had started by this point, but the smoke hadn't made its way into the city.  We spent most of the day in Stanley Park.  The 1,000 acre park covers the entire peninsula northwest of Downtown.  It is huge.  Most of the park is dense forest made up of cedar and fir trees with numerous hiking trails running through the middle of it.  We concentrated on the outer edge of the park though - the 5 mile Stanley Park Seawall loop.

Vancouver Harbor

While standing on the Seawall taking pictures of the harbor, I looked down to step back off the wall and by chance noticed these little guys just below the edge.

Canada Geese - A whole family of them!

There were two adult geese and three babies.  I'm assuming mom and dad as one was quite a bit larger than the other.  Mom watched us very carefully, and dad followed the babies everywhere they went.  We photographed them until they headed back towards the water.

A short walk along the harbor, and we also saw a raccoon.  It was quite far away without my larger lens.  I tried cropping it a bit, but it was just too far away.  Though he's easier to see if the photos are enlarged.

Nine First Nation totem poles are displayed in Stanley Park.  These are from various Coast Salish areas in the region.

Lion's Gate Bridge from the lighthouse

Brockton Point Lighthouse

Lions Gate Bridge from the Seawall

After the park visit, we swung by the Vancouver Public Library.

Robson Square is a civic center and public plaza that leads into the art gallery. 

The art gallery hosted a Thai Festival that set up around this beautiful fountain.  

It is fairly noticeable in the photos that as the day progressed, the wildfires got worse, and by early evening the sky was white.  By the next day it was grey and the smell set in.  The next day was also the Women's World Cup Finals, and Vancouver was a zoo...full of Americans.  Our hotel was only a few blocks from BC Center Stadium, and while coming back from having lunch nearby chanting and cheering could be heard.  Game time was still a couple of hours away, so we walked in its direction to see what was going on.
Gobs of Americans (or those cheering for the US Team anyhow) paraded in droves down Robson Street, which leads right to the stadium.  We probably watched them for about 5 minutes and they just kept coming.

 Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) we didn't have tickets to the game, so we went to a bar and watched it instead.  By the time the game was over and we left the bar the sky was yellow, so I put the camera away until we got to Victoria.

Vancouver, Part 1

As mentioned in the last post, the first morning after arriving in Vancouver we had an overview tour of Downtown.  I didn't know what to expect upon the visit, but I wasn't expecting how incredibly modern it is.  Historic architecture is smattered about, but so many of the buildings are tall, fancy and glassy.

H.R. MacMillan Space Center

One of the places most recommended to me was Granville Island.  Granville Island is located on a peninsula across from Downtown.  It has a huge public market, bars, restaurants, shopping, theater companies, art galleries, and the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.  Tons of photo op spots, but also tons of people.  

The flowers on this trip were INCREDIBLE.  The Granville Island and its Public Market was just the start.

Oh, the Hydrangeas!  

Standing at the public market looking towards the Burrard Bridge over False Creek

Brazilian artists "Osgemeos" painted these silos at the Ocean Concrete Granville Island site.  The artists are internationally known for their public space art.  

My favorite neighborhood in the city was Gastown.  It is Vancouver's oldest neighborhood - probably why I liked it - founded by "Gassy Jack" John Deighton.

The Gastown Steam Clock was built to cover a steam vent in the 70s.  

Dinner at the Lamplighter might have been the most delicious meal of the trip.  

The Europe - Hotel built in 1909, designed after the Flatiron building in NYC

It's important to notice how gorgeous the sky was in these photos.  As the wild fires flared up, the sky went from blue to gray, and then to yellow by the time we left for Victoria.  There were 185 forest fires burning when we left on the ferry.  A good sky makes for a good picture as far as I'm concerned.  The remaining posts will show the sky get progressively worse, along with my photos.  

A Tour

While traveling with a tour group has a lot of conveniences (prearranged transportation, help from a tour guide, and bag assistance), moving through a destination in a giant group of people like a swarm of bees is not my cup of tea.  The recent trip to Vancouver was essentially unplanned other than flights and hotel rooms.  That's my favorite way to travel.  The one thing that you miss out on with independent travel is the tour guide information.  I do like to hear the ins-and-outs of a new place and its stories, and that's not as easy to come by when traveling without an organized group.  That's why I always try to sign up for a short city tour within the first day of arriving in a new city.  It's nice to get the lay of the land so to speak and hear about the highlights that might warrant learning more about.  And in Vancouver and Victoria that's just what we did.
On both city overview tours, the guides were very good.  They both gave us chance to see where everything was in relation to hotels.  The best part though was the stories, the crazy history behind each city.  These are stories that aren't in the travel books or on the travel websites.
The thing is, I wonder how many of them are actually true.  After our drive around Vancouver, the guide had us laughing out loud with tales about the people behind each city.  And that reminded me of another story I was told about tour guides.  A work colleague of mine worked as a tour guide in Hollywood and at Universal Studios when she was in college.  According to her, all the tour guides she worked with often embellished their stories and sometimes even made them up altogether.  Most people probably wouldn't know any better.  My Canadian history is spotty at best, so I wouldn't have known any better if our tour guides were pulling our legs.  I have to admit that to me, some history is like watching paint dry, but most of it is like listening to a really great story.  I wouldn't think they'd need to make it up to make their talks interesting.  On the other hand, maybe they're just messing with the tourists.

...And Home

After a week in Vancouver, I have arrived home!  The bags are unpacked, the laundry is in the washer, and I am happily sitting in my own bed (Isn't that always the best part about coming home?). The trip was lovely, but with their UNUSUAL heatwave and several wild fires nearby I have this to say about Vancouver...It's just like LA, only cleaner and the people are nicer.  :)  The 700ish pictures taken are currently downloading.  I look forward to going through them and sharing my favorites.
Home Sweet Home!

The Sketchbook Project Hits the Road

Back in January, I shared that my sketchbook for this year's Sketchbook Project was finished and sent off to the Brooklyn Art Library.  Once summer comes, the year's worth of sketchbooks take to the road, making stops at cities across the US.  A couple of years ago, I attended their event at a gallery in Silver Lake.  It was fun to view my sketchbook as well as others in the project.  It doesn't seem like the summer stops are in a bricks-and-mortar store front anymore.  They now have a trailer full of the books that they pull across country, setting up shop for a weekend at each of their stops.
This weekend they were in Los Angeles.  From Friday until today, they made camp at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).   The LACMA is a huge complex on Wilshire Blvd.  It's one of many museums along the Miracle Mile.  In addition to the museum buildings, the courtyard is sprawling with numerous events and activities happening simultaneously.  The Sketchbook Project settled in the middle of the courtyard.

This go round, they had it all linked to mobile devices rather than relying solely on the two iPads they were using.  Since I already had an account with them, signing onto the mobile site was easy.  I searched the books, requested the ones I wanted to look at, and within a couple of minutes they were retrieved and lent to us for some browsing.  The last time I went to see the books, the lines were very long and so was the wait time.

Even though it's my book and I have pictures of the pages, it was still fun to check mine out and look at it with my friends.  It was also inspiring to check out books others have done.  Some were cute, some well done, and others were simply AMAZING.
Haven't made the decision whether I will do it again this year or not.  To finish a book is really quite satisfying, but I've also found it a bit stressful.  The pressure of creating something with a theme causes me to overthink quite bit.  Also, I had read somewhere earlier this year that this would be the final tour for the Project.  I have not been able to find that information again, though.  The whole concept is really quite simple, but I enjoy their visits.  I do hope it continues.