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Monday, July 25, 2011

May in Vancouver




After the Habitat for Humanity AGM in Vancouver last May, I stayed an extra week to enjoy the city and visit friends. This lovely lady is someone who first came to me a couple of decades ago as a very small girl, for violin lessons . She's now living in Vancouver, articling to be an architect. She showed me her town. We walked a lot. Van is a lovely city for walking..... through parks filled with forget-me-nots and the last of the spring bulbs,




down to Granville island where buskers have to audition for the privilege of performing, and in designated locations during specific time slots. Kind of an oxymoron... regulated busking.... The mermaid statue got in before they made all of those rules, so she didn't have to audition. i suspect she wouldn't pass the dress code requirements.






We walked along the harbor, where children danced to the sounds of flamenco guitar, and fed the pigeons.








And to Gastown, where the steam clock fills the streets with the breathy voice of a giant pan flute.




A fountain in old Gastown. Fish are a popular theme. These are copper, transformed to an organic looking verdigris by the weather.






A walk along the shoreline as the sun goes down.
















And a lucky find! It's poetry slam night at a local cafe'.





Up 'way past my bed time.




Then a few days with another friend at her lovely cottage on the Sunshine Coast, where I lost count of the hummingbirds swarming the feeders on the porch... at 26!!!






It was a gorgeous week



5 comments:

susan said...

It's always lovely to see pictures of Vancouver and yours from this late Spring visit are very wonderful. Stanley Park was one of my favorite places to go when we lived there - of course that was a time so long ago it was still possible for ordinary working people to buy or rent a house in Kitsilano. Buskers, what few there were, certainly didn't have to audition and Gastown was proving hard to gentrify.

Our favorite busker around here is an older man who's here year round and who plays Acadian music on his equally antique accordian. I'm not so fond of the kids who hit the streets after only one lesson - if that.

Cicero Sings said...

Glad you had such a lovely week. I just sold my condo in Vancouver and am in the process of moving out. I have until August 15. Everything ready to go - I just need to find a truck and man power. Up north at the moment.

gfid said...

su- you know van far better than i - it's a lovely city in so many ways. one of my fav songs is a Connie Kaldor tune about an old woman busking in the subway with an accordion. 'singer of the sacred heart' i think i'd enjoy your antique Acadian.

cicero - if i weren't so far away, i'd offer my beat up little ford ranger and some muscle. i hope the move goes smoothly for you.

clairesgarden said...

sounds like a lovely break, if I ever make it back to Canada to visit my friends I would like to put visiting Vancouver on my list of things to do.

gfid said...

Claire - i'm not a city person, really, in general.... but there are things i love about cities - parks & horiticulture , art, music, architecture, theatre, great restaurants.... and Vancouver has them all in abundance. you could do far worse than a visit to Vancouver :0)