Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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| Seattle |
Vancouver |
Stanley Park |
Lynn Canyon |
Victoria |
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| Kalaloch |
Ozette |
Hoh |
Hurricane Ridge |
Seattle |
We successfully passed customs and continued on our journey, out of the US and into Canada. I know what some of you may be thinking, "Isn't this site called Slices of America?" That's true, but Canada is just so accessible and interesting. I can't help but reserve a corner of the website for our friends from "the great white north". I'll probably do the same for Mexico one day. In truth, they are still part of "the Americas" are they not?
As most cities are, Vancouver is divided into many smaller neighborhoods, green spaces, and such. The first on the to-visit list was Yaletown, an area once perdominantly industrial turned residential. What leaps out at you right away in Yaletown are the marinas and high-rise apartments. Vancouver is preparing to host the winter olympics in 2010, and this area is BOOMING!
Sidenote: I just visited the website Vancouver2010.com, and was very entertained by the proposed mascots for the 2010 games: (1) Sumi - an animal spirit who lives in the mountains of British Columbia. Like many Canadians, Sumi's background is drawn from many places. He wears the hat of the orca whale, flies with the wings of the mighty thunderbird and runs on the strong furry legs of the black bear (2) Quatchi - a young sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada. Quatchi is shy, but loves to explore new places and meet new friends. Although Quatchi loves all winter sports, he’s especially fond of hockey. He dreams of becoming a world-famous goalie (3) Miga - a young sea bear who lives in the ocean with her family pod, out past Vancouver Island near Tofino, British Columbia. Sea bears are part killer whale and part bear. Miga is part Kermode bear, a rare white bear that only lives in British Columbia.
With all this said, I recorded the following in my notebook, "Yaletown = BORING!" I'm sure that this area will serve its purpose come 2010, but in truth, unless you have a small yaght, there are many more enticing sights to see in the city of Vancouver. Nonetheless, here are some of the photos from Yaletown.
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| I'm horrible for this. As soon as I enter Canada, I begin searching for everyday objects that aren't exactly as they would be in the US. For example, here we have two simple mail boxes, but when you've seen blue USPS mail boxes all your life the red is a stark contrast.
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| Here is another example of what I mentioned above. This golden arch is accented with the Canadian maple leaf, as they all are in Canada.
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| In this vista overlooking False Creek, one can see BC Place Stadium (left, home to the BC Lions), General Motors Place (right, home to the Vancouver Canucks), a marina, and the Vancouver Space Needle in the background.
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| Small fleet docked at False Creek.
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| Science World
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| That's me (Taylor) posed before a totem pole in a park near the English Bay. I simply had to jog here before leaving Vancouver in order to stand in the spot where, on May 20th, 2006, Canadian Colin Angus had completed his 720-day, 26,720-mile manpowered circumnavigation of the globe. The 100 ft pole, attributed to the indiginous Kwakwaka'wakw tribes of British Columbia, was carved by Mungo Martin with Henry Hunt and David Martin.
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The official Gastown community website has published an excellent timeline of Gastown's fascinating history:
1867: The south shore of Burrard Inlet was a wilderness. Its only non-native settlement was a lumber mill where the owner didn't allow alcohol on the premises. One September day, "Gassy Jack" Deighton arrived (he received his nickname because of his penchant for spinning tall tales and talking without end). He stepped ashore with a barrel of whiskey, telling the millworkers that if they'd build him a saloon, he'd serve them drinks. The saloon was up and running within a day... just across the property line of the mill. Gastown was born. 1870: On March 1st, in order to give it a more distinguished name, Gastown was officially proclaimed to be "Granville", after the British colonial secretary. But everybody in the rough and tumble settlement continued to call it Gastown. 1886: Gastown was incorporated as the City of Vancouver, after British explorer, George Vancouver. That was April 6th. On June 13th, a brush-clearing fire got out of control and turned all but two of Vancouver's 400 buildings to ashes. Into the 1920s: Gastown grew and prospered, as did the rest of the City of Vancouver. But good times couldn't last forever. Depression Years: Gastown fell on hard times and deteriorated into a stereotypical skid road area until the 1960s. 1960s: With talk of demolishing the area becoming more widespread, a group of dedicated citizens took it upon themselves to save Gastown's distinctive architecture and character. The city rallied around them. Gastown was not just saved, it was reborn. 1971: The provincial government declared Gastown an historic area, protecting its heritage buildings. Today: Gastown is a refreshing mix of old and new, downhome and upscale, a place for tourists, Vancouver residents and office workers alike. Various shops have the streets buzzing during the day. A host of restaurants and nightspots keeps the area humming into the wee hours. And, more and more, Gastown is becoming home to permanent residents... just like in the old days.
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In my opinion, the most interesting site in Gastown is the Gastown steam clock, the world's first steam powered clock. The clock was built in 1977 for the newly renovated Gastown area. I find it particularly interesting that funding for this clock came from local merchants, property owners, and private donors.
Sidenote: Like many other clocks, the Gastown steam clock plays the tune Westminster Quarters (notes: CEDG / CDEC / ECDG / GDEC), revealing more of the tune with each passing quarter-hour. Did you know that there are lyrics to the Westinster Quarters? Traditionally, the words were, "O Lord our God / Be Thou our guide / That by thy help / No foot may slide." Another version of the lyrics, inscribed in Big Ben's clockroom reads, "All through this hour / Lord, be my guide / And by Thy power / No foot shall slide."
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| The Gastown Steam Clock
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The Gastown Steam Clock plays a tune every quarter hour. Click play to see what it looks and sounds like. |
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| "Gassy Jack" monument, a tribute to the long winded, gold prospecting, saloon operating, riverboat captain . Click the thumbnails below to read the plaques. Is that the Duke in the lower left hand corner?
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| Hill's Native Art, established in 1946 is North America's largest northwest coast native art gallery.
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Below is the Europe Hotel, just across the street from the "Gassy Jack" monument. Thanks to Wikipedia, I was able to gather that it is a six-story heritage building, commissioned by hotelier Angelo Calori and built in 1908-1909 by Parr and Fee Architects. It is on a triangular lot, and is designed in the flatiron style. It was the first reinforced concrete structure to be built in Canada and the earliest fireproof hotel in Western Canada. It has since been renovated into affordable housing.
An interesting fact about the Europe Hotel - A beer parlor once existed in the basement. "To prevent a cave-in from the weight of pedestrians and above ground traffic, the City of Vancouver filled the areaway in with pea gravel at a cost of $215,000, which presumably can be easily removed in the event of future restoration."
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| The Europe Hotel, just across the street from the "Gassy Jack" monument.
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| This is the Holy Rosary Cathedral along the extreme southern edge of Gastown. It is a Roman Catholic Church operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver.
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| Vancouver's Chinatown is one of the largest in North America. The main highlights include the Millennium Gate and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden.
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| This is the Millennium Gate, which has both Eastern and Western symbols to pay tribute to the "Journey in Time".
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| Like the Chinatowns that I've been to in Philadelphia and New York, Vancouver's also offered similar shops and supermarkets filled with neat candies, drinks, toys, and garmets. Take note of that green mask on the left. It will come into play later. |
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Built in 1985-1986, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is the first full-size Chinese garden built outside of China. It is a free public park and gardens area, it's purpose is to "maintain and enhance the bridge of understanding between Chinese and western cultures, promote Chinese culture generally and be an integral part of the local community." The official website for the gardens maintains that, "Like every classical Chinese garden, the design of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden is based on the harmony of four main elements: rock, water, plants, and architecture. Together, these four elements combine to create a breathtaking experience of perfect balance, yin and yang."
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With great mask comes great responsability. No, that's not the eco-friendly version of Spiderman. That's just Nicole climbing a wall in Chinatown with her new Spidey powers. The real question is, how is Angela standing horizontally on that wall? She doesn't even have a green mask!
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Now a popular tourist destination and artist community, Granville Island was at one time an industrial manufacturing area with factories producing shingles, chain, barrels, wire rope, nails, saws, paint, cement, rivets, boilers, and industrial machinery. The island now boasts a public market, a large marina, a hotel, the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, theatres, a cluster of shopping areas, and a cement plant.
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| We are here.
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| Print shop.
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| We popped into an art store to pick up a few things, and stumbled upon this demonstration.
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This is the Light House Sustainable Building Centre. The society educates the public on sustainable living and the "five Ps" of sustainable building: practices, policies, products, projects and service providers.
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| This is Granville's public market, transformed from the old factories that once thrived on the island.
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| This is the marina behind the market, at False Creek. The Granville St. bridge crosses over to the Yaletown/Downtown area.
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When looking up Granville Island on Google Earth, I noticed something interesting. Granville Island doesn't seem to be an island at all! Click on the map to see Granville from a bird's eye view.
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| Seattle |
Vancouver |
Stanley Park |
Lynn Canyon |
Victoria |
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| Kalaloch |
Ozette |
Hoh |
Hurricane Ridge |
Seattle |
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