Gallivanting Grandma

Friday – June 29, 2012

Clouds Over Vancouver

On our last day in Vancouver we wanted to visit some more places on our tourist list. After seeing Haida artist Bill Reid’s monumental sculpture at the Museum of Anthropology, we wanted to visit his gallery in town. It was located in a lovely little building near an open area called Cathedral Place.

Entrance to the Bill Reid Gallery

Looking Across Cathedral Place

Cathedral Place was a grassy oasis or sanctuary in the center of downtown Vancouver complete with flying buttresses and copper roofs. It would be a lovely place for the office workers to have a picnic lunch on sunny days.

The Bill Reid Gallery was a small jewel of a museum which displayed a variety of his works. Reid was a carver and painter but also created statues in bronze and made jewellery in gold, silver, and precious gems.

Museum of Vancouver

Afterwards, we drove to the MOV in Vanier Park across the Burrard Bridge. The museum had exhibits of the history and development of the city of Vancouver. Like many Canadian museums, the exhibits had actual items from historical periods of time.

Crab in Front of the MOV

View of Vancouver From Vanier Park

Graffiti Wall

This photo is from a small piece of a huge graffiti wall which was created by the people of Vancouver after the home hockey team lost the Stanley Cup to its arch-rival.

Art Deco Fashion Exhibit

This was a temporary exhibit of beautiful Canadian fashions of the 1920s and 1930s. You have to wonder what future generations would show of our current fashion scene.

Neon Exhibit

This was another temporary exhibit of neon signs which were used in Vancouver before a local beautification committee outlawed the gaudy signs throughout most of the city.

Historic Reproduction

This was part of the permanent exhibit which demonstrated the early settlement of Vancouver. Other sections showed how the people lived in the early days.

1955 Ford Fairlane

This automobile was from the exhibit of life in Vancouver during the 1950s. This exhibit made me feel old! This car was identical to my mother’s first car except hers was orange & white. I learned to drive in my mother’s ’55 Ford with white-wall tires!

Back of the Crab

Back view of the stainless steel crab. I like this photo because it looks like the crab is jumping out of the water and trying to reach the heavy gray clouds. He might be complaining about too much rain!

Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach is located on the western side of Vancouver. What other major modern city has a gorgeous sand beach within walking distance of down-town?

Stanley Park

I had to take this photograph as we were driving through Stanley Park to show the magnificent old growth redwoods and evergreens in the park. One brochure described Stanley Park as the “crown jewel” of Vancouver.

View of North Vancouver From Stanley Park

North Vancouver

The clouds lifted and blue sky appeared above the tall buildings as we drove around the outer loop of Stanley Park admiring the beauty of the city and saying our good-byes to beautiful Vancouver.

View of Downtown Vancouver From Stanley Park

Thursday – June 28, 2012

Today we planned to go to two of our favorite Vancouver sights: The Nitobe Memorial Japanese Garden and the UBC Museum of Anthropology. They are both located near each other at the end of the Westside Vancouver peninsular on the University of British Columbia campus. We first went to the Nitobe Memorial Garden which is supposed to be the most authentic Japanese garden in North America.

Nitobe Memorial Garden

Reflection and Beauty

Harmony Bridge

Lantern

A short walk from the beautiful Nitobe Garden is the Museum of Anthropology which is affiliated with the University of British Columbia. This is one our favorite museums in the world! The building is a fabulous place to house and exhibit artifacts from people around the world. MOA also has the best collection of Northwest Coast First Nations art we have ever seen.

Totem Poles

First Peoples Screen – Crossroads

The Great Hall

Canoes & Poles

Entrance Gates

Bill Reid’s Raven and The First Man

The Museum of Anthropology also has more than 10,000 objects from people around the world on display in their new Multiversity Galleries. This is an amazing area! A visitor could spend many hours looking at treasures in this gallery.

African Percussion Instruments

There was a small sign under these drums which said, “Please Touch Gently” Each had its own unique sound when a visitor rapped on them. What fun!!

African Headdresses

Whimsical Owls

Pacific Northwestern Coast Baskets

First Peoples Masks

The mosaic below wass made of different kinds and colors of granite and was created by artist Susan Point to greet visitors at the Welcome Plaza. The Museum of Anthropology and the University of B.C. was built on traditional Musqueam land.

Mosaic at MOA

After we spent many delightful hours exploring the MOA, we left and went to dinner at a restaurant on West Broadway called “Go Fish”. We had tickets for a Bard On the Beach performance of The Taming of the Shrew. After a good dinner we drove to Vanier Park where the Shakespeare Company’s tents were set up for the summer season. It was a very good performance and we had a really good time. Vancouver twinkles at night and we drove back to the hotel after a full day.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The sun was shining brightly this morning, so we hurried outside to enjoy the day!

One of Vancouver’s Artist Mosaics

A Cruise Ship at Canada Place

The Sky Train

Chinatown Gate

Street Signs in Chinatown

Historic Building

Chinese Almond Cookies

Dr. Sun Yat Sen Park Entrance

Lotus Flowers

Garden Path

Serenity Pond

Granville Island Public Market

Safe Harbour

Under the Granville Island Bridge

Bride on the Gelato Line

Granville Market Cherries

Market Craftsman

Craftsman’s Hands

Blue Heron

Preparing For Canada Day

Tuesday – June 26, 2012

We had a pleasant time in Victoria, B.C. and today is the day we planned to travel to Vancouver. The BC Ferry departs every hour and takes about 90 minutes from Sidney to the beautiful city of Vancouver.

Passing Another BC Ferry

Top Deck of Our Ferry

View From the Ferry

Covered Front Observation Deck

On Board Cafeteria

View From the Ferry

Farms Along Route 99 Outside Vancouver

View of Vancouver

Walking Along Water Street

Sea Plane Taking Off Toward North Vancouver

Sails Over Canada Place

Quote From Emily Carr

Photographers’ Self-Portraits

Canada Place

Vancouver Art Gallery

Vancouver Art Gallery

Painted Warrior

Monday – June 25, 2012

We spent a comfortable night at the Empress Hotel and today we had a full day in Victoria to see the sights. Yesterday’s sunny skies had changed to heavy gray clouds this morning. We wanted to see the exhibits at the Royal BC Museum. Here are some of my photos from today:

Entrance to the Royal BC Museum

The museum has an excellent exhibit about the history and life of the first people who lived in what is now called British Columbia. There were many artifacts on display including totem poles, tools, clothing, and possessions which showed how the people lived for thousands of years.

Haida Canoe and Cargo

Part of the First Peoples’ Exhibit

Unfortunately, much of the exhibit was too dark to take good photographs and flash photography was not allowed in the museum. I tried to take as many non-flash photos as I could, but many pictures were blurry and just too dark to add to this blog. You’ll have to go to the museum and see the exhibit yourself.

Early 20th Century Costumes

Another exhibit showed how the early settlers had moved into the Pacific Northwest. The exhibit showed what they brought with them, how they survived and lived, and how they changed the area.

Historic Hotel

Late 1800s Bedroom

Captain Vancouver’s Reproduced Ship

We had a pleasant lunch at the Royal BC Museum then crossed the street to the Parliament Building. We chose to take a self-guided tour so we signed in at the reception desk and were given a tour booklet.

Stairway to the Second Floor

One of Many Stained Glass Windows

Second Floor Parliament Chamber

Parliamentary Chamber

Tourists at the Chamber

Inner Harbor

Lower Harbor

We walked back and took a little rest break at the hotel, then decided to take a scenic drive around Victoria peninsula. We drove along the shore line of the city following the coastal roads. We felt that we really got to see how the local people of Victoria live.

Hang Glider Trying to Fly

At one point we saw some large colorful kites. We parked the car and saw several people trying to get aloft with their huge “kites”. I don’t know if they’re called hang gliders or para-sailors but it was exciting to watch them try to fly!

Two Guys Trying Not to Get Tangled

Taking a Running Jump & Trying to Catch the Wind

And Up He Went!

He Went Higher & Higher!

A Second Person Was Airborne

Two Flyers

He Made It Look Easy

We watched the people fly for a while, but it was chilly and windy and we had to move on. Wow! That looked like fun!! We continued driving along the shore and followed the “scenic road.” We came to another parking area and stopped to look at the view.

Scenic Overlook Along Beach Drive

Many of the houses along the road were Arts & Crafts cottages or Sears bungalow-type architecture. Many houses had big windows facing the sea. Lots of people were out walking or running. We continued to Rt. 17 and then drove south back to downtown Victoria. As we passed Chinatown, we decided to stop for dinner.

Entrance Into Chinatown

Sign on Fisgard Street

Walking Along Fisgard Street

We were pleasantly surprised to have decent Chinese-American food, despite the fact that the menu still included choices like “chop suey” and “chow mein”. No real Chinese restaurant in New York City serves these American inventions any more.

Interior of the Chinese Restaurant

We returned to the hotel for the evening to rest, relax, blog and get ready to leave Victoria tomorrow. It had rained while we were eating dinner and the sky threatened more rain.

Rain Clouds Moving In

Good Advice