Another Vancouver Outing

originally posted to Multiply, April 6 2011

We had another weekend to visit the urban offspring. The usual routine: leave Friday morning, spend 3 nights in accommodation close to daughter's apartment, have some city outings, hang out together, drive back Monday. 
Minniepuss was somewhat apprehensive at the sight of the preparations.

On our first day out I was delighted to see swans on the pond in between the apartment buildings.

There were three pairs, floating majestically among the resident Mallard ducks and Canada geese. They did seem sort of quiet, but I thought it was part of some pre-mating behaviour. They turned out to be plastic.

The weather forecast had been rain on Saturday, niceish on Sunday. We planned accordingly and decided to visit the Bloedel conservatory on Saturday. It was actually a nice day, so we could enjoy the sights around the indoor park.

The conservatory is in the middle of Queen Elizabeth Park. We had never been there but will come back some time. The park is on a hill, and was created out of a bunch of old quarries. 

Looking toward Burnaby Mountain and Simon Fraser University on top of it.

Fountains.....and lots of flowers. We were a bit early, or rather spring is late this year. There were no tulips yet and even the daffodils were just starting.

Above: Helleborus with scilla. Below: Heather with daffodils, not quite open yet.

I could have enjoyed an afternoon exploring the park and oohing over the splendid views, but we had a time limit. The tropics, inside the big dome, beckoned.

What a wonderful crazy place that is! This is the dome from the outside. Inside, you step into a tropical forest, complete with birds and a Koi pond. The next pictures are all taken inside the Bloedel conservatory.

Bromeliads

Miscellaneous colourful stuff on the forest floor.

Look up, way up...

Miscellaneous greenery with a flowering Lollipop tree

Some of the resident parrots. They almost look fake.

From the inside the bubble roof looks like this. It is easy to forget you are inside till you look all the way up.

The grandson making his memories.

Did I mention that the air felt and smelled delicious? Alex said it reminded him of stepping off the plane in Hawaii, into the sweet-smelling warm moist air.

Flowering orchids all over the place.

Some more tropical greenery.

And some more, with a cute bridge that overlooks a stream with Koi.

There is also a section with more subtropical plants and even a small dry area with cactus, but I am out of patience. Home we went, by bus and sky train. I LOVE the way you can traipse all over the city without worrying about parking. And finally, one of the many pink streets. It is cherry blossom time. I do love that city!

Another Grad, another coast trip.

 Originally posted to Multiply June 30 2010

Son Alex had lost his geology job in the economic downturn, and cleverly used the enforced idleness for some upgrading. He added an intense one-year course in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to his BSc.

GIS folks make sense out of the mass of data that surveyors and satellites deliver. It has a wide range of applications in many fields. Serious nerd work. Alex can now make computers sing and dance and knows even more stuff his old backwoods mother doesn't have a clue about. 


The course (at BCIT in Burnaby) came with a graduation ceremony with all the trimmings. Alex had missed his college grad, because when it happened he was already working way up North, so we all showed up for this one.


Entering Metro Vancouver is always a treat. Approaching the Port Mann bridge.

It is too bad one can't just stop on the bridge and gaze at the spectacular view. The barrier even makes it hard to take pictures, but I stubbornly keep trying. Pictures taken through the side window are not the same quality as those taken through the front.


The day before happened to be Chris' birthday, so the kids treated us to a lavish dinner at the Korean Barbecue place, quite an experience!

The next day we faced two dilemmas: how to spend the morning till the ceremony at 1.30 and how to get there. We had been warned parking might be a problem. Our normal accommodation had not been available. We were staying at some distance from the sky train and were not sure which buses go where. We solved both problems by hiking to the site, approximately 10 km. This gave us the chance to walk through Deer Lake park. 

I have always been intrigued by those Burnaby lakes, but they are hard to get to with the car if you don't know the city.

Notice the pair of loons in the water! On the way out of the park we saw a sign with: "Warning, coyotes!" Good thing too, some predator needs to cull the geese.

We had not brought enough food or drink, so the salmon berries along the trail were welcome.

The ceremony was the usual pomp and circumstance with dignitaries decked out in crazy fifteenth-century hats. The grads entered the auditorium to the strains of  "Land of hope and glory". A lovely melody, but an odd choice considering the vast majority of students is of Asian origin. The chorus brings memories of my dear anglophile Dad. He loved listening to the radio broadcast of the last seasonal Prom concert in the Royal Albert Hall.

This song was one of the traditional highlights, right up there with 'Rule Britannia!', which he lustily belted along with. We digress.

We will have to wait for the official photo to get decent pictures of the moment on stage, but there was plenty of photo-opping afterwards.

Nienke took this one with the timer.

An immigrant moment: I keep under-estimating the formality of these occasions. Many family-of-grads folks were milling around dressed to the hilt. I felt quite under dressed. My most presentable outfit was vaguely smelling of Korean barbecue after the night before and had to be replaced with something more casual. Besides we were somewhat sweaty and bedraggled after our epic hike. Alex made up for it by being resplendent in a suit.

And there we leave him for now. A smart, handsome and kind young man who is finding his way in life. 

 Postscript: the training led to a job as a mapmaker for a small mining company, just what he had in mind. Eventually it too ended. 

Read all about it at Alex' own blog, http://nothernlites.blogspot.com

Flames and Flowers

Originally posted to Multiply on March 21, 2010

We missed the main Olympics, but on our latest weekend trip to see the offspring we got to see the flame, yeah! It had been rekindled for the Paralympics.

No trip to the coast would be complete without a visit to the Dutch Cheese maker between Cherry Ville and Lumby. We stocked up on a whole wheel of Gouda, which will be gone by the next trip at the end of summer. Grass-fed real food. It still does not taste quite like Dutch Gouda. I finally figured out it has to do with the grass. Ask any wine maker how important the terrain is!

Daughter's household is car-free by choice, so she is a master at getting the most out of public transit. She was a great guide. Some trains have this great seat right in front.

The journey started with a sky train trip to Waterfront, a beautiful old railway station that has a new lease on life as urban transit hub. Daughter took this picture of the hall.

The cauldron was just West of there on the harbour.

Below: containership getting ready to deliver its Walmart-bound goodies from China. Or whatever.

Funny, I had always pictured the flames near the Science Center on False Creek. The cauldron was fenced off, alas, but there was a viewing area with a huge ramp leading to it.

I am childish enough to request a "yes, we were really here!" picture.

The next 2 pictures are taken from the same place, but looking in a different direction.

Looking down the ramp, notice the barge with Olympic rings!

The rings again, and standing with your back to the cauldron you see this. The treed area is part of Stanley park.

It was still pretty busy and the crowds were being hustled along. Is this an example of Quebec language use or a poor translation? Flâner in regular French means strolling, not loitering. As in Yves Montand's song "J'aime flâner sur les grands boulevards". I guess strolling was too slow. MOVE, you camera-toting-posing-with-the-flames multitudes!

Back on level ground we see the viewing platform behind one of the many volunteers who made the games possible. All over town and suburbs people were proudly sporting their bright blue jackets, still basking in the after-glow.

Cauldron duly admired and documented, DD noted that we had 20 minutes left on our transfer to catch sky train in the direction of the next adventure: a visit to Granville Island Market by water taxi. This was my favorite part of the whole day. I love being on water, especially in a tiny boat.

View East towards the science centre. We are traveling from Yaletown West towards Granville Island.

Top picture: some weird architecture, below it floating homes.

I finally got the bridge to stand still long enough for a decent picture!

The vessel, on Granville Island.

I had never been on Granville Island yet. Our downtown expedition usually takes us to English Bay to smell the salt water.

Granville Island is a great place to shop for serious foodies, a little world of its own. Best enjoyed by oneself, with money in pocket, or with one like-minded female companion. By the time the four of us got there we were a bit tired and more than a bit hungry. There were no tables available in the food court and it was cold outside. DD remembered a fish place. We had to wait for a table at Tony's but it was worth it. Fortified by the best fish and chips and clam chowder ever we followed our intrepid guide in the direction of her home. We first made our way to a free trolley that took us back to sky train. I love good public transit!

This is the Fraser River seen from the train near New Westminster.

Meanwhile it was spring there. Here are some images of random urban greenery and abundant flowery pinkness.

Son Alex is temporarily living in the same area, so we had the the whole family there. This doesn't happen very often. B.C. may be the best place on Earth to live, but when it comes to maintaining family ties it can be too big for its own good. The kids may think it is just right, :). I had hoped for a vigorous session of Catan, but alas, the man was too swamped with exams to stay long. He did make a special contribution to dinner, in honor of the date.

A cake in honor of international Pi day. Pi, as in, that thing that has something to do with circles. I knew it once, but math doesn't stick. Fragments of Greek poetry can be dragged up, but science doesn't come easy.

It is hard to see at this angle, but the top clearly said 3.14. All in all, a good day.