Stolen Moments at The Victorian Inn: Vancouver

Showing posts with label Vancouver. Show all posts

Monday, July 11, 2011

Our GCTT Pt 9 - Vancouver

The beautiful Vancouver harbour...

In Stanley Park...

so green... such awesome trees...

over 1,000 acres and so close to the downtown.

In 1886, Vancouver's first City Council made a momentous decision by petitioning the Federal Government to lease 1,000 acres of a largely logged peninsula for park and recreation purposes. On September 27, 1888 Stanley Park was officially opened establishing the fledgling city's first official "greenspace". Council decided to set up an autonomous and separately elected committee to govern all park and recreation matters in Vancouver. And so the Vancouver Board of Parks & Recreation was born, the only elected body of its kind in Canada. The system now includes more than 200 parks (over 1300 hectares) but its heart remains in the cool, lush, evergreen oasis of Stanley Park, named for Lord Stanley, Governor General of Canada in 1888 when the park was officially opened.

From: Vancouver.ca

Oh a game of cricket!

So very British...

I am in love with the fantastic totem poles of the west coast!

They're so meaningful and beautiful.

The charming "Steam Clock"

in Vancouver's artsy 'Gastown' neighbourhood.

Wish we had more time to explore the area- perhaps next time!

Fresh cherries...

and tomatoes in the Granville Island Market...

And yours truly... enjoying one of my favourite snacks--

a piping hot sausage roll with mustard!

Soooo delicious!

Our GCTT Pt 8 - White Rock Beach

Vanda and Lee G peeking through a sculpture!

A group shot of us on the White Rock Pier: Me, Peter, Vanda, Kevin and Lee.

Such great friends for more than 10 years- we all met in Bucharest, Romania

and have often found time to travel together and to discover great restaurants!

Love the old barnacle encrusted pier...

The "White Rock" of White Rock...

White Rock is named for a distinctive large white boulder on its beach near the promenade, a glacial erratic that migrated south during the last glaciation. The 486-ton granite boulder was kept white by shellfish-eating seabirds whose guano covered the rock, so much so that 19th-century sailors used it as a beacon. However, it is now kept white through frequent applications of white paint by the city parks department, and has been a popular graffiti target for over thirty years. (Wikipedia)

When the tide is out the beach is very, very muddy so this foot washer is really convenient!

A beautiful mural on the side of Uli's restaurant...

Once again... fish and chips for lunch!

Can you tell that this is possibly my very favourite lunch in the world??

It is.

Yum.

Our GCTT Pt 7 - Steveston Village, BC

One of the nicest afternoons we had in BC was spent at the lovely historic village of Steveston.

The village is named for Manoah Steves, who arrived with his family around 1877-1878 from Moncton, New Brunswick via Chatham, Ontario. Born Manoah Steeves, a second cousin of William Henry Steeves, he dropped the second 'e' en route. Manoah and his family were the first white family to settle in the area. Steves' son William Herbert actually developed the townsite, which became Steveston in 1889. Salmon canning began on the river in 1871, with the first major cannery being the Phoenix, developed in 1882 by Marshall English and Samuel Martin; by the 1890s there were 45 canneries, about half at Steveston. Salmon-canning was so much part of the life of Steveston that it was also known as Salmonopolis. (From Wikipedia)

The best fish and chips are found here at PAJO'S!

Is there anything better than eating fresh fish and chips right on the dock by the water?

I think not!

A very unexpected find - a real Romanian baker who sells only one thing - authentic wood oven Romanian bread! This guy was very entertaining and loved to talk about his bread! He bakes only one type of bread and that's it. Period. It's that heavy, crusty, dense home-style bread and it's rather pricey. He charges about $10 per loaf and likes to complain that Canadians don't like to spend their money on "good bread". Well honestly, we can buy very good bread for half that price!

Just so you don't get lost - there's a handy sign-post.

The tide was low when we were in Steveston and there were lots of fishing boats in the harbour.

We bought a couple of kilos of these amazing BC Spot Prawns which we enjoyed a few days later thanks to Vanda's delicious cooking. It was the first time we've heard about them and ohhhhh boy are they yummy!

Spot prawns are the largest of the 7 commercial species of shrimp found in Canada’s west coast waters. The prawn’s body colour is usually reddish brown or tan with white horizontal bars on the carapace (shell) and distinctive white spots on the first and fifth abdominal segments. While large females can exceed 23 cm (9 inches) in total length, the restricted carapace (shell) size limit for harvest is 33 mm (1 1/3 inch) long. The spot prawn is known for its sweet, delicate flavour and firm texture.