Monday, August 22, 2011

summer in the city...

With a spell of summer weather upon us...we decided to go see what 'summer in the city' looked like!  We loaded up the bikes and headed for Lord Stanley's Park, which borders on downtown Vancouver.
 

Stanley Park is a 1000 acre urban park which was named after Lord Stanley of Preston who was once Canada's Governor General.  It is larger than New York's Central Park and attracts eight million visitors annually. It is ranked as one of North America's best parks.  As a kid...my visits to Stanley Park were all about seeing the monkeys and the polar bears.  I had no idea that there was so much more to the park than the zoo.  Sadly, the zoo was phased out in 1997...but the Vancouver Aquarium  (also in the park) is a big attraction for today's kids.

There are many ways one might choose to explore the park...


...but we chose to ride the seawall on our bikes.  The seawall is a 9 km pathway that circles the park...and is packed with cyclists, pedestrians and roller-bladers. 


From the sea wall...there was much to see.  Girl in the Wetsuit has been sitting on her perch since 1972.


We saw the Lions Gate Bridge from the underside this time...a different perspective!



Siwash Rock...one of the icons of Stanley Park. Several years ago the park was devastated by strong winds and many of the ancient trees toppled...but the lone fir that sits atop the rock still stands.


And just beyond Siwash Rock...we found a rock artist hard at work.  He showed us exactly how it was done!


We discovered that there is much to do in the park on a lovely summer day.  Some played in the water...some played cricket (we think)...others were lawn bowling...and some simply soaked in the sun.


We cycled by the totem poles at Brockton Point...First Nations art...which happens to be the most visited tourist attraction in all of British Columbia.  


And eventually we returned to the parking lot near the beautiful gardens where our outing began. 


We bade farewell to our park in the city...


...and as we left a large cruiseship was taking leave as well. 

It was a fun time...but always so good to come back to our home in the country.  We sat on the back patio and breathed in the country air and the quietness on our return.  Summer in the country is the best!

17 comments:

  1. Vancouver is one of our favorite cities. We have visited it several times and always wind up wishing for at least one more day there each time. I need a definitive answer as to how long it would take to see it alll, and your post has me suspecting it would take a life time.

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  2. You brought back some wonderful memories of days spent wandering the Park. There were black Squirrels which were quite startling!

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  3. Thanks for sharing - loved our visit there years ago!! A beautiful place!

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  4. You picked the warmest weekend of the summer for your Stanley Park bike ride! Hasn't it been beautiful? I've never seen The Girl in a Wetsuit - must look for her when I'm there in September.

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  5. Stanley Park looks very scenic! It's wonderful to have such a place close to a large city such as Vancouver. That did indeed look like the game of Cricket in one of your photos...I often see men playing it in a park near me.

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  6. I just love discovering new finds in the park, heaven if you will... little breaths of fresh air for the city dweller.

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  7. Such a lovely park. You really got some great views through your lens. I love the quiet of the country. I was thinking yesterday when we had all our windows open how nice it would be if there weren't busy streets close by with traffic noise...

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  8. OH such lovely photos. At least once every summer we like to experience Summer in the City!

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  9. I was looking for you, but our ride took us on a different route.
    Similar sights except I have a photo of seagull sitting on top Siwash Rock...otherwise it looked familiar.
    Great historical tour...It was like riding on the freeway on a long weekend. We really had to be alert to tourist cyclists...they too did not know what side to ride on.

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  10. You definitely have the gift of photo composition! All my pics of the totems at Stanley Park, have bus loads of tourists in front of them! LOL.

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  11. You chose a beautiful weekend for your ride around Stanley Park. It's such a wonderful place, isn't it?

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  12. I used your clafouti recipe today, and substituted nectarines and cherries for the peaches, as they were getting very ripe and needed using up. Wow, was it delicious...my hubby said it was one of the best desserts he has ever eaten..
    ...Good photos of Stanley Park...we saw it last fall and enjoyed it very much.
    .....hoping to go to the book-signing on Wed....just a few blocks from my house.

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  13. Wonderful sceneries! Vancouver is one of the places I've been wishing to visit. I hope I can see it someday.
    Your pictures are so lovely and full of sunshine.

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  14. Loved the tour! Thanks for sharing it!

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  15. We visited Vancouver in 2007 and loved it so your trip brought back memories. Stanley Park is a great place too. We walked and walked...
    Cheers
    Helen

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  16. Vancouver is on my bucket list, and now I moved it to the top of the list. You two sure know how to keep fit and take in beauty at the same time. What a beautiful place! Unlike anything we have here in our part of the country.

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  17. Thanks for the wonderful photos which brought back memories of my visit several years ago. Unfortunately I was shivering so much from the cold (sooo much colder than here) that I couldn't hold the camera still. Vancouver is a beautiful city but, like you, I think there is no place like home in the country.

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'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson