From Europe With Love

A big hello and happy holidays to my loyal readers, and those just passing thru.

Reporting live from The Netherlands, we've been touring Europe for the past couple of weeks, starting off in Vienna for a week, continuing on to Budapest by train, and winding down our last week with family in NL. It's been a busy and thoroughly enjoyable trip through Central Europe. Much warmer than we'd anticipated. The Christmas markets in both Vienna and Budapest were quite welcoming and full of great stuff, not to mention the nice mulled wine and the Wiener alternative, Punsch.

Here at the moment, Second Christmas evening is in full swing, we ordered Chinese take-out for dinner and can hear the fireworks starting up for New Year's Eve. Here in NL, the fireworks come out in full force on the 31st, but the kids get their hands on fireworks as early as mid-December, and proceed to fire them off day and night until year's end.

Where do they get the MONEY? Those packets of (illegal from Belgium) imported pieces really add up. And how they can get them so early? By law, the fireworks can only be sold during the week leading up to New Year's.

There's so much to write about both our Viennese and Hungarian experiences, but highlights would have to include an old bath house in a park in Budapest, sitting all afternoon in old rooms dating to the 1800's with little of the massage rooms and machines changed since then. . . and delicious restaurants in Budapest. Learning the one very handy word while on our train from Vienna to Budapest: nem dohanyzo! = Non-smoking in Hungarian. Finding our palatial room at the Le Meridien in Budapest, after having spent five nights in a little room and even tinier shower area in Vienna. Watching an opera in the Budapest National Opera House, a work of art! Finding out our flight on Christmas Eve to Amsterdam was cancelled and then being re-routed to Prague, and then onward to Amsterdam from there, flying in a little propellor plane on Tyrolean Air! Seeing Ad's family again all together for Christmas dinner.

Off to enjoy a coffee and tomorrow it's on to Arnhem for a day of shopping with my sister-in-law, meeting an old ex-colleague in the evening and a good friend and her family on Thursday. We'll probably be back before we know it. Just in time to ring in the new year in Vancouver.

Signing off for now,

Ariane C

Stage Jitters

Earlier this week, I attended a performance of Meth, an interactive play put on by people who've either struggled with crystal meth addiction or who have been touched by family or close friends who have. The play itself ran 22 minutes and admission was pay-what-you-can. Once the initial play was over, the director came onstage to give us instruction on how to interact the second time around.

The play started over again from the first scene and as audience members, we were encouraged to yell 'STOP' when a particular character could be changed and bring a sense of safety into the play's scene. Whether male or female, anyone in the audience could find something that they personally would change to better that character's circumstance.

The first scene commenced and the audience was silent. The director stopped towards the end and reminded us that anytime something didn't seem right, to please feel free to intervene. In other words, we had missed our cue already into the early part of the play!

Once the scene got underway again, someone did yell 'stop', came onto the stage, wore a sash containing a hidden microphone and proceeded to act through a better way. After the scene ended, the director appeared and gave commentary and the audience applauded. One by one, brave audience members found a way to change the characters behavior in the script and came up to try their hand. About 1/3 through the play, I felt a scene hit me square in the face, and yelled 'STOP'. Then up on stage, where I stared into the full house and started to think to myself "What have I done???!!"

Sure enough, I got my sash with mic set up over my shoulder, and went away at it. Crazy! In the scene I chose, I was interfering with a young male who was on a high and about to storm out of the house where he had been invited by a good friend and her family for dinner. I think I was up there for five minutes but it felt like a good half hour! Audience applauded, director asked a few questions, made his observations and thanked me. Back in the audience, I felt a rush going through me after having been up there, and I felt happy but nervous as hell having done it.

Meth runs through December 10 at the Japanese Hall on Alexander Street, the absolute heart of the drug-addicted neighbourhood of Vancouver known as East Hastings.

Free Snow, Free Chairlift

Today Grouse Mountain is offering free skiing or boarding with a $2 donation to a local North Shore charity. I couldn't resist the sunny weather and chance to play again in the snow. Two busses and a Seabus later, I was at the base and gondola ride up to the lifts.

As I went to the window to donate the toonie, I was asked whether I'd be skiing or boarding today. I answered that I just wanted to walk around and perhaps rent snowshoes later. She said that I'd either have to rent at her register or not be able to take the free gondola ride up. "Only free for skiers or boarders". I told her that I'd just taken two busses and a Seabus over to be up here. Well, I walked to another woman controlling the line and fortunately, she was able to take care of me and got me through the ticket window with my donation and no further 'committment'. I wasn't really ready to head back to town just yet!

I didn't end up sking (this would probably leave many scratching their heads!), but took in the nature and walked one of the snowshoe trails, sometimes in deep snow! Just didn't feel up to putting on skis and going through the rental crowd today.

Did however see a couple of reindeer, paid a visit to Santa and admired a couple of wolves on the way towards the bus home!

Mighty Little Christmas Cactus

Ad and I could be locked in a cave all year along with our christmas cactus and know precisely when the merry season was on its way…

a cactus with a warm, fuzzy feel for the holidays! Hope everyone's having a good season so far. We'll be travelling soon enough, to make our Central European tour of 06. Vienna, Budapest and rounding it all off with a visit to our family in The Netherlands. As Europe is much warmer than Vancouver at the moment, let's hope it stays that way for a while. We could use a break from the unusually cold temps!

Cheers,
Ariane C

Of Water and Winning

So, here's our winning BC Lions who've just brought home the Grey Cup, posing downtown Vancouver midday for their fans and passers-by. Now don't go thinking I'm a big football fan. I never liked the sport back in the USA and certainly haven't grown any warm feelings to it now. It's just that I'm a sucker for historical events, and being downtown already on an errand, I worked the noon-time celebration in. And luckily it stayed dry for the time that counted.

Now if only the Canucks would set themselves up on a similar path. But hey, they HAVE won two games straight, a veritable winning streak they're on, yes! We'll see what they've got tonight as they go against the Red Wings. Hopefully not a repeat of last week's home game against same team.

Our (drinkable) water crisis continues, and a brief bit of information for the out-of-town visitors to this blog. Turbidity levels remain high enough to keep chlorine unable to knock out the nasty bits in our water. Water wars at the markets have ensued and luckily the stores have caught up with the overwhelming demand. Yours truly has been doing her bit to keep the household stocked, and luckily for us, our local Safeway is but two and a half blocks away, meaning the downhill walk with two 4-litre jugs is just about doable. Apparently, the problem continues, and the blame is being put on the government for not having acted quicker in installing a new water filtration plant that should have been constructed ions ago. This water problem arrives almost every year round this time, only now the turbidity levels are at an all-time high. Hopefully next week we'll have clear water running out of those taps. Really hard to get used to NOT asking for a glass of water at bars and restaurants. Carrying a bottle of the good stuff is no big deal as I do normally on any given day. Makes you really take a precious commodity like H20 for granted. Not anymore. We've made sure that once the all-clear sign is given, we'll be hanging onto those bottles and keeping stocks handy. As unprepared as Vancouver and the Lower Mainland was for THIS crisis, one can only imagine what a major earthquake would bring in terms of chaos. No, I don't want to entertain that thought right now.

Anyone seen the film Borat yet? What a wicked film, on many fronts. We're still on the fence about this one, preferring to give out our hard-earned cash for do-good films like that of the Dixie Chicks, or even the upcoming Bobby, written and directed by my old classmate Emilio Estevez (technically he did graduate one year before me, and my class had his brother Ramon in it). Speaking of films, Volver and the Last King of Scotland, both shown this year at the Vancouver Int'l Film Fest, are knock-out winners! Not to be missed, although the critics would have you adding Little Children and The Queen to that list.

Now on with the walk I need to take while the weather is dry and the sun is out doing its stuff!

Ariane C

The Storms of Vancouver

Today the great big storm that was predicted all week long hit town. With quick errands in the neighborhood during dry spells, I finally had my work and business done when I headed upstairs to the balcony to encounter the last shreds of daylight.

Something insanely beautiful about Vancouver's mountains and sea, whether in the sun or dark clouds of the passing seasons.

Ariane C

Fireworks on Halloween

Last night was quite something on Commercial Drive, our first encounter with the Parade of Lost Souls. Costumed folk came from all points of town and beyond to partake in this yearly tradition, all in good Halloween spirit. The streets were closed by 6 at night to make room for the procession of hundreds of Vancouverites young and old. Starting point was nearby Grandview Park. Our small group of four at times went separated (luckily we had cell phones on us!) - there were several shrines created in the park, drums going and various music being performed in spots. There was beautiful lighting projected on some of the buildings nearby. As we walked en masse through the streets of East Vancouver, we were greeted by some very outrageous costumes and wildly-decorated homes.

Now here's something that's still hard for me to get used to. First, I start life living with fireworks going off on July 4th. Then I move to The Netherlands where on New Year's Eve they're lit. Now in Canada, they're fired off on Halloween!

Notice Ad's pumpkin on the left! It was inspired by someone in a recent issue of the Vancouver Sun!

October and I'm Still Paddling!

So we're into the third week of October, the rain has passed and today brought a gorgeous sunny afternoon with 14C temperature. It was time to get back into the kayak and paddle the urban waters of Vancouver. I saw two harbour seals, one of which I started to play with in the water. He/she came out on the side of the boat and then immediately behind me. As I tried to make a circle with the boat to entice the creature to stay around, sadly enough, seal was gone somewhere else. The winds were whipping up a bit and it was high seas for a while out there!

Am I the only one who finds the new Canucks line-up hard to get used to? Ad and I got settled into all the team players last season, and now they've gone and traded lots of players. Bertuzzi is down in Florida. January 7th will be the only chance we Vancouverites will have to see him play against the 'new' Canucks. How that will pan out with Nasland here and Todd there, is anybody's guess. So far, I find it a crying shame that Anson Carter wasn't bought up. Now everyone's pinning there hopes on Luongo. And let's not dare think of any injuries. For the price paid to acquire him, it should hopefully bring us to post-season play. One can only hope…

The annual Parade of Lost Souls is coming up, and as last year's Parade was cancelled, this is the first time that Ad and I will be able to witness this very unique Vancouver event.

Off to have a late afternoon well-deserved coffee!
Ariane C

VIFF rules!

46 films in 16 days. I laughed. I cried. I related. Walked out of four. And so closes another year at VIFF (Vancouver International Film Festival, no. 25). I met lots of film buffs in the daily ticket allotment line-up, some of who'd flown in from San Diego and as far away as Connecticut. Those folk easily absorbed five films a day, every day. One woman had already surpassed her 100th film mark by the 10th day! Films from around the world, many including their directors and makers in tow. I met a handful of Japanese actors, their director and Art Director one evening. Chatted with them via their interpreter. Some had films making their international premiere here in Vancouver. As a first-time volunteer, I signed on early to accept about 25 hours of work at our local Ridge Theatre. Over and over, I'd meet those friendly folk with a (paid) film pass, commenting about the films they'd seen and ones they'd be seeing on that day. It was truly a world in itself outside busy downtown Vancouver. Enjoyed the chance to do this, especially after having lived eight years in The Netherlands and not once attending the Rotterdam Film Festival.

Blog THIS!

Well, it's official: Georgia Straight's best of Vancouver issue just came out yesterday, and Kitsilano's been voted best neighborhood in Vancouver. Duh, as if we didn't already know that, us very fortunate, yoga clothing-bearing young healthy beings out on West 4th, Kits Beach and the Seawall.

Yours truly took a victory walk/jog along the Seawall yesterday afternoon, passing the now closed-for-the-season outdoor Kits pool, just starting to turn a bit more green with the incoming flux of seagulls making it once again their home, and heading along the glistening water, taking in a breath of fresh sea air and counting my blessings yet once again.

Today is equally beautiful here in Kits. Went for a paddle in a new Nimbus Telkwa Sport, new to the Ecomarine rental fleet. Awesome to be in a new kayak! A bit of a plug for them: they've got their annual Yard Sale on tomorrow on Granville Island, tons on sale. Another kudo goes out to my paddling friends there: they've got a Best of Vancouver entry as well.

And I quote, from page 59: "Best Place to Aggravate Windsurfers, Sailors, and Ocean Liners", winner: Ecomarine Ocean Kayak Centre, Jericho Beach. "Consider the ocean a road with no lanes. You'll have those other seafaring vehicles annoyed in no time-they'll never be back. And you'll get a nice tan and a great workout in the process".

Freelanced for part of the month, volunteered for the Vancouver Fringe Festival (just wrapped up last weekend), got treated to 15 plays for my volunteer hours, had a blast at the volunteer party last Sunday night, and am now ready for the upcoming VIFF (Vancouver International Film Festival). Volunteering for that one as well, I've been able to attend various pre-festival media screenings, which is a good thing considering I'm attempting to see over 30 movies between September 28 and October 13.

First day of Fall and we're looking at sunny skies and 18C (64F) to celebrate its entrance. Hope everyone's having a good start to it so far. Always nice to have autumn incoming. A sure sign that Halloween is on its way…

Ariane C

Gulf Island Getaway

The Labour Day long weekend saw Ad and I off to Gabriola Island. From home to the island took two busses, two ferries and a cab in between. Once we arrived at our B&B, we felt truly away from the big bad city. Once checked in, the owners, Ben and Jen Ford, asked us to please close the big white fenced gate when coming and going, so that the deer don't eat the flowers! Yep, we were certainly removed from city life at this point.

We headed out for a cycle tour of the area on bikes. This proved more challenging than expected as the map didn't quite show ALL those hills up and down! As fit as Ad is, he couldn't get passed the (much) poorer quality of the rental bikes and though free, not too useful for a long trip. I wasn't as concerned with the bike as much as getting over some of those grades! We did manage to visit the tiny 'downtown' consisting of a few shops, a supermarket and bank. And, the Definitely Different Garlic Chocolate man, yes, he concocts chocolate made with garlic! His products are also sold in Vancouver on Granville Island. He also sells minced garlic, fresh garlic and assorted chocolate bars with fillings all seemingly yummy. I fell in love with his Definitetly Decadent bar, deep Belgian chocolate with dark chocolate truffle. 50 grams of chocolate bliss…Ad actually enjoyed the garlic/chocolate combination more than I did!

As evening approached, we decided to live the local life: hitchhiking. Thumbs up for a good portion of the weekend, this was something I hadn't done since I was a teenager vacationing on Martha's Vineyard with my family. Dinner at Surf Lodge, with sunset, to celebrate our 6th year of wedded bliss. That ride over consisted of two hitches, one in the back of a pick-up truck. Quite exhilarating late in the afternoon sun.

Our next decision was to look into renting a scooter for exploring the (entire) island the following day. Jen phoned Lance at the scooter (and as it turns out, auto) rental place and we had two scooters brought to the B&B the following morning after what would be several scrumptious home-made breakfasts! The plan worked out brilliantly. We were out on those things from 10 AM until sundown, close to 8 PM. Maps in hand, we headed to the main attractions of the island, including Malsapina Galleries (lovely and huge surf-shaped sandstone formations at the northern tip of the island), several thousand-year old petroglyphs, on a trail close to the church on the opposite end of the island. After a picnic lunch close to the 'ruins' AKA the Petroglyphs, we were off to Drumbeg Provincial Park/Beach. Lots of colourful tidepools and bright late-afternoon sunshine. We topped off with some liquid fuel at the Silva Bay Marina and Restaurant. We then continued from the South Road to the North, spotting three deer in the Islands Trust Nature Reserve. We cut our scooter motors and watched the deer, quite curious creatures, eventually leap out into the woods. Early dinner at Suzy's, the local spot for decent grub, and a sunset close to the B&B at Descanso Bay. We were wiped out but at least this afforded a lovely way of island touring, without a car.

The next day we rented a kayak for the day and were off, charts in hand, to explore neighbouring (tiny) islands in the area. We took a picnic lunch in our dry bags (also loaned to us) and this involved a short stay at Pirate's Cove. We headed out in time for the tide to allow us a tiny bit of beach left from which to push off! After returning the kayaks and thumbing it back to the B&B, we had by this time made friends with the other couple staying at our place. An American/German couple with many similarities to our backgrounds and past! The owners were out for a few hours, so we ordered pizza and stayed in with the couple dining al fresco and chatting over travels and life. As Ben and Jen arrived home, homemade chocolate chip cookies and coffee were on the agenda. Not a bad way to round out the day!

Monday morning saw us eating gourmet omelettes (and by far the largest omelette I've ever eaten) and getting a lift over to Twin Beaches for some beachcombing and relaxation before the afternoon ferry crowd. We found hundreds of purple starfish clustered together on the rocks, between the rocks and in the tidepools. Enormous jellyfish and many sorts of sea anemones were hanging out in their respective tidepools and a heron was out fishing for lunch. We made a picnic of fruit and leftover pizza slices on a picnic table close to the beach. There was time to explore the second tiny shopping centre of the island, Twin Beaches Shopping Centre. This consisted of a tiny café, bookstore, liquor shop, clothing boutique and two places that were closed, a tatoo parlour and an accounting firm.

The four days went by all too quickly and before we knew it we'd already boarded our first ferry towards home. The second ferry was very crowded, the last day of summer before start of school. Once back in downtown Vancouver, it was quite a shock in difference between that quiet island laid-back life and street noise. We'd definitely recommend the Holly Tree B&B on Gabriola and soon, as the owners are planning on moving to Ucluelet next year and building yet another home with a B&B.

The Coolest Beetle in Town

Today was the annual Kitsilano Hippy Daze event. A great day out considering the beautiful weather and almost the entire stretch of West 4th closed off to vehicular traffic. This alone is a rare occurence on the busy shopping street. Here are photos of a classic VW Beetle that's got its entire inside and outside covered in art! We'd seen this car in town before, but today it was specially on display along with several classic cars…some of the photos show water spurting out, and indeed there's running water both on the car's front exterior hood and in the back seat!

Happy weekending,

Ariane C

Wednesday in August

Maybe not as cool as an expanding planetary system, but yours truly has won the Blenz Coffee contest and will be enjoying some latte action in the coming year! Pretty ironic, considering I'm not even Canadian. Guess we've got what it takes to be Canadian down pat.

And our annual Kitsilano Hippy Daze is just around the corner…

I'll be volunteering on Friday for the big Weekend to End Breast Cancer, a 60 km walk over a two day period.

Oh yeah, spotted a seal and her pup within one metre of my kayak this morning, over at Granville Island. Sadly enough, I didn't have my digital camera on board. This is by far the closest I've ever come to the darling harbour seals. Their big eyes stare your way…truly sweet creatures of Nature.

My newly revised site is up and live!

Long Holiday Weekend

The past long BC Day weekend has given us a great variety of entertainment. Friday night we ate at lovely French bistro Salade de Fruits Café, a great find close to home. The waiters turn people away all evening and bring in who they 'like'! We sat at a table on the patio and enjoyed the company of a couple of long-time fans of the place. The moules frites dish that Ad ordered was fantastic, the mussels large and in a very tasty sauce. My salmon was also wonderful. As the evening (and our bottle of white wine) wore on, we chatted about everything BC and came across some great tips from locals eager to impart just plain great touring info on us.

Saturday brought us into the garden to take care of various plants and weeds that needed attention. The five new lavender plants are starting to enjoy the company of the bees and will hopefully spread out in the years to come. We met up with a couple of friends who'd invited us to a casual homemade dinner before heading out to Kitsilano Showboat to watch the evening line-up including 'Johnny Cash and Friends'. As the sun started to set, Ad and I were in need of warmer clothes if we'd be staying around to watch the fireworks finale starting at 10. We raced back on foot to the house, changed and somehow, right before the start of the fireworks, met up with our friends (in the dark no less) amongst the throngs of crowds all descended upon Vanier Park to watch the show from the best vantage point! With the stereo set up in the background tuned to the rock station sponsoring the audio portion of the show, it was quite a spectacle. I was even granted use of the only camping chair amongst the four of us and felt quite royal sitting in back with the colourful displays unfolding in front of us.

Sunday and we were off to the Vancouver Pride Parade, another packed event, this time on English Bay, just opposite the previous night's fireworks vantage point. Lots of great performers and ever-present disco music to get the crowd on their feet. We ran into a friend and chatted before separating ways, Ad and I grabbing some lunch on the way, and walking back over the Burrard Bridge home.

Yesterday capped the weekend with us celebrating BC Day on the water. We rented our kayaks at Deep Cove for a four hour adventure up the North Indian Arm. Gorgeous scenery, photos follow here…

Now it's back to the week, filled with memories of being on vacation so close to home!

Ariane C












taking a break on a little beach

Tesla Girls

This morning I broke out of tradition and rented a Necky Tesla kayak instead of the usual Nimbus Nyak or Seafarer's. Lovely boat and the seat is quite comfy. Took to the shores of Jericho Beach to some very choppy action at sea. Almost, just almost, thought of turning back and calling it a day. Once I headed out and got USED to the wind dealing with the waves, it was again paradise out there! So lovely to watch the animals and birds take to the water. The seal couple were out again swimming close to the shore, turning their heads round to see groups of youngsters trying their hand at windsurfing nearby.

I managed THREE paddles in this week! Met a woman on Weds. morning who's also a junkie and has a season's pass like me. Only she has her own carbon paddle to the tune of 500 bucks! We went out paddling together and traded off paddles for a bit. Now I see why carbon RULES! Light as can be, ahhhhh.

There's a recent bit in Vancouver Magazine regarding our little bit o' paradise by the sea (page 46 of the current August issue):

And I quote, "Unlike the poor saps out East, West Coasters don't have to jump in a car and conga-line up a highway for several hours to find recreational water. Here on the edge of an ocean playground, you can roll out of the office and into a kayak in 20 minutes." Sweet!

I watched a nearby Cormorant dive in for his lunch and come back with a fish that went right down the hatch, length of fish down first! Seems like each and every day is full of new feelings on the water and different activity with the birds and seals. Although I've been kayaking pretty much in two areas in Vancouver (off Granville Island and Jericho Beach), no two days are alike! And the feeling of coming home (just as I have now, this Friday noontime) and feeling the waves move through the body while sitting still, it's just awesome.

Yes, Ad, the Tesla will do just fine on Monday out at Deep Cove!

Happy BC Day to all my local friends and devoted blog readers : )

Now it's on to heavy production of my re-vamped website pages -arghhh. Dreamweaver to the rescue! Hope to be online with the newly designed Ariane C Design in a week or so. . . (depends on the weather conditions of course).

Ariane C

A Different Perspective

I decided to finally bring a digital camera along for the ride in the zippered pocket of my spray skirt this morning. Following are scenes from English Bay and False Creek. As the weather was due to cloud over (never did actually), I was up early to get a 9.30 paddle in. We're due for a heatwave this coming weekend with temps over 30 for many days to come. This means more early morning paddles. The heat and hot July sun are just no good for anyone these days!






A little Harbour Seal swam past me towards Stanley Park.







We'd appear to have more Great Blue Herons here in Vancouver than anywhere else in the world. Click on the photo to enlarge it. It was really a beautiful take-off!



Another great Cormorant encounter, sitting on the rocks of English Bay.



This is about the CLOSEST I've ever come to a Double-Breasted Cormorant. This was a young bird sitting on the dock underneath the Burrard Bridge. As I slowly approached him in my kayak, he seemed to be hopping around from one spot on the dock to another. Could have been slightly injured and waiting for a family member to come and rescue him.



At this point, I was headed towards the kayak rental place and came face to face with another seal. This is usually the way I come across them, as they're looking right at me with their large, curious eyes!



And yet another Double-Breasted Cormorant getting its lunch out of the sea!

Giro di Burnaby

Local Burnaby cycler Gina Grain takes the prize and trophy, proudly wearing the Giro di Burnaby winner's jersey.




The races were held last night, on Hastings Street in North Burnaby. Quite close to where we stayed last year in April while looking around Vancouver. Here's photos of the set up, womens' and men's races and all in between. Yes, that's me in a gorgeous red Ferrari Spider (click on the photo to enlarge, if you don't believe me)! Just an added bonus of being a trusty volunteer! This was the first bike Criterion race of its kind in Burnaby, and the organizer is already looking forward to the Giro di Burnaby 2007.



Weekend's just getting better. Had a nice paddle out at sea today in Jericho Beach area and we're now going to entertain our friends CZarina and Maarten, with Ad's excellent BBQ talent! Tomorrow, a hike in the vicinity with a rented car for the day, followed by an aperitivo at friends in Kits Point, who have just returned from good times in Italia.

Happy weekend,

Ariane C

July 9

Although I didn't participate in the Jericho Beach Kayak Marathon this year, I was there for the start of the race. 9.30 sharp and the foghorn was off! The race had two components: a leisurely one hour paddle, and a more strenuous longer distance.



I left shortly after the start with the intention of meeting up with Ad on Commercial Drive to watch the soccer final, but I heard reports back by phone that the street and all pubs were so full, it was over capacity with hardly any standing room on the street! Ad found his way to Zesty's Restaurant to watch, as Stella's Belgian bar and tapas restaurant was full, where his Dutch friends were seated from very early on to watch. Too bad they couldn't save him a seat, it was that crowded!

It was great when Italy won (we were rooting for them!) - being in "Little Italy" there on the Drive, Ad only had to call me on his cell phone to hear the cheers and screams of the Italian fans. All hell broke loose after the game, and people in Roman costume were out on the streets, walking with a replica World Cup trophy, as well as musicians, tons of flags (from both France and Italy actually) and screaming, honking cars. The whole Drive was blocked off eventually. Our friends Albrecht and Lisa were French fans, so a bit less cheerful. They did find a large French group of fans and Albrecht, with his French soccer shirt, flag and bagette on the flagtop, was the centrepiece of discussion post-game, according to Ad!

As I enjoyed the second half of the game from our comfy couch, I headed out afterwards and did a paddle towards the late afternoon. Blissful. I headed from Jericho Beach to Wreck Beach and hit a point in the sea where no land was on either side of me. Really felt like being out in the open sea, what a rush that was!

I will be going to Commercial Drive a bit after the fact (this evening, for a Graphic Designer's meet up); will inspect the leftover scene!

A couple of shots of last night's sunset, as taken from our balcony. As the weather has gone cooler and grayer, this too is a relief after many days of heat in Vancouver. Though that DOES count as summer right?

Happy Birthday, Canada

Ah, the holiday weekend. Saturday morning, I headed out for a morning kayak paddle around Point Grey and Kits seashore, spotting a Bald Eagle land above me on the Kitsilano Yacht Club's pier! Stayed there a few moments to admire it, and the Heron down below the docks, waiting patiently for a morning meal. Ad was off to Commercial Drive to watch an 8 AM start on the England vs. Portugal soccer game with a friend. The afternoon was spent biking over to Yaletown to watch some of the International Jazz Festival taking place in David Lam Park as well as the Roundhouse Community Centre nearby. We got ourselves over to Main and Broadway intending to catch a Main Street bus to Nat Bailey Stadium to watch the Vancouver Canadians vs. Eugene Emeralds baseball game, but wound up sharing a cab with two ladies over to the Park, as the busses were delayed to the point of our not wanting to risk missing out on the game (we had one complimentary ticket and needed to purchase a second one in time for the 7.05 start). As Nat Bailey has fireworks every July 1, and this was its busiest day of the year, we wanted to arrive in time to enjoy a good old-fashioned ball game. The fireworks started out very mellow and later built up to the standard high-in-the-sky numbers. We were almost wondering if the 'big ones' would come out, but sure enough, all was not lost towards the end of the show!! We bussed back, this time catching our two busses in good time.

Sunday…First off, we rented a car-cooperative auto and headed to the Buntzen Lake area for a hike. With the heat on, everyone had crowded the parking lot by 11 in the morning and we quickly made an alternative plan to head to Belcarra Regional Park, right at Bedwell Bay and the Indian Arm area. We noticed cops giving out tickets at the waterfront. What for? Crabs that were caught and not released due to their size. There's a huge crabbing community here, and licences and size are everything. One licence will permit two traps set out to sea. There were several crab people out on the dock with plastic templates in order to measure the crab's length between its claws. About 50% were tossed back to the water, with a flock of geese waiting in the wings for any crumbs of people food to drop into the water. Here's a photo of one person's 'catch'. Obviously, it had to be thrown back out, as the sealife is dutily protected on these shores.



Once out of the busy picnic/bbq/fishing pier area, we opted for a hike along the Jug Island Beach Trail, heading higher and higher up the mountainside until we hit the ridge, opening up to gorgeous views down below.



Lots of recreational boating in the summer heat! A bigger bonus: the gorgeous and colourful birds we spotted up there while on a lunch break. As I've become somewhat of a bird fan, I picked them out of my bird-watching book: a few Western Tanagers and Pileated Woodpeckers! Now I'm on a mission: to one day spot a Mountain Bluebird, a piece of sky come to life.

We had iced coffee back down in Port Moody, picked up some produce at the same outdoor shopping centre, and headed back home to rest and unwind, before heading out for some gorgeous Greek food at the Ouzeri on West Broadway. Living here over one year and not having had one Greek meal out in our Greek neighborhood was almost a sin. Now there's about four other Greek places we're going to try in the future.

Today was another very warm day. Ad and I chose to hang out for this Canada Day around the house, doing various things that needed doing, and tonight Ad's planking a large salmon fillet for dinner on the BBQ!

What we have here is a photo taken last week on our evening stroll along the Seawall, at (very) high tide! Happy Canada Day, and 4th of July to our friends and family down South!

Peace Boat in Vancouver

This will be a photo heavy entry.

Yesterday morning, the TSS The Topaz, a gorgeous old ship registered in Panama, arrived in Vancouver at around 7.30, docking alongside three commercial cruise ships. Many delegates, performers, members of the Hague Appeal for Peace, and founding students were onboard to give the people of Vancouver an introduction to the history of the Peace Boat, its mission and life on the ship for 100 days stretches around the world.

I attended a presentation called "Travelling the World, Changing the World" in the early afternoon. Indeed the press and many curious individuals were on board to hear people from all walks of life discuss the importance of the voyages. Afterwards, the press was invited to a round of Q&A, before breaking for lunch in the Topaz Dining Room. I took the opportunity to go to the upper deck and listen to live music and have a juice. In doing so, I met with a Korean War veteran named David Laskey, who was seated at a table in the shade, creating little origami cranes for hanging en masse and brought back to Japan on the ship. Once I got busy learning the folding technique, he started to open up a bit and spoke of his wife who he'd met in Hiroshima. The entire Crane Project that's taken off so successfully in schools and libraries, got its start at his daughter's school, when the custodian showed some of the students how to create the crane.



It wasn't until I got home and went online to search for his wife, Kinuko, that it really sunk in who I'd been just chatting with on deck. Here's one of many memorial links to give more background on the story.

As I became more and more curious about life on the ship and what actually goes on at the 20 ports of call, I wandered some of the hallways and found little Japanese bulletin boards and origami animals pasted on doors and the deeper I walked down the halls, the more Japanese signage I encountered. There was an announcement on the loudspeaker at one point, announcing lunch and a few safety measures onboard, and it was first done in Japanese, later in English. This really gave me a feeling of being away at sea! I walked into the Dining Room and saw the menus printed in both languages, along with duty-free wine available (all priced in Yen). There were several small rooms open for workshops, musical and artistic performances, and discussion groups needed during the journey. I noticed a Kirin drink machine with items and prices all in Yen.

At some point, I met a young lady who had been on one of the voyages. She'd taught English in Japan for three years and made the transition from moving back to Vancouver by spending the 100 days travelling round the globe. As she discussed the small details, and I later asked about her overall experience, she started to get teary-eyed. Indeed this trip was life-altering for her. She's strongly considering another Peace Boat journey. All a matter of first getting to Japan where the ship sets sail and returns. She went on as a volunteer and this kept her busy, while allowing enough time between the activities to meet people at ports of call and have people around when the ship would sail, a favourite memory of her days at sea. With internet usage at 5 dollars a minute, and not much cell phone coverage, one is clearly out of touch for three months. The experience of close to 1,000 people aboard a ship is like that of a community. Some people she would see daily, a few she only met for the first time after the 100 day journey was over.

I left that boat completely transformed and humbled. It would be fantastic to be on this boat one day. There's a Peace Boat US organization forming shortly, based on the world-wide one and only Topaz experience. At 100 US dollars per day on the ship, it would probably be worthwhile going on as a volunteer. And now, several photos of the ship. As with all photos on my blogspace, feel free to click on any photo to enlarge it.