PIECES FROM A LIFE ON THE WEST COAST: 2010-01-17

Evenings at Granville Island
Saturday, January 23, 2010

Being back to Granville Island's public Market for the second time in a week speaks highly of its atmosphere. But this time, coming later in the evening, the market was a much different place. Rather than it being busy with shoppers and the typical day crowd, it was slow and calm, with people sitting down in and outside the market...eating, drinking coffee and looking out across the water. The inside of the market is dimly lit and the shop owners walk about talking to their co-workers, slowly cleaning up from the day. Outside, buskers take to the open courtyards and fill the spaces. Slow, soft jazz tunes of the 1950s and 1960s, like "Moon River", echo out across the water as people sit at the benches close to the shore.

Louis Armstrong - Moon River

So easily you could fall in love with the city.

Posted byPiper at 9:43 PM 0 comments

Burrard Street Bridge and English Bay Docks

It's weird walking underneath the Burrard street bridge when I ride across it on a bus every day to get to work. It twists my perspective a bit and makes it difficult to place myself in the city when, I'm in fact, lower then the main land; on the same level as the water rather than the streets. When you take the short path between the Burrard Street Bridge and the Granville Street Bridge, you come across a plethora of boats all resting in the water at the docks. The masts stand tall like the buildings in the background, bridges extends from the stone pathways to the boats, and the smell of fresh fish and chips fill the air as you walk towards the main entrance of Granville Island.

Posted byPiper at 2:53 AM 0 comments

Mason Jennings - California

"...I miss the ocean when I go to sleep..."

Posted byPiper at 2:43 AM 0 comments

Kits Beach and Vanier Park

Spring seems to come early in Vancouver. Last weekend we were outside all day (with what seemed to be the entire city), and walked along the edge of the water. The sun was at a low angle all day; bright and warm (unusual for us to experience at this time of year) and completely enthralling. We walked through natural phenomenon and artistic sculptures; all new attractions to us all.

KITSILANO BEACH
Hayley and I walked along the rocky beach that is just off of Trafalgar, 6 blocks from our house. Several homes have steep steps that lead down the hillside to the beach, all viewing out to the docks. In the distance you can see the Mountains to the North and downtown across the water.

The outdoor pool that opens seasonally on Kitsilano beach.

VANIER PARK
Throughout the park, we cam across different sculptures, ranging from the well known Totems to modern sculptures of different kinds of steel. The park itself was drenched and extremely muddy, but we walked through anyway, sacrifices our socks and shoes, in order to take a closer look at the many attractions scattered along the edge of the water and the park.

Close to the Burrard Street Bridge in the early evening,
this is a view to downtown over a part of English Bay.

Posted byPiper at 1:58 AM 0 comments

Craig Cardiff - Circus

This is a song that I've rediscovered recently since I've been on the West Coast. It reminds me of the first night I went to the Naam restaurant on 4th; A vegetarian restaurant open 24 hours, and undoubtedly one of the busiest places in the city. They always have live music playing, usually a mix of soft acoustics and quiet voices. On the night I was there, the man singing reminded me of Craig Cardiff. Although I've never heard this tune at the Naam, I thought maybe a song like this would be worth sharing.

Posted byPiper at 1:07 AM 0 comments

From Kitsilano to Granville
Monday, January 18, 2010

On Saturday, Hayley, Fraser, Carol, Zac and I (all joining up at different times) walked from our house in the middle of Vancouver's Kitsilano, down to Granville Island. We walked along the water's edge that encompasses English Bay; through beaches, parks and docks, through the afternoon into the early evening. It was the first time that I had actually walked down to the water-front from our house (pathetic since it's only 6 blocks away), and with that, this was the first time that it really felt like I was in Vancouver.

Below are panoramas that I took during our walk, starting with views out from Kitsilano Beach to downtown, English Bay, Vanier Park, the Burrard Street Bridge and the docks at Granville Island... and finishing with the amazing Granville Island Public Market. More pictures of each of these individual places will be posted too, but I thought these deserved to be together.