Holidaying in July means lots of fun stuff Canadian style! Festivals and other celebrations awaited us as we arrived just in time for merrymaking reason #1: Canada Day!!! :)
Patriotism in a slightly subdued way--many little flags rather than one gigantic one! :)
View of Granville Island
Look at the little Aquabus headed downtown for the party!
Canada is multicultural and in Vancouver, even more so, so of course the Canada Day parade involves groups from various ethnicities!
Even the police joined in with the Blues Brothers!
And so did the rest of us! :)
Canada Place convention centre...
Cool orca--reminds me of lego!
The remnants of the Olympic flame....
Then later on, one day there was a street hockey day where a group that was travelling around the country collecting donations for the food bank stopped in Vancouver. They closed off part of Granville Street and set up areas for anyone to come down and play Canada's favourite game!
Decked out in goalie gear
Kids playing a quick game...
...and two big kids stopping by for a quick shift pre-wedding??
This year Vancouver is celebrating its 125 birthday, so there was a big weekend festival for that too! Happy Birthday Vancouver and may you always be so youthful and green! :) A big weekend full of music, performances, games, activities for kids, food and outdoor fun took over Stanley Park--so of course we HAD to go check it out!
Bike valet for those who came on two (non-motorised) wheels. We did that one day and it was great--free, secured parking for our bikes! What a great concept---I'm loving the green initiatives in the city!
Everyone sprawled out in front of the main stage enjoying the various types of music--not just big names, but a cool selection of the local best.
We were a bit weirded out at first by these random people, but turns out they are Butoh actors, and they were harmless. Just ran around making strangely slow movements and not bothering or interacting with the people....just a bit unnerving having them around...
Later we watched a Bollywood show that went roaming around different areas of the park. Each scene moved to a different location so the audience raced after them, and that made it more fun too. The story even involved the beautiful scenery and Vancouver references! :)
Participating in a public art project. You take some vines that are from an invasive species that has been pulled from the park (I forget which plant...), which someone has cleaned and dried, and then weave it around into a circular shape! Yes the chopstick is part of the equipment!
We managed to make it into a nest-shape! :) You can see rings of different sizes attached to the fence--reusing waste for art, I love it!!
Grilled corn on the cob sold as concert food--only in Vancouver?
Free concert drinks--chocolate milk!!
Little monkeys re-living a bit of their childhood
Another reason to celebrate this July was the wedding of Karin and Ronald. It coincided with our trip back, luckily, and so we went to join in their special day.
The pink bubblegum bridesmaids lead the way... ;)
Congratulations!
The reception was at a golf club in Richmond...what relaxing surroundings!
Everyone crowded in and ready for dinner!
Besides all these celebrations, we managed to take some time to explore more of BC this time around. The weather was amazing and we took advantage of it to see some parts that we didn't get to last year, or those that needed to be repeated! :)
Burnaby Lake...a hidden gem sheltered amongst the trees, where you can walk around or paddle through, away from the noise of the city, despite seeing it not too far away...
Sun Yat Sen gardens in Chinatown. This is the free section of the park just beside the actual museum.
This bike would be great for carrying groceries or riding around selling flowers!
A few of the locals enjoying a small park space by False Creek
We stumbled upon a birthday party on Granville Island, and stopped to watch the piñata-bashing for a while...it was hard to get through and we saw a few near misses....of hitting other people, that is!
I miss the pineapple bun!! =(
Public art from recycled materials
That's YVR as seen from Iona beach park--you can see the planes but you can't hear them!
Once again, we didn't have enough time to make a trip out to Tofino, but I decided we should at least go visit the Island a bit! So instead, a short day trip out to Victoria, riding the ferry on one of the most scenic crossings in the world! :)
I can never distinguish which islands we're passing through and which you see in the distance, but it's all beautiful anyway!!
Snow??? Mount Baker peeks out at us from across the border
The parliament building in downtown Victoria
This local spots a picture opportunity...
....all in the name of pleasing the tourists!
This was really cool because Ruben had sat down and we were taking his photo with the sculpture, when suddenly a family came along. It turned out they were bringing grandpa to have his photo taken with his statue! His son was very proud and offering his dad for photo ops with the public, so Ruben joined in and met the man behind the memorial!
Pretty and artsy houses, but maybe a bit cold in the winter?
The famous Empress--we didn't stop for tea though
Last year it was blueberry picking, and this year it's strawberries! Digging for plump red ones with funny shapes--someone is becoming a fruit-picking expert!
The teams show their results--Desi won by a hair!
Look, besides picking, you can also enjoy some fresh goods right at the farm! We cooled off with some smoothies, pie and ice cream....mmmmmmm....
Korean BBQ--grill your own meats just to taste!
While waiting for your meat to cook, snack on the little plates of things they give you! Be careful, some are spicy and some are not... ;)
What's a trip without sushi for us? Impossible! :) Getting more ideas for our elaborate Japanese meals at home!
Mmmm....picking up some tips on presentation.....
To top off all the yummy meals, a trip to the ice cream factory!! It took us ages to choose, as usual, but it was great fun to sample!! ;D
