Stanley Park named best in the world by TripAdvisor

I would certainly agree with that and NYC's Central Park comes second....also a choice I agree with.  Definitely these wonderful parks make these fabulous cities even more fabulous.

A beautiful fresh sunny morning and enjoying all the boats and action here.  Looking forward to being on the beach today....and a cooling swim.

Stanley Park turns 125 years old this year and various events are planned for August.  Even though there are parking costs for families unlike in our day growing up it's still a wonderfully inexpensive place for families to enjoy the outdoors.

http://www.theprovince.com/travel/Vancouver+Stanley+Park+named+world+best+park/8598286/story.html

 View last night.

View this morning.

Out to New Westminster today

We really love taking the skytrain out to New West as you see great views of Greater Vancouver and how it has changed.  Then lunch at the Paddlewheeler Pub by the Fraser River.  We saw this boat and its owner who is obviously embroiled in some kind of battle.  It does seem like this 100 year old fish boat should be preserved.  New West is another world in that the pubs still have outdoor smoking areas.  We made sure we were well away from this area this time round.

http://www.royalcityrecord.com/business/Chief+Skugaid+adrift+Larco/8001676/story.html

Having a chat with the owner.

Then to the Salvation Army Thrift shop where Jim got a pair of jeans he liked for around $11.

Jim went for an ocean swim when we got home but I'm waiting until things warm up just a bit.  Spent the rest of the day and evening  just sitting on the balcony in the sunshine, enjoying the view,  and watching the world go by.  Nice to get the sun back again.

It's all so cosmopolitan...

Seems like The Sylvia is continuing its Thursday music over the summer...yeah!  We saw Reid Jamieson on Thursday....we always enjoy him....gives a fun lively show.

http://www.reidjamieson.com

And we had an interesting conversation with folks at the next table...a woman from Quebec was there first saving a table for friends,  then her friends came in,  fellow was Suisse and the woman French from Brittany and then later a woman we know from the groups of regulars from our paradise swimming beach came in to join them.  She's from Italy.  It was fun to speak some French!

Red Truck Ale,  views over English Bay,  good music,  decent food (their steak sandwich is back....we split one) and good conversation...

And then back to a great sunset....does it get any better than this?

Visit with an old friend

Our old university friend, John, came for drinks and snacks after his class yesterday and brought a lovely bottle of Port.  Lots of laughs as usual and we're very pleased for his partner, Nourdine, as he is the Executive Chef at an interesting new restaurant close to us called "Ten Ten Tapas".  It sounds like a great concept and is in a great location along the seawall.   There was a Groupon offered this week so we plan to go this weekend and test it out and hope to be in the sunshine given the location.

http://www.tententapas.com

One of the things I served as a snack were these freshwater prawn skewer I bought at Safeway recently.  We were all in heaven at the taste and John is a gourmet.  Definitely recommended.  I brushed on some olive oil then after baking squeezed a bit of lemon juice and sprinkled some Herbes de Provence on them...fantastique!

Free pair of jeans thanks to Fats Waller....

Richard and Emily came for dinner last night and had a neat story to tell us.  In our clean up we had given Richard some old vinyl records we had and one of them was a 1934 Fats Waller.  Emily noticed a contest in the Georgia Strait that was offering a pair of any jeans in the store (just happened to be the store in Gastown where Richard buys his jeans and his jeans just got a hole in them) to the first three people who showed up Sunday with the oldest records.  The Fats Waller made the cut so Richard got a $200 pair of jeans for free!

I don't think I've ever seen Canada Geese babies but Richard and Emily had a "visit" by some goslings and Richard took some photos.  We were all surprised they were so yellow.

Richard with his new free jeans.

Granville Island

Went over on the little ferry today.  For some reason I thought the Dragon Boat races were around there but I guess more around the Science World area of False Creek.  Had fun listening to buskers,  watching a juggler,  checking out the houseboats.  Split a seafood sampler of fish, chips, shrimp, calamari, oysters, and onion rings while listening to a free concert put on by the TD Jazz Festival now in town for the next week or so.

Not a peaceful Sunday morning

The Scotiabank half marathon and 5 k outside our door today.   Was running these races always associated with lots of noise...ah well.  Everyone and their dog (photo to prove it) seems to be running this race.

Not much at the book sale yesterday but I did pick up a copy of Minette Walter's "Disordered Minds" for 50 cents.  Haven't read anything by her in a while.

 Very cool to see this vintage trolley...rode on many growing up in Vancouver.

 A cakewalk...a blast from the past!

Can't make out much on the photos but footage of travelling along with one of the old trams my Dad used to work on.

Lunch with Kerry at Dinesty

Kerry and I had lunch at this new restaurant on Robson called "Dinesty"...wow,  are they every doing well and deserve to.  Wonderfully prepared Chinese food.  We began sharing a hot and sour soup then had wontons with sour chill sauce and Chinese green onion pancake.  I look forward to trying lots more on the menu.

We met at Katie and David's place and saw Harmony and Zion again....such sweethearts.

 Zion and Harmony hard at play...

 Harmony with her baby bear-bee.

 Dinesty Restaurant with its rather cool walls with teapots.

Loved these nastursiums on the walk home...every summer I  planted these flowers from seeds as a kid.    I see they have something new around here...little gardens maintained by someone in the neighbourhood.

A dark and stormy morning....

But the joggers,  cyclers,  and walkers are still out.  Good day to take the bus downtown and renew our driver's licences.

Lunch with my cousins today at The Sylvia

We all had a wonderful time today and they loved our apartment....definitely felt we did the right thing.

 My cousins....Georgia, me, Bonnie

Jack and Jim

Amazing sunset last night

We went to Cloud 9 last night since the weather was predicted to change.  With everything going on we hadn't been there since Jan.  They've done renovations and have new chairs...looks great!  Still the same price for tapas and beer.  Then back to watch the latest episode of Madmen (excellent) and an episode on Netflix of Homeland.  We're enjoying it as well.

From the balcony....

again....

 Lots of colourful sailboats out.

 We often see folks down below trying to do the tightrope...with varying success!

One of our herons flying back with a full gullet of fish.  They don't seem to have much fun....just feeding these hungry youngsters.   The seagulls have the most fun.

Merci beaucoup, Richard!

Richard prepared a Father's Day Brunch at his place today (Emily was in Victoria celebrating Father's Day there).  Huevos Rancheros and home made tortillas then followed by a Victoria Gin and that great tonic they sell at Whole Foods....wow!  We took the little ferry over and on our walk to Richard's we heard some great buskers...fellow with guitar and harmonica,  South American flutes,  and a piper.

Jim talked me into an ocean swim....still a bit chilly for me but stayed in for a while.  I'll remember it was June 16 my first swim this year since it's Bloomsday.  It was very pleasant sitting on the beach and caught the sunshine...really dulling down now.   One fellow there who seems to go in every day said his first day swimming was May 1.  He's quite a swimmer.

 Lots of great boats out today...taken from the Granville Island ferry.

The Master Chef

 Seems like he is a Master Bartender too!

Richard and Jim

Las Margaritas and The Vancouver Museum

After lunch we took advantage of being close to the museum and went especially to see the Foncie exhibit...the fellow who took all these street photos over the years.  He was a real fixture.  I couldn't find the one he (well,  I think it was him...there were competitors) of my Dad and his friend, Les.  I found the one with Jim (about 5 years old) and his grandmother although it isn't identified as a Foncie photo so maybe wasn't.

It seems he took a lot of photos of First Nations and Asians and these were apparently often the only photos the families had.  Makes sense since these groups were not privileged and probably didn't have the means to take family photos otherwise.   I guess I probably knew this but was rather shocked to be reminded in  "This day in history,  June 15, 1949" in the Sun yesterday that this was the day that First Nations,  Japanese-Canadians,  Chinese-Canadians, and Sikh Canadians got the vote.

"Foncie Pulice was the last man standing from Vancouver’s great era of post-war street photography. Creator of about 15 million images over his lifetime, Foncie captured Vancouverites in action as they strode the city streets. His photographs trigger vivid memories for long-time residents who recall the particular day, the hour, their companions, the circumstances."

We also enjoyed the Ugly Neon Vancouver exhibit and Sex in the City.   And the photos by Joe Average...his mother taught at Esquimalt for a while.

Then for a swim at Second Beach Pool.  Jim wanted to go in the ocean but didn't look very inviting to me...perhaps today.

 Sat outside and enjoyed the great floral displays while dining.

Burrard Bridge in the early hours above.  Our view in the early hours below.  Love these photographs. by Joe Average.

 The Sex in the City exhibit was excellent.  Here they focus on sex education in schools.

There was a big movement in the 70's to get rid of the "ugly neon" and while these signs seem pretty cool,  photos of some streets demonstrated it really had got out of hand and become light pollution.  Everyone was for keeping the signs on Theatre Row on Granville...that always worked well.