Westmount… Sigh

Rather than experiencing a new part of my city, I decided to experience a part of my city in a new way.  More specifically, a part of my neighbourhood.

Check out those trees…

I adore my neighbourhood, Westmount (Westmount proper, as opposed to near Westmount Mall or Westmount School, which aren’t even in Westmount), and I walk around it frequently.  Well, I walk south and west in my neighbourhood, but never north.  I know and enjoy restaurants and shops to the south, and the river valley is in that direction, as well as my church.  Other than driving, I’m not sure if I’ve ever been more than 2 blocks north.

Snow blanket over a beautiful flat house

Wait, that was a lie.  I’ve walked in the residential area to the north before, but never on the main road.  In the summer, the exhaust is too much for me, and in the winter, well, it’s freezing out there.  I’m not going for leisurely exploring tromps these days.

Heading North; my toque makes my shadow-head look like a triangle

Except today, and don’t let the sunny photos fool you: it’s -29 C with that windchill.  I know how to pick my days.

My exploration day started with lunch at The Duchess (owned by long-ago friend, Garner Beggs, and his wife) with Jill and Sarah.

The lovely Duchess; the lovely Sarah

The pastrami and mustard croissant is unbelievable, and the pain au chocolate is amazing (if you want to hear a bad joke about pain au chocolate, just ask me).  Serve it up with some Orange San Pellegrino, and you’ve got a delicious european lunch for under $10.

You have no idea how good this tastes

Next stop was the quilting store a few doors down, Quilter’s Dream, where I was hoping to find some Heather Bailey prints.  No luck, but they’ve got plenty of gorgeous fabrics.

Further north was Frog Kisser’s Den, which smelled of baby powder, incense and playfulness.  To venture into the back room, you get to duck under some cloth curtains… yes, even I had to duck.  I got a nice little incense holder for $2, and some incense sticks.

Scarves, incense and other hippie products

From there I went into a shop that I’m definitely not gangsta enough to shop at, though the girl working there was nice, and then a dance shop that did not sell legwarmers (but if I ever need pointe shoes, I’ll know where to go).

Westmount Christmas Houses!

I did veer into the residential, just to get you some sweet pics of the beauty that is Westmount, including some of the traditional Westmount House, which is usually 2.5 storeys and gorgeous.

This area takes beautiful architecture seriously

This part of town is an architectural heritage area, which means the amazing old houses can’t be torn down or changed too much; I like this.  Plus, the street signs have the old street names on them, and when there’s no snow on the ground, you can see those old street names inlayed into the sidewalks on the streetcorners.

St. Lawrence Avenue

Also, an art-deco apartment building…

The Waldon

… and some white picket apartments.

I just think this is hilarious, for some reason

On my way back to my place, I stopped in at a place that makes steel furniture and art, Simply Steel, where I was greeted by a giant friendly dog, and then at Thread Hill, where I bought the grey toque in the photo (along with my new incense holder).  It was 50% off, and then another 25%, and the woman that was working, who I’m 98% sure was the owner, was 100% super nice and awesome friendly.

My newly procured items

It was cold (like, really, really cold), but I’m glad I did it.  Even though I didn’t make it more than 6 blocks from my house, I managed to experience a new part of my city; the kind of part I can’t experience from my car.

Jennifer

The Date

Yesterday, my husband took me on a date. It began with a visit to the doctor. This wasn’t actually the “date” part yet, but I decided to include it because it was cool. We got to hear the heart beat of the baby and then see it and then get a sweet 3D print out of the baby’s face. How cool is that. Oh man. I still get a little teary-eyed when I see her moving around in there. Sigh. Then, we went to a hard ware store and bought a little paint for our new flat, and for the baby crib we’re borrowing that needs some freshening up.

Here is where the date “actually” started. We went into our favourite little town called Landsberg. Jeremy decided to park where we have never parked before, and this led us to a stairway, and to a small dimly lit bridge that goes over the river. It was on this bridge that we kissed long enough to almost call it making out. I know, too much information, but I am proud of Jeremy for kissing me in public, even though it was dark. It was pretty dang sweet, actually. So, this was the previously unexplored bridge, which I am now going to refer to as the “make out bridge”. And it was much closer than the other parking spot, which was nice for my sore pregnant feet. We were even led to a strange cobble stone street, and a new tunnel that I had seen before but never knew where exactly it led. Now I know.

Thank you, Landsberg, for you ancient paths and dimly lit bridges. It set the mood for a little romance.

Stephanie

Hakka Suburbs

I only have five or six weeks left in this city. I’m really not sure (I realize how terrible that is). The (happy) pressure to travel and live and experience is on; this is a perfect time for The List II to come into my life.

My fellow Canadian Carol (from Victoria) and I have been intrepid these past two weeks. We have visited (and climbed) a holy Taoist mountain, a 2,000-year-old irrigation project, ruins of the 4,000-ish-year-old Shu culture (read: tear-inducing bronzes). On Saturday we went into what the Lonely Planet guide for Southwest China calls the suburbs to visit a Hakka village… and this is how I completed:

Challenge #12: Experience a Part of Your City That You Never Have Before

The Lonely Planet guide also informed us that the Hakka people are the “wanderers” of China, ethnically indistinguishable from Han Chinese, but with different dialects and culture. What we found was a party village: We wore wreaths of flowers in our hair (an activity normally reserved for Midsummer, but given the new growth still appearing on the plants I let it slide). I bought an oil painting, and a ceramic vase-flute. We wandered the old Guild Halls and viewed photo exhibits, we ate food so spicy that I cried (my first such experience; here I thought I was pretty lihai), we stumbled upon what might be a fair trade initiative (anyone care to translate the webpage?), and we bought strange fruit from women on the street. We had a delightful time.

The best part about this trip was that it was unplanned. We meant to go to the Shu ruins, but had missed the only bus of the day. Instead of getting upset or going home, we turned to the LP guide and wandered in a new direction. Delightful! We couldn’t have had a better day… and we learned about the Dragon Fire festival that will go on in February. We intend to return, Hakka-party-land. Hold on to your hats.

sarajane

This Divine City of Mine

Sunday afternoon. It’s still sunny – that’s something to celebrate after three weeks (or more?) of heavy rain and cloud cover. Whenever it’s sunny I feel that I need to make sure that I make the most of it, no matter how tired I am at the end of the week. Being made aware of the brilliant sun that was promised us for today, I had already been planning on ut being a list day. With the forecasted sun I figured it would be the perfect day for an adventure.

Last night was a late night, I wound up having a free room at the Sheraton Hotel with a friend (on the very same day that I had told another friend that I would love to stay at a 4 or 5 star hotel with some friends for a treat, might I add). The night before that I was in Victoria. Late nights with my host. I arrived to Sunday afternoon slightly deprived of sleep. A movie watched snug in my bed sounded heavenly.

I am thankful for willpower. It remembered my wanting to head out and explore my unexplored. I had a few places in mind. My housemate, Joel Pell – physicist and outdoor adventurer – invited myself and fellow housemate, Yvonne – child carer and pianist extraordinaire – to join him on a walk in the Lynn Valley Headwaters. A park on the edge of North Vancouver (which I do acknowledge is a different city than Vancouver – but part of Greater Vancouver. So I figure it counts).

I obliged for these reasons

1. Really, you can’t deny the sun when it’s shining
2. I drove there once, by accident, in pursuit of the Lynn Valley Suspension bridge (wrong place!) and have since wanted to check it out.
3. Enjoying the sun and exploring my new terrain with friends sounded good to me.

We walked 6kms today along the Lynn river. And I learned new things about my housemates and wildlife – such as bears around here don’t actually hibernate (there goes that sense of security whilst hiking in the winter months…). Vancouver is truly an amazing city. Such a gift be able to escape the city, inside the city.

HCR

Welcome to The List II

6 women (see “Participants”)

3 continents (see the locations in “Participants”)

27 challenges (see “Items of The List II”)

1.5 months (December 1, 2009 – January 15, 2010)

many reasons (see “What Is The List II?”)

1 blog (bravo! you’ve found it!)

hopefully regular updates and reflections on how we’re all faring with this undertaking…