Marja-Leena Rathje
Home ::: a day in June

a day in June



leavingVancouver.jpg

leaving Vancouver

underLion%27sGateBridge.jpg

under the Lion's Gate Bridge

outtosea.jpg

heading out to sea, to Alaska maybe?
   

It's the last day of June already. It was an exceptionally wet month here, but we had a few nice days here and there. One day the other week, I had to shop for a wedding gift. As we sometimes do, my husband and I made plans to meet at the end of his workday. From the shopping centre we went on one of our favourite walks along a marvellous seawall. We were lucky that day was one of the best of the month with sunshine, blue skies and the beautiful sea.

Several cruise ships were just heading out to sea - shown above is one of them. Numerous people with smiles were out walking along the sea and sitting on benches soaking in the view and the warmth of the sun. The doggy park was a busy meeting place for owners and their furry friends. Several hardy children were splashing in the ocean by the sandy beach, numerous sailboats dotted the bay, and a light plane was practising fancy loops overhead.

We arrived at an Indian restaurant and sat on the outdoor patio on the second floor overlooking the sea. How warm it still was. As we sat enjoying the scene and waiting for our food, another giant floating hotel headed out west. Coming eastward with exciting toots came the train from Whistler, with people waving to all and we waved back. We savoured our first ever Indian meal in this lovely setting. Afterwards, we walked back along the seawall, a little more slowly on full stomachs, and drove home content with such a pleasant ending to a glorious day.

Tomorrow, July Ist is Canada Day. Happy 140th Birthday, Canada! Enjoy the long weekend, my dear fellow Canadians but be careful around the fireworks.

UPDATE: We're thinking of going to this year's new fireworks display location in West Vancouver. The downtown one is always much too crowded for our tastes. Hope the forecasted rain holds off.

Marja-Leena | 30/06/2007 | 8 comments
themes: Being an Artist, Canada and BC, Home


8 comments

Sounds like a great day. What did you have at the Indian restaurant?

Anna, I was afraid someone was going to ask me that! Darned if I remember the names of the dishes. Too late, I thought I should have written them down. We both had slightly different chicken dishes, cooked in a tandoori and serve in a fantastic yellow sauce with saffron. The accompaniments were mysterious and delicious. I was so pleased to finally get my husband to try Indian. He doesn't like curry but I convinced him that it's not all curry, and not all curry is the same. I think he's won over!

You brought back such wonderful memories of the 3 times I was in Vancover, the most beautiful place in Canada. I love it there, a perfect place for an artist like you to live..
I always walked the sea wall at 6 am
loved to look out at the ocean, Vancover has the best restuant food in Noth America say the food magazines and I agree. I would love to go to the Quay and have lunch amoungst all the sites to see there..
Thanks for reminding me of my wonderful memories of Vancover..

Hi Dianne! Thanks for visiting. Nice to meet another artist in Canada, you're in Ontario? I love your travel photos on your blog!

Some dear friends here are moving back to Vancouver after a 20 year or so absence; it's nice to see and hear a bit about what it's like from you.
They're a bit worried they'll miss the food here ( and the cheaper wine...), so I'll tell them how good the food sounds there!

Lucy, there's a lot of variety in many ethnic foods here, but I'm not sure about finding all the regional French foods. Fresh produce is cheaper than Europe, I think, but not the wine! They will notice a huge change here - more people and cars - but it's still beautiful. I hope you will be out here to visit them, and us, sometime!

when I was googling for a recipe for garlic soup, I found a Provencal Restaurant website in Vancouver that sounded nice. Here, we don't necessarily get the regional cuisine unless you travel to that region.
Thanks for the open invite! I don't know when we'd do it, but it's nice to know!