Vancouver: Then and Now

Last week I was waiting for Peter to pick me up from downtown, when this bus stop caught my eye.  I started what I thought was a car ad, but soon realised that it's part of a public art program celebrating Vancouver's 125th birthday.

The piece is a postcard from 1944 addressed to a recipient who lives at the corner of Drake and Hornby streets juxtaposed with a photo of the same street corner taken in 2011.  The piece reminds me a lot of Fred Herzog's work documenting Vancouver.  There was a Herzog exhibit a few years ago at the Vancouver Art Gallery and I always thought it would be cool to go back and photograph the same locations to see how the city has changed.

I'd love to know, have you seen any more of these then/now pieces around the city? 

FAQ: What was your favourite trip?

Since I've been back, I've gotten a lot of questions about my eight months abroad in Europe.  I thought I'd answer a few of them here.

While I enjoyed all my trips, I think Amsterdam stood out.  Here are some reasons why:

1.  I put a lot of planning into this trip.  Whereas I set off for Belgium, Rome, Berlin and Prague with more vague ideas of what I wanted to see, I really put a lot of planning into this trip.  Some resources I used to plan my trip included:


Europe on a Shoestring  -- Offers a good general overview of many European travel destinations while staying budget-conscious.

Amsterdam en quelques jours -- I bought a French pocket guide to Amsterdam because I wanted to ensure I knew what I was looking at so I would get the most out of my trip.  In English the en quelques jours series is called Encounters.  They're fantastic!, I bought them for Rome and Prague too.

Frommers.com -- Prior to leaving for France, I spent a lot of time in the travel section at the bookstore.  I was drawn to the Frommer's guides, but didn't want to weigh down my suitcase with travel guides.  I found the Frommer's website super helpful for itineraries and walking tours.

2. We stayed on a canal boat.  The canal system is such an inextricable part of Amsterdam, I'm glad we got to experience it by staying on a canal boat.

3.  I made food part of the experience.  While I ate a lot of pasta and gelato in Rome, food wasn't my biggest concern during most of my trips.  I was more about seeing what there was to see.  In Amsterdam, because of its Dutch East Indian Company history, I figured it had pretty good Indonesian food.  Just as my first time trying Indian food was in London five years ago, I figured Amsterdam would be a good place to try Indonesian.  Turns out, they are renown for rijsttafel, a Dutch take on Indonesian food.

Other memorable meals included:

•  The Dutch breakfast we had on the boat -- either savory cheese, cucumber and tomato sandwiches (the Dutch historically haven't been big on breakfast foods) or, at the other end of the spectrum, Hagelslag--chocolate sprinkles eaten on peanut buttered toast.

• Gouda fondue at Dwaze Zaken, a cool café on Prinsheindrikkade across from the central train station.  Although France is renown for its cheeses, the Netherlands is home to its fair number of varieties. 

4. Amsterdam is a pedestrian friendly city.  Despite having to keep an eye out for cyclists, I found that Amsterdam is one of Europe's great cities for pedestrians.  Without necessarily having "sights" to "see," I loved just wandering around Amsterdam's canal-bordering streets and discreetly gazing through the ground-level windows at awesomely arranged and furnished apartments.

5. Amsterdam is a city of great museums.  As I have said before, there is more to Amsterdam than marijuana.  Amsterdam truly has some great museums, chief among which are the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museums, but also the Rembrandthuis (which I did not have time to visit).

6. We didn't overbook our days. We planned one major thing to do for each day.  We started off by taking a walking tour of Amsterdam (check out Sandemans' Free Europe tours, they're awesome!), then went to the Van Gogh Musem and Rijksmuseum as our main event the next two days we were there.  This left lots of time for just walking around and enjoying the city (see #4).

These are just a few of the elements that went into a great trip.  I'm not a trip-planning professional, but I'd love to answer any questions you might have.  What's a great trip you took?  What factors made your trip so awesome?

Travel Map Cork Board

Ever since I got back from Europe I've been thinking about some way to display where I've travelled to other than the map-and-pin method.  How cool is this cork board variation?  Even cooler, it's a DIY project that you can check out here.  I'd love to attempt a map of Europe.


(photo by Halligan Norris Smith via Desgin*Sponge)

I Dream of Travel

...To Saint Basil's!

If you click on over to Google today, their banner is celebrating Saint Basil's Cathedral's 450th anniversary.  I would love to one day go to Russia and visit Moscow and Saint Petersburg.  I once read of a cruise you could take along the Volga river from one to the other.  I saw a lot of churches and cathedrals while in Europe, but wouldn't it be just so breathtaking to see Saint Basil's in person?  Also, isn't this pre-1917 postcard of Saint Basil's so cool?

Where are you dreaming of travelling to?

(image via retromoscow)

Getting Controlled

In France, contrôleurs are agents who check tickets to ensure riders of trains and public transit have paid their fare. To be checked is to be "contrôlé." Being anglophones, it amuses me endlessly that we English assistants we have come to talk about it as being or getting "controlled." What amuses me further is that thought or discussion of getting controlled makes the Joy Division song She's Lost Control pop into my head.

contrôler (cont-troll-ay): to check, to inspect

Back in October my room mate Andrenne and I were controlled for the first time and we didn't have appropriate fare.  It was kind of a scary experience and my heart was racing as the police officers escorted us off the tram to write us up.  Not knowing what to do and not wanting to be fined, we told them that we were new in town and then instinctually pretended not to speak French.  I had never talked myself out of a ticket before (never before having the chance or needing to) but fortunately this time it worked and the police officers let us off with a warning. 

I was relieved, but still shaken from this brush with authority and made sure to have the required fare from then on.


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(image via IMDb)

Montgolfières

Four years ago, while working a grueling summer job, I would daydream about taking a roadtrip down the Oregon coast to San Francisco and surf the travel Oregon website. At that time, the site featured photos of hot-air balloons.

I came across these photos of the Tigard Festival of Balloons by Whitney on Frolic! and they have me daydreaming again about roadtripping to Oregon.  Aren't they magnificent?  They would make beautiful prints.  Check out more hot-air balloon photos here.

(photos by Whitney via Frolic!)