Thursday, July 15, 2021

Vancouver, B.C.

I would like to express sympathy for the destructive heat wave in British Columbia by reposting this.

Vancouver is built around Burrard Inlet, which forms a good natural harbor, shielded from the sea by the land on which Stanley Park is located. The city of Vancouver is not on Vancouver island, which can be seen in the distance from the city. Vancouver is the only place that I have ever been where the sea and the mountains meet. There is also a city in the U.S. named Vancouver.

It seems that Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to arrive in Vancouver, but decided not to stay. There is a beach area called the Spanish Banks, where they supposedly landed. The city is named for the British naval officer and explorer, George Vancouver, who landed there. He named other places for his fellow sailors, including Mount St. Helens in Washington State which erupted in 1980.

These are the photos of Vancouver from the travel photo blog of North America. The photos can be enlarged simply by clicking on them. The first photo is looking across Burrard Inlet from Vancouver to North Vancouver. You can see that there is a lot of work transferring goods between ships and trains:

http://markmeektravel.blogspot.com/2006/09/vancouver-british-columbia-canada-and.html

In Vancouver, the "subway" is actually mostly elevated. That means that a rider can see the city while going from one place to another. The transit system also includes a ferry that crosses to North Vancouver, on the other side of the Burrard Inlet. This system is known as the "Skytrain":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTrain_(Vancouver)#/media/File:Canada_Line_Skytrain_Cars-2008-04-22.JPG

The most noticeable building in Vancouver is Harbour Centre, because it has the cylindrical observation deck on top:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5492/3756/1600/dc_250968.jpg

This is the view from Harbour Centre, looking westward toward the Pacific Ocean:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5492/3756/1600/dc_250964.jpg

The following scenes begin in Gastown, the oldest part of Vancouver. Straight ahead in the first scene is the Steam Clock, which runs on steam from below ground, with Harbour Centre above. The roof of Canada Place is designed to evoke the sails of sailing ships.

Remember that, if there is a compass showing on the right of the image, it is a 360 degree view, if not then it is a still photo. You can get more viewing space by clicking the arrow to "Hide Imagery". But if you click that on the first image, it seems that it may stop the following images from loading. You can pull the screen up or down or around with the mouse: 

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2843012,-123.1087252,3a,75y,290.08h,92.62t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFHe2l45rh2dO-P6SLdNrgQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DFHe2l45rh2dO-P6SLdNrgQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D335.24054%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

The park adjoining downtown Vancouver, on the land which separates the Burrard Inlet from the sea to form a natural harbor, is Stanley Park. Much of the park is left in it's natural forested state. It was known as a focal point of the counterculture during the Sixties, as was Vancouver's Simon Fraser University. I was in the aquarium in Stanley Park, which is one of the best-known aquariums in the world.

The following scenes begin in Vancouver's Science World. Seen from outside, the building with the geodesic dome is Science World. The inlet to the south of downtown Vancouver is known as False Creek. The area around False Creek used to be the center of the lumber industry in the area. Like so much around the eastern end of False Creek, the building which houses Science World is left over from Expo 86.

The entire interior of Science World is covered by Google Street View so that you can tour the entire complex, if you want to, by clicking on the arrow that appears on the floor up ahead when you put the mouse pointer on it. Your perspective then moves up to that point:

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2735655,-123.1033045,3a,75y,129.41h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFDwhiE-dFR3gDERhxPmc6g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DFDwhiE-dFR3gDERhxPmc6g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D141.54512%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

I went to the Museum of Anthropology, at the University of British Columbia. This university is Canada's center of research into subatomic particles. It is believed to have the largest cyclotron in the world. The University of British Columbia is where Kim Campbell, Canada's predecessor to Hillary Clinton, graduated from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Anthropology_at_UBC#/media/File:UBC_MOA_with_reflecting_pool_01.JPG

Queen Elizabeth Park is on the site of a former quarry. The park is on a hill, from which there are spectacular views of downtown Vancouver. This is a photo of the park from the travel photo blog of North America:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5492/3756/1600/dc_250969.jpg

The following scenes begin in the parking area of Queen Elizabeth Park:

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.241145,-123.11328,3a,75y,98.45h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1se6gJJjh7-OH4E7PHyM68cA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Finally high above North Vancouver is Grouse Mountain, with it's views across the city. In the first scene, at the end of the long peninsula in the distance is where the University of British Columbia is located. The shorter peninsula, in the distance but closer to the camera, is Stanley Park.The buildings of downtown can be seen where the peninsula on which Stanley Park is located meets the mainland. In some of the scenes, the land in the far distance is on Vancouver Island:


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