Post some pictures of your city! II

[Chadillaccc]

Food Temple by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Third by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

New Gallery by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Second by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Chinatown by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Riverwalk March by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Riverwalk March by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Relax by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Sixth by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Olympic Plaza by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

T-shirt Skating March by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Olympic Plaza by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Calgary Central Library by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Riverwalk by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

blue by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

Bridge by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

The Bow by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

[SignalHillHiker]

A little look at some of the communities that are on islands off the coast of Newfoundland, for whom we are the mainland. A little St-Pierre again, of course, but no repeat photos.

• Video Link

St-Pierre et Miquelon, France

St Pierre et Miquelon 2009 by Gord McKenna, on Flickr

St Pierre et Miquelon 2009 by Gord McKenna, on Flickr

St Pierre et Miquelon 2009 by Gord McKenna, on Flickr

Fogo

They've done exceptionally well with their modern designs - as good as Nunatsiavut. It's a shame that St. John's hasn't done the same. It really makes certain modern buildings in the city - The Rooms, Battery Hotel, the wheelhouse lookout structure on Signal Hill, etc. - seem not only especially hideous but also amateur, childish, provincial.

Fogo Island Inn by Photography by Marshall, on Flickr

Fogo Island 155 by dugspr — Home for Good, on Flickr

Fogo Island 43 — Artist Studios — The Long Studio by dugspr — Home for Good, on Flickr

Tilting

Squish Studio, Tilting, Fogo Island by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Exploring Tilting, Fogo Island by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, on Flickr

Wabana (St. John's CMA)

Bell Island by b737yyc, on Flickr

Untitled by kara o'keefe, on Flickr

Twillingate

TWILLINGATE 1327 (3) by Thomas E. Clarke, on Flickr

TWILLINGATE 435 by Thomas E. Clarke, on Flickr

twillingate night life by nicholas.adey, on Flickr

Change Islands

Change Islands Newfoundland by BeThenPhotos, on Flickr

Gaultois

IMG_11442 by amandamarieh, on Flickr

Gaultois in the Morning Before the Fog Burns off by Sally Van Natta, on Flickr

Englee

Englee, NL by Darren Doucette, on Flickr

Triton

Triton by Steve  Clarke, on Flickr

Badger's Quay

Home Made ... Badger's Quay by oreilly.harry, on Flickr

Ramea

Ramea Island - NFLD by Dean Casavechia, on Flickr

[someone123]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Plain is perhaps a good word for SPM if that's how you'd describe clapboard.

BUT - and I've no idea why it's not as overwhelming in pictures - there are so many little urban touches that are really striking in person. The guardrails are beautiful. Almost feel like Japan. The central streets have no traffic lights but instead use mirrors on the buildings. European traffic signs.

Somehow it just spices everything up enough that I don't think you could leave considering it plain.

I was responding more to the "why don't we have towns like that in Canada?" sentiment. I think we do.

A lot of what makes travel interesting is the variety and diversity that you see. The European traffic signs are novel to North Americans but they are not necessarily better, they're just alternate versions of what you find here. Europeans might find things here interesting in the same way. Conversely, if we were to adopt a bunch of stuff from St-Pierre and Miquelon, it would probably become mundane to us.

Beyond those small differences the buildings don't seem like they're superior either. Paris is full of streets and buildings that are much more ornate and historic than anything in Canada. St-Pierre, not so much. It is more of a cultural curiosity that is interesting because of where it's located. It is the tiny rump territory that remained after Britain conquered France's North American colonies.

[SignalHillHiker]

Agreed. Their Palais de Justice was beautiful but no grander than the mainland city halls. And it's gone.

[someone123]

Cape Breton (Île-Royale) still has a pretty substantial French-speaking population that has more or less the same lineage as St-Pierre. Cape Breton was developed by France starting in the early 1700's as they started to lose control of mainland NS. Louisbourg was the administrative centre for the fishing and naval operations around the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Eventually Louisbourg was captured too and the remaining French administration decamped to St-Pierre.

Then St-Pierre was attacked and its residents were deported whenever there was some kind of war between Britain and France (American Revolution, 1812). It probably wasn't a great place to live back then.

Louisbourg has been partially rebuilt and you can visit it, but it's a Parks Canada historic recreation, not a real town. These are the barracks:


Source

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by someone123

Louisbourg has been partially rebuilt and you can visit it, but it's a Parks Canada historic recreation, not a real town.

It does have Google Streetview though!

https://maps.google.ca/maps?ll=45.893264...Ea86dvg3iW4lgjQNw&cbp=12,350.17,,0,-5.67

[lio45]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

March 14, 2015 by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

Weird building styles for St. John's!

Those off-island communities are very interesting! Thanks for posting!

[SignalHillHiker]

Yes and no - as in they're rare today, but weren't always. This is what most of the warehouses behind the buildings along Water Street used to look like. These just survived because they're actually on Water Street; there wasn't enough land between the street and the harbour along this stretch for a proper row of buildings.

Here's the same ones above on Memorial Day in 1924:


City of St. John's Archives

[SignalHillHiker]

A little spin around the North Atlantic for all the colours, excluding St-Pierre et Miquelon. ;-)

• Video Link

Lunenberg, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia 145 by GFrieder, on Flickr

Lunenburg pano by collette v, on Flickr

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia by Joleczka, on Flickr

Mahone Bay, Nova scotia by Tiffins2008, on Flickr

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Untitled by angie pineappletree, on Flickr

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. by Brian L Burke, on Flickr

St. John's, Newfoundland

March 7, 2015 by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

March 7, 2015 by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

Nuuk, Greenland

Nuuk, Greenland by _Zinni_, on Flickr

arctic view by Thomas Leth-Olsen, on Flickr

Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland by PerchingBirdGallery, on Flickr

Iceland in Technicolor by Fil.ippo, on Flickr

Grip, Norway

Grip, Norway. (Explored at # 7) by Bhalalhaika, on Flickr

Grip 2010_0011 by Lars 1950, on Flickr

Faroe Islands

Vágur and the Fjord Vágsfjørður in Snowy Weather - Suðuroy - Faroe Islands - Føroyar by Eileen Sandá, on Flickr

Village of Eiði, Faroe Islands by _Zinni_, on Flickr

Cobh, Ireland

Diagonality by little_frank, on Flickr

Cobh - Ireland by Christian Wilt, on Flickr

[lio45]

The original brick warehouse / industrial one-story building style is something I'd have found perfectly normal; I was mostly referring to the current one-story stucco thingy.

[SignalHillHiker]

Oh. Yeah. We had a bit of that happen before they made stucco illegal here.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Cobh - Ireland by Christian Wilt, on Flickr

^^ I was about to say "Oh WOW, where in Canada is that gem and how come I have never seen it before?" (I scrolled down really quickly and that one caught my attention, I now see that there's plenty of other side of the Atlantic in your post.)


Also, nice pics of Halifax. And thanks to someone123, all those 5-sided Scottish dorm windows just jumped at me. Seems that there are plenty left...

[lio45]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

... before they made stucco illegal here.

Illegal?

In the downtown historic district only...?

[SignalHillHiker]

Yeah, I assume. Lots of suburban commercial buildings have it.

[VivaPhysicality]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

How often do Orcas come into the harbour? Surprising.

It seems to happen every year, although this year it was apparently a larger pod than usual.

Here is a video of them:

• Video Link

It really is surprising how "wild" Downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park can be. For example, a couple years ago I was in the water at Sunset Beach downtown and a huge seal swam right into my friend's legs.

You can also see bald eagles flying around and perching on the residential towers at English Bay. Coyotes from Stanley Park also like to wonder through the West End at night.

You have to be lucky to see killer whales or dolphins in Vancouver Harbour, but they do show up from time to time.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Thanks for that.

Yes, on my last visit I saw quite a few bald eagles in and around Stanley Park. I also saw signs warning people of a coyote presence - very cool.

I do wonder why orcas would bother coming into the harbour, though. You'd think they might be put-off by all the noise and pollution. Perhaps they were following something tasty?

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

^Thanks for that.

Yes, on my last visit I saw quite a few bald eagles in and around Stanley Park. I also saw signs warning people of a coyote presence - very cool.

I do wonder why orcas would bother coming into the harbour, though. You'd think they might be put-off by all the noise and pollution. Perhaps they were following something tasty?

Probably tasty seals, which like to eat the clean tasty fish. Vancouver harbour is one of the cleanest in the world. It has strict environmental controls to protect the water. It's not uncommon to see local fishers wading into the waters around Stanley Park in the summer to catch smelt. Also, when the salmon run is happening at the mouth of the Capilano River (just west of the Lion's Gate bridge and across the inlet from Stanley Park) you will see dozens of small boats fishing and people in the water catching salmon.




(ANDY CLARK/Andy Clark/Reuters)



(ANDY CLARK/Andy Clark/Reuters)



(ANDY CLARK/Andy Clark/Reuters)

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by flar

And a suburban setting downtown:

^^^ Victorian houses on Hamilton Street in downtown Vancouver.

On the downtown Vancouver peninsula (excluding the West End) there are very few of these old wood frame houses left. Here's a look at a few more.


March 14 '15, all my pics


These two old houses on Hornby Street are free for the taking. You just have to pick them up and take them away before this part of the huge Burrard Place development gets started.



This poor old thing is next to the Penthouse club on Seymour Street.



These are on Helmcken Street, restored and preserved.





This little historical house on Hornby Street is formerly Umberto's restaurant. It will be saved.

[SignalHillHiker]

Absolutely freezing this morning, but I did Signal Hill anyway. 🞵🞵🞵🞵 winter.



March 15, 2015 by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

March 15, 2015 by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

March 15, 2015 by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

March 15, 2015 by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

March 15, 2015 by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

[lio45]

If it takes that kind of plaque for a Vancouver house to be saved, no wonder nearly everything was destroyed.