My Glorious Day

I had the most glorious day today in Vancouver. Here's a snapshot and some snapshots... After dropping off my friend Kelly's car for servicing in North Van, I jumped off the bus at Denman and stopped for coffee.
After picking up mail at Denman Place Mall and making a trip to my friendly neighborhood bank machine - and stopping in to give a hi and hug to my wonderful travel agent Nat - I wandered up to English Bay. And the tulips were glorious!!! Look closely, do you see that snippet of red in amongst the yellow?

I got a little closer, and this is what I saw. There were exactly one and a half petals that were red on this flower. Look at how cleanly the line is between the two sides of the half and half petal! Didn't know they grew like that! I love it.... A rebel tulip. My kind of tulip!

More glorious tulips with a glorious backdrop - and my feet, of course....

OK, every spring, for one day, the beach looks like this. And I happened to be by to see it. It's such a weird sight! All the logs lined up perfectly and the sand freshly groomed. It's rather ugly and unnatural.... yet it's oddly interesting - and exciting, as it means spring really is here! One interesting thing I learned in recent years is that all the logs on our beaches are a very West Coast thing... many places in the world there are no logs on the beach - and when people come here and see them for the first time, they are really startled.

My feet. The sand. How orderly.

This is the groomer guy working while the supervisor looks on. heh.

Wide view of orderly sand. More feet. Sweet whitecaps. I like the beach later in the year, of course, when the sand is messy and the logs are moved all around by industrious beach-goers determined to get the right log in the right spot.

Love this shot!

After a quick stop at home, off to Kits to have lunch with my long time friends, and often colleagues, Debra and Marilu. We had such a great lunch and it was great to reconnect.

On my way back on the bus, as I went along Cornwall, I couldn't help but jump off again. What? Am I kangaroo? (and that makes me think of my friend Sap, who is Australian, lives in London, who I met in Spain, who does an awesome imitation of a roo ;-)!!... Anyways, I made my way down to Kits Beach and strolled for awhile. The purple of these shells was so brilliant!

Yes, there was skin visible. And a guy with his head hidden in his jacket. As yet ungroomed sand and logs. How Vancouver. I did not take pics of the folks smoking pot however. heh. How Vancouver.

This sailboat had blown up onto the beach at about 11:30 this morning. When I came upon it, I thought that it was one of those boats from 2 weeks ago (more here), but ended up chatting with this gentleman who witnessed the "landing". I think he needed to tell his story. He'd phoned 911 as he could see the sailor in the water trying to prevent his boat from beaching and he was worried he was going to get his skull knocked in. Apparently, no help unless the injury happened. That includes the Coast Guard whose jurisdiction ends at the sand. Anyways.... he seemed disappointed to learn I wasn't a reporter. Huh? Did I look like a reporter? I was carrying a sketchbook and taking pics, but, frankly, I looked pretty non-reportery, but...

This is the boat that is still there, the guy has been digging it out by hand for two weeks and tries to float it at high tide every day. I heard him on the radio two or three days ago saying he thought he'd get it afloat that night. I guess not.

I was sitting on a log watching the gathering of watchers (good spot to see men! ;-) when I got the call that the car was ready. So headed back to the bus..... Snuck sneaker pics (more here).

My day wrapped up with another trip to the North Shore to pick up the car (favour for the friend who did my mail and banking while I was in Europe for 7 months), then dropped it off, then home for a bit, then out for coffee this evening to reconnect with my friend Sean.

I have days where I don't see a soul - except on the street - so this was a luxury of interaction. And a luxury of truly glorious Vancouver sun and wind and waves and blue sky and sand in my shoes. A nice Vancouver day.

Poinsettias, lemons and... a quiz!

In another first in my life, I stumbled across a real, live Poinsettia plant with it's roots in the earth. In Canada, Poinsettias are found in the grocery store at Christmas time. In Greece, Pointsettas are found in your garden.

Here is a close up I took of the Poinsettia... with a lemon (from the accompanying lemon tree, of course!) blurred in the background:

I rather like this second shot, in which the focus/blur is switched between the two:

What it's like to stumble on a Poinsettia bush on a sunny afternoon:

The lemons sure are a bright yellow in the direct sun:

Found these the other day on an afternoon walk near my flat here in Axia, just north of Rhodes town. They were on the side of the main road/highway....

Now, for something a little different.... I did two of the following things today (the other eight I did not do!):

1. Accepted a ride on the back of a motorcycle
2. Ate an orange found fallen from a tree
3. Bought a piece of breakable art that needs to be shipped back to Canada
4. Reused the coffee grounds in order to have a second cup when the bag ran out
5. Took a stuffed animal to the beach to take a picture
6. Cut my own hair
7. Ordered a pair of custom-made leather boots
8. Got a tattoo on the spur of the moment
9. Had coffee at Starbuck's
10. Had lunch at McDonald's

Can you guess which TWO of these things I did?

To continue the fun, just because I can, I'll wait a day or two (or three) to post the answer ;-)

Update: the answers have been posted here.

Flowers, changing plans and rock concerts in Berlin

It is Saturday morning in Berlin. Well, it feels like Saturday morning... In reality it is Saturday afternoon and I am just thinking about what I am going to do today. So, a few pics...
These are the flowers on my windowsill, which continue to bloom, despite me being put in charge of their care for a month (the little mums didn't do so well).
I have no idea how I took this pic, was fooling with my camera's settings... I really should learn how to use this camera properly one day, who knows what I could be capable of? Don't hold your breath though... I was a good month and a half into my trip before I figured out what a digital zoom was...

My friend Kelly in the entrance to our building. Yes, those gorgeous gods greet me every time I come or go from this place.

This is the courtyard to at the back of our building . Hmmm.... as Kelly was here for such a nice long visit (10 days) I tend to think of this place as "ours" not "mine". Our place is through the doorway to the left....

... and waaaay up 86 stairs to the very top!! You see those 3 windows on the top level? That's home.

A street view of the building in the Kreuzberg neighborhood (info here and here). Yes, that's a little bar that is right downstairs (which, alas, I had not visited earlier in my trip, and ultimately won't, as I am now motivated to stay out of smoky places the last week or so...) ... ;-)

Today it is sunny and clear, but cold, with highs of 8C and lows of 0C. Brrrr.... A good excuse to laze around a bit, that, and the fact that I should have been running off to an airport this morning. Yet, here I am. So, with it so cold out, why is it that have I not travelled onto Greece today as I'd originally planned?

Well, a bit of a chance of a lifetime presented itself to me.... I'd been as bit disappointed that I was leaving just days before the 20th anniversary of when the Berlin Wall fell on November 6th. Then it was announced that U2 was going to do a free concert the night of November 5th (the Berlin Wall fell in the wee hours of that night) outside at Brandenburg Gate! Details here. 3 cheers for Bono!

That did it. I quickly checked that I could keep this flat for awhile longer -- lucky for me that I could -- and rearranged my cheap flights, and I will now be here until November 9th (I figure there could be some interesting things going on that weekend so no sense rushing).... I will still have the rest of November in Rhodes, which is relatively small, so I'll have plenty of time to rest up and restore my tan there.

How excited am I about my free U2 ticket you ask? Well, heh, they "sold" out in 3 hours when I didn't even know they had been released yet. S.H.I.T.... ;-) .... Let's just say the search is on for 1 kind soul with a spare ticket in Berlin. My fingers and toes are crossed, and maybe eventually my eyes too!!! Lol. Send good vibes my way... If all else fails, it's outside, so I'll find myself a little spot a block away or something and bop away anyways.

I absolutely KNOW that I will be able to hear it from a little ways away, as the Genesis concert of 1987 demonstrated when Phil Collins and the band turned some of the speakers from their outdoor concert in the west towards the east. Almost created an international incident! Read the full story here.

Maybe it is fitting somehow that I not get in, and that I stand somewhere in the old East Berlin to enjoy the music from afar.... Maybe this was the universe's plan, in which case, it will be most cool. And, just maybe, I'll do some more blog updating....

UPDATE & CLARIFICATION: In the end, I did manage to get a ticket to U2 on Nov 5th- it was awesome (click here for my pics & videos), but left on Nov 9th (thus missing the actual anniversary). I know, clear as mud....