We had a slow start to the day, during which I was privileged to get a “private mandolin lesson” from Rob…
…this was much appreciated…
…especially when I got the chance to wrap my recalcitrant fingers round his Gibson f style Mandolin – very similar to the one on the left here…
…and you can see how valuable they are…😉🇨🇦
…needless to say the pupil handed this beautifully crafted instrument back to the Master very carefully, as he tried to remember the new chord shapes he’d just been shown..
Our outing for the day was a visit to Stanley Park…
Julie and I last (and first!) visited this huge park in March 1996, as part of a delayed honeymoon.
Most visitors are inevitably drawn to capturing one particular image…and we were no different, except we had the opportunity to try to reprise the photo we had taken almost exactly 28 years ago…
I know, we’ve barely changed and this special place definitely is a “totem of our love”😊🇨🇦
The history of carving totem poles is unique to the North West Pacific Coast of North America and particularly prevalent in British Columbia…
…and this was our experience, starting with one of the red cedar portals installed in 2008…
Another famous monument, at one of the entrances to the park, is the statue of Robert Burns, complimented by 3 extracts of his writing on the base, giving Rab a fabulous view across the marina to Downtown Vancouver…
In the same vicinity there is also the HQ for Vancouver Rowing Club – a magnificent heritage building – plus the latest form of 2hp Taxis..
Our final stopping point in the park was Prospect Point…
…where we were impressed by the Lions’ Gate Bridge…
…and a demonstration of the rarely seen McGregor greeting…
…which was last seen in the late 90s…
En route home we passed through Downtown Vancouver again, with its own examples of how far the architects can push the design envelope…
…as well as retaining some of the best buildings of earlier times…
As we moved out of the city centre there were more, colourful examples of timber built heritage homes and how they had influenced the design of recent new builds…
Upon returning to Basecamp we discovered that Leith was preparing some food in advance of 6 of their closest friends coming round for early evening drinks…cue Julie..get out the gin!
The rest of the evening sped by as life stories were exchanged and we felt very warmly welcomed into this group who had been meeting up in “Friday Night Club” for many years; and by the banter level quickly confirmed that…
Julie even sang a Burns’ song for good measure before 2 of the couples had to leave…
…however, their neighbours from 2 doors down stayed for the evening meal, during which more good laughs were had before we said goodbye…
Only one more full day left before we head home…
BTDU 