Travelog for: Lemmy

Today I saw the beginning of Euro 2008!


Foxie made me support Portugal.


We watched the game Portugal vs Turkey. Such a nice game!


Portugal won 2-0 and everyone went crazy! 



Congratulations to the coach!

CONGRATULATIONS DUTCH TEAM! GREAT GAME! 

I almost forgot to show what I saw yesterday! 

A stone fountain in the middle of the city.

A public school made on 1875.


The theatre of S. Carlos where usually are played operas.


From there I went to the train station of Restauradores.

I see Rossio square from here!


I saw an old books bookstore!



On Rua Augusta there was a promotion of Celorico da Beira, a small town on the interior of the country.


They were selling some traditional chorizos.


And cheese! I tried to taste it but the lady didn't let me... I think she thought I was a mouse or something! 


I even found a lion there!  Wow! Such big teeth!


I found an interesting way to draw the attention off a construction work:




WOW! Did I walk so much I ended in Rome?! 



I'm still in Lisbon, I see the ABEP kiosk behind me!  It's a ticket selling point for concerts, theatre and other cultural activities.


The Roman soldier is just the advertising for a restaurant! 

Portugal's National Day!  To celebrate I visited the Park of Nations where the Expo 98 took place 10 years ago.

First I saw the Vasco da Gama Tower!



We parked the car in front of Peter's café. The white whale looks friendly, I like whales a lot!


The Tagus river! On the other side is Almada, it's a bit more clowdy than on this side.


I saw the Lisbon Oceanarium which is celebrating its 10th birthday:




There's someone drowning!

It's just Vasco, the Oceanarium mascot!


Bye! Foxie wants to show me the rest of the place! 


There's the Atlantic Pavilion, where concerts and other shows take place:


She keeps telling me to moove but I feel so good here!



Hummm... what do I see here?! A cute litle Dutch bunny!!!


Foxie?! Where did you go? Don't be jealous, she's just a old friend!


She left me here... 


She doesn't remember she met Miffy too, some days ago...


Well, I'll continue alone. I'll not get lost! What is that? A tornado?

It's in this nice garden:


And on the other end there's a waterfall!



First a tornado, now a volcano?!





The Lisbon Casino is here too!


I'm going to the car and I decided to enter in another garden. Cool hibiscus!




I'm afraid I must be lost! I don't know where I am and now I'm in a cage!



What a relief! I'm out of that jungle! I see people again!


And I see some nenuphars too!


Although ashamed, I have to ask these policemen to help me find the car... I'll never make foxie mad again! And I admit: WOMEN HAVE BETTER ORIENTATION SKILLS THAN MEN!

Today I found the ruins of an old convent, the Convento do Carmo. It burnt down in the big Earthquake of 1755, which destroyed a big part of the city and provoked a tsunami that made damages even worse.

On the beginning of the square I saw this "large" building! 


Next to the old Convent there is the headquarters of one of the portuguese police forces: GNR



In front of it there's a strange fountain and trees with cool flowers!



And a traditional kiosk!


I'm going to see the outside of the convent now. In the inside there's the Archeological Museum of Chiado. Unfortunately it was already closed...





It must have been a cool building!


I reached a plataform belonging to the Elevator of Santa Justa. What a view from here!


The elevator looks safe!


And the elevator shaft!


The doors...


And the stairs to the upper levels! I think I'm going up! 


GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I see the street from here!


I finaly got to the top! I can see the river from here.


The Convent...


... and the castle!


On the top there's a café, these oranges for juice look tasty!


Time to go down! WOW!!! Now the stairs are making me dizzy! I must have fear of hights!


And I'm still so high!


I can still see the Praça D. Pedro from here!


When I got to the ground level I could see some information about the elevator. It's a National Monument and it was inaugurated on 10 July 1902.

I'm so inlove with Foxie, she's not mad at me anymore... 


Today I got home with a present for her. Come and see it, Foxie!


Open it! 


Oh, Lemmy!!!


Foxie, will you marry me?




I have an idea! Today is the weddings of the Bridals ofSaint Anthony Day, the Patron Saint of Lisbon. Tomorrow, the 13th June is holiday here, to celebrate the Saint's Day.


We can celebrate our wedding today! Let's get changed!

There's the Church of Saint Anthony! Hummm... I'm the first to arrive, that's bad luck...


Saint Anthony, will you bless our marriage?

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Oh, here's the Saint Foxie was talking about!


She must be at the church already... poor girl, I don't know how to tell her...

There she is, waiting on the church's stairs... She looks so pretty, as usually.



Foxie... I have something to tell you... you know I'm a wild fox and I have missions for my life. I can't stay here with you, I still have to walk on the woods, go on hunting, see Wales and party in the USA.


Let's just ask Saint Anthony to give me good luck in my journeys and when I get home safe you'll join me in Netherlands, OK? You'll like my country a lot, it has so many flowers, water and cool windmills! 


Yes, Lemmy, I understand... let's go home to enjoy our last moments together.

Today when I woke up Lemmy was already busy, writing...
he was writing the address of his next host, in Canada.


I can't believe you will really go away, I said.


I couldn't watch him pack...


And there he went... inside his transportation.


I'll be back! He waved at me and went inside. 


I sealed the envelope.


And I sit and cried...


BYE Lemmy, I'll miss you!

Yours,

Foxie

 
 

I arrived in Canada today!



I was greeted by Yum Yum and Dolly.  I'm glad to have made new friends, but I wish Foxie was here to share it all with me...

I rode the train today.

I saw a tiny bit of Maple Ridge today.

This is the infamous Maple Ridge clock.  There's a legend that goes with the clock and the horse.  The horse represents a beast that fought for Mother Nature against those who were hurting the environment, but was gravely hurt in the process.  Mother Nature set up the clock as a reminder to not hurt the environment.



This is the ACT Theatre.  It's relatively new and is apparently very nice (Abby said she has both performed there and been in the audience)





Across from the theatre, an art show is being set up in the park.



Look at those mountains

Abby is learning how to drive (finally, she says), and I thought I would try too.

Hmm, I can't quite reach the steering wheel...



That's better, but now I can't reach the pedals!



Oh well, I guess driving is not for me.

Abby's driving took us out to Stave Lake and Hayward Lake this evening.

This is in Stave Lake Park.  The lake is behind me.





A little further to the left of this picture and back a bit (no good vantage point, sorry), is the Stave Lake dam.



Then we drove to Hayward Lake and its dam, which is part of the Stave Lake dam.

This is the crane they used to lift the flood gates of the dam before there were electric motors to do so.



The top pf the dam we drove across.  In the wooded area behine me we saw a deer, but there was no safe place to pull over and take a picture of it.



Hayward Lake and the mountains behind it.

Today is Canada Day, Canada's 141st birthday.

In celebration, Abby gave each one of us a little Canadian flag pin to wear for the day.



We all settled down to watch the Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa, the capital.

The Prime Minister being interviewed



The Governor General arriving with her Mountie Escort



The Royal Salute



Singing of the national anthem



The Snowbirds, which are part of the airforce and perform all over North America in air shows.



Blue Rodeo played a few songs.



Abby tried to take a patriotic shot of me with the flags in her front yard, but it wasn't windy enough.



Then we went to the local celebrations.  There was food, face painting, entertainment and many people promoting local business and events.







There was also a farmers' market, with a special sign just for today.



After that it was time to cool down with a smoothie.



Happy Canada Day!

Today I checked out the local community gardens.  Community gardens are a plot of land, where anyone may sign up to grow things on.









This centre also educates the public about things like composting.









Afterwards, we decided to go on a bit of a heritage walk.



We walked along part of the Trans-Canada Trail, a trail that stretches thousands of kilometres across the country.



I decided to climb an apple tree.





The sign reads:

In 1876 Thomas and Ann Haney came West to Maple Ridge from Ontario.  Thomas Haney had trained as a brick-maker, so he sought out land with clay suitable for brick-making.  In 1876-77 Thomas and Ann Haney purchased 160 acres of land for $1000.  Here the Haneys built their home and raised their family on land that stretched from the river to Dewdney Trunk Road and from 222nd to 225th Street.

Thomas Haney opened the first brickyard in Maple Ridge, running it for eleven years, after which he began a livery stable.  He became a municipal councillor and a land assessor in 1877.  Thomas Haney also drew up the first town plan and soon the townsite came to be known as 'Port Haney'.

The Haneys were a generous family, often helping newcomers to find land and settle in Maple Ridge.  Visiting priests were invites to hold mass in their home every Sunday.  The Haneys served breakfast to all those present.  In 1881, when the congregation grew too large, Thomas Haney built the first St Patrick's Catholic Church on his property, donating both land and money.  Descendants of the Haney family lived in the home until 1979.  It was donated to the municipality, along with the acre of land it stands on, as a heritage site for the enjoyment of future generations.









This is just outside the fence.  It reads:

Port Haney was one of many communities whose life depended on the river.  Take a walk to the Fraser River and the wharf.  Just follow the trail through the highway underpass and across the tracks to the Fraser's banks.  For many years the centre of the town was by the railroad tracks and the river.

Log Sorts, the Haney Brick and Tile Company, and other industrial activities took place on the banks of the Fraser and Pitt Rivers and Kanaka Creek.  Riverboats stopped at the wharf unloading passengers and freight.  Prior to construction of the Lougheed Highway, this was one of the main loading areas for livestock and raw materials, such as wood, to be taken into New Westminster and eventually, to Vancouver via the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway).



In order to get to the wharf, I had to walk through this tunnel...



And cross the train tracks







There was information here about the Japanese population before World War II:

Japanese settlement in Maple Ridge began by 1896.  These early settlers worked in labour positions and farmed.  By 1911 over 75 families and 300 people of Japanese descent were living in the District.  By the 1920s the Japanese community had built their own Buddhist temple, school, community hall and the Berry Growers Co-op.  They were involved in all aspects of the Maple Ridge community, including local politics, sports, festivals and fairs.

From Maple Ridge to Manitoba - During the early years of World War II the Japanese Community of Maple Ridge took part in community relief projects and fundraised for Victory Bonds to support Canadian soldiers overseas.

On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, bringing themselves and the US into WWII.

This action brought out divisions in the community, turning neighbours into enemies.  In January of 1942 Prime Minister Mackenzie King authorized the RCMP to register all Japanese people, including those born in Canada and Britain.  The local Japanese community was shocked.  Some received the news after spending an evening volunteering for the Canadian war effort.

The Japanese were soon ordered to leave for interment away from the BC Coast.  On April 24, 1942, the Maple Ridge Gazette reported that the last of 118 Japanese families had left the area, most heading to work the sugar beet farms of Manitoba.  All their property and many of their belongings had been sold with proceeds to Federal coffers.  In 1949 the District of Maple Ridge voted to disallow their return.



The view upriver



Abby would have taken a few more pictures, but we were sidetracked by an old, drunk Finnish man on the wharf who decided to tell us his story.

After our walk it was time for some gelato.

Today we said goodbye to Dolly.