Travelog for: Gina Giraffe

I visited a craft fair at the Scandinavian Cultural Centre.





They have a boat and a dala horse outside.





It was very crowded inside, so Abby couldn't get any photos.  There were many interesting booths and live music.  Unfortunately we had other things to do, so I did't even have time to sit down with a cup of glogg.  Oh well.

I got to attend the Grande Finale concert of the CBC Radio Orchestra.  It was the last remaining radio orchestra in North America, but due to budget cuts, the CBC cannot afford the one million dollars it takes to fund the orchestra each year.  It's sad, because everyone was really talented and it was such a good concert.

The concert was held at the Chan Centre at the University of British Columbia.  You can't tell, but the theatre is designed to look like a cello.



Abby snapped this photo of the stage at the beginning of intermission.

On a rare day of sunshine, Abby took me outside on the roof of her school in between two of her classes to see the mountains to the North.  Her school is also on a mountain, so on a good day there's a really nice view.  As you can see, a few of the mountains have alrady seen the first snow of the winter season.

There was a windstorm and Abby and her sister were afraid that the power was going to go out, so everyone turned off computers and tvs and moved into the kitchen.  While Greedy ate all the pistachio pudding, everyone else played cribbage.

Today I saw an adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Stanley Theatre in Vancouver.



Any photos inside were strictly prohibited, but there was some information on the theatre outside that you can read.

Today I did something extra special.  Once a year a local radio station called Jack FM and a TV station called Global host the The Pan Pacific Christmas Wish Breakfast.  To participate you have to bring an unwrapped gift to the Pan Pacific hotel in downtown Vancouver before 9AM, and once you donate it you get a free breakfast.  The gifts go towards children who live in families that cannot afford to give them gifts for Christmas.

Here are the gifts that we were donating.  Abby's family made sure that all of us had at least one toy to donate.



There was a huge lineup of people inside, so Abby too everyone outside to see a few sites.  This building will be the media centre during the 2010 Olympics.  It looks like it is finished, but the other side is still under construction.



In the distance is Stanley Park, the largest park in Vancouver.



The Pan Pacific Hotel is attached to Canada Place, which is full of large rooms, generally used for various conventions.  It's a very iconic place on the waterfront; in many postcards of Vancouver you can see the sails.



There was some information on the sea wall.





Back inside, Abby put everyone away for the time being because she didn't want anyone to accidentally be donated.  The Langley Ukulele Ensemble was performing and I peeked out to see.





Look at all of those toys!  There were many firefighters and police helping out with the collection.





Then, it was time for breakfast.  Unfortunately Greedy only came along for the breakfast...



Oh well, I still left feeling warm and fuzzy (though not warm and buzzy because there was only decaf left!).

Tonight there was an event called Christmas in the Park in Abby's town.  We only caught the tail end of it because certain people were working, but I did get to see the end of parade (most unenthusiastic Santa ever).

There was a band playing Christmas songs in the park and I stopped to watch.



Along the walkway leading to the gazebo there were decorated trees, each one decorated by a different elementary school in the area.







After, we went for gelato.  I decided to stay in the Christmas mood and order candy cane gelato.

It snowed yesterday, so today Abby took me onto the roof of her school to look at the mountains. If I look a little blurry, that's because I was shivering.  It was cold up there!



Look, the pond in the Academic Quadrangle is partially frozen!



Brr!  Time to get inside.

Today I went for a walk, despite it being -15 degrees celcius (5 degrees fahrenheit).



Today's walk was to the mouth of Kanaka Creek.  The area around Kanaka Creek is a protected wetland habitat, home to many different organisms.  It is also a very historical place, which I learned about as I walked.





Kanaka Creek meets up with the Fraser River, the largest River in Western Canada.



This is looking straight across the river:



To the east:



To the west:



What a beautiful view!



Walking along the path in the Dense Deciduous Forest, I saw a woodpecker.



Erin came along because she was geocaching.  This is her at the first one we found:



We came to a lookout with lots of information.









This is the view down the Fraser,



And here is the mouth of Kanaka Creek.



Here you can see the log booms that were mentioned in the information plaques.



Then, it was time to walk back.

This is the view down Abby's street.  If it wasn't snowing you would see mountains in the distance.  It snowed all day and it is supposed to snow two more times this week.

Abby's family went to see Santa today!  There was a lineup, else Abby would have asked Santa to pose with me.

Things are nearly ready for Christmas at Abby's household; all we need now is Santa to come visit.  Abby's family didn't have room for a real tree this year, but they had this nice toyvoyager-sized one!



Christmas isn't here yet, but it is back home, so Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas!  We got chocolate as a gift!



I also listened to the Queen's message at noon.