Travelog for: Vladimir

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!



(There was a coat as well as a hat, but it was much too big for me)

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.

Today Vladimir left for Finland with the help of a very nice woman at the post office.  Bye Vlad, you are adorable and we'll miss you!

Tadah! I arrived safely in Finland after a long but interesting flight from Canada. I had company in the envelope; Twinette Kani (the bunny) came home the same time. There was a welcoming comittee waiting for us: Etwas (a colorful ghost), Roo (kangaroo gal), Alfie Langer (bear), Gary Boldie (bear in green). Can't wait to see the surroundings!

Here I am by the Baltic Sea. This is very near the island where the creator of Moomin spent her summers. Last week I could've walked on the ice but now it seemed a bit too wet on the edges...

When I arrived and the other tv's told me about life here they mentioned sauna. That is a heated room where you throw water on hot stones to keep heated/get it more heated. I was curious to see what it was so here I am, sitting in sauna. It wasn't heated at that moment as the steam doesn't do good for the camera. My host said that 60-80C is good, lower isn't warm enough and hotter is too hot. I find this very interesting... My host said that sitting in sauna open your pores and relaxes your muscles. Humans tend to take a shower before sauna, anfter sauna, and even between sauna... They didn't have a "vihta/vasta" wich is a bunch of birch twigs (with the leaves on) with which you hit yourself. Those bunches are sometimes made during the summer, not everyone is a fan of them. I asked why people would want to hit themselves and my host replied that it doesn't hurt because of the leaves. It does good to your blood circulation or something. And it makes the sauna smell good. Okey dokey, I live and I learn...

On Friday and Saturday we made birthday cakes! My host's 2 daughters celebrate about the same time and yet my host wants to make a cake for both of them. Here we make the first cake - and blow some balloons! I got to help alot even I'm the smallest 

The cake is supposed to look like playing blocks but, well... We got close - and it's the taste that counts!

Here is the other cake we made! It turned out to look like a crown  My host said she had planned/designet it herself  The marzipan figures are made by her sister who obviously is very talented!

My host made a "snake" of the left-overs of the crown, it looks pretty scary to me... I got to eat also popcorn, chips, cookies and to drink "childrens champagne"  We had lots of fun, believe me!