Gabi On The Go: Jan. 22 - Last - rainy

After a delicious breakfast at the Yolk restaurant, we joined a 5 hour bus tour through downtown Vancouver and Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

It was pouring rain, so most of the pictures look pretty wet, from inside the bus.
This is the Vancouver Public Library. According to tour guide, the decision to build this grandiose building came from a 1990 referendum. The population was asked to choose among a Auto building, a casino or a library. The library project won... by far!

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Public_Library

Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video games, newspapers and magazines. Across 22 locations and online, VPL serves nearly 428,000 active members and is the third-largest public library system in Canada.

From there, we drove through the second largest Chinatown outside of China. Vancouver's Chinatown is just smaller than the San Francisco one.

The Sam Kee Building, located at 8 West Pender Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is the "narrowest commercial building in the world" according to the Guinness Book of Records.

Here is the famous Gastown Steam Clock, in Vancouver's oldest neighbourhood.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_clock

A steam clock is a clock which is fully or partially powered by a steam engine. Only a few functioning steam clocks exist, most designed and built by Canadian horologist Raymond Saunders for display in urban public spaces. Steam clocks built by Saunders are located in Otaru, Japan; Indianapolis, United States; and the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Whistler and Port Coquitlam, all in British Columbia. Steam clocks by other makers are installed in St Helier, Jersey and at the Chelsea Farmers' Market in London, England.

Although they are often styled to appear as 19th-century antiques, steam clocks are a more recent phenomenon inspired by the Gastown steam clock built by Saunders in 1977. One exception is the steam clock built in the 19th century by Birmingham engineer John Inshaw to demonstrate the versatility of steam power.

Next stop was to appreciate the Toten Poles at the Stanley Park.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Park

Stanley Park is a 405-hectare (1,001-acre) public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal Harbour to its southeast, and is connected to the North Shore via the Lions Gate Bridge. The historic lighthouse on Brockton Point marks the park's easternmost point. While it is not the largest urban park, Stanley Park is about one-fifth larger than New York City's 340-hectare (840-acre) Central Park and almost half the size of London's 960-hectare (2,360-acre) Richmond Park.

About Stanley Park’s Indigenous Art:

https://vancouversbestplaces.com/top-attractions/stanley-park/vancouver-stanley-park-totem-poles/

There are a total of nine totem poles at Stanley Park. You’ll notice that some of the poles have bright colours, and one or two don’t. The display of totems has been at Brockton Point since the 1960s, and the newest pole was added in 2009.
Interestingly, the majority of the totem poles are not actually from the Vancouver area. They are all from British Columbia though. Except for the newer local art pieces, most are also replicas of the originals.
Four of the totems are from Alert Bay on Vancouver Island. Others are from Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) and River’s Inlet (on BC’s west coast close to halfway up the province).
The newest pole is the only one made by a Vancouver-area artist. It’s by Robert Yelton of the Squamish Nation and set up in Stanley Park in 2009. Yelton’s is the tall pole near the entrance that stands on its own. It’s not as colourful as some of the others. That’s not because it’s old, but because it’s more the style of local Indigenous art instead of art from regions like Haida Gwaii.
The totem pole area at Stanley Park also has three wooden gates carved from red cedar by Vancouver artist Susan Point of the Musqueam Nation and her collaborators. Installed in 2008, these art pieces reflect the style of traditional Coast Salish architecture and design elements.

This is the trunk of what is suppose to be the oldest tree in Stanley Park - a Cedar tree about 500 years old.

Here our main attraction of the day: the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capilano_Suspension_Bridge

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is a simple suspension bridge crossing the Capilano River in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The current bridge is 140 metres (460 ft)^[1] long and 70 metres (230 ft) above the river. It is part of a private facility with an admission fee and draws over 1.2 million visitors per year.