The Bathtub-sized ferry that runs between West End and Granville Island (and probably other points). Isn't it cute as a puppy? It took about three minutes to make the crossing at False Creek.
Destination: Granville Island. There is a farmer's market, set up in what appear to be old warehouses,but I think they are not old. The buildings are, however, a jumble of styles and building materials. And, they house an equally eclectic range of tasks: the HUGE farmer's market, the city street maintenance shop, artist studio's of every description, a cement plant, an amphitheater (covered) and a college of art and design.
The farmer's market portion was, well, amazing. I finally realized that I was staring at the case of various kinds of smoked fish, trying to memorize all the different kinds. Duh. My notebook and pencils came out of the Mary Poppins backpack, and I began making lists of all the food I saw...a couple of drawings, too, but people began to stare. And, soon, a few people asked me if I was a journalist. I think they were afraid I was stealing ideas for my own food business! Here are a few of the notes I made:
Fish vendor
Salmon pepperoni
Slamon leather
smoked salmon pate
maple sickeye nuggets, fresh smoked
machine peeled shrimpmeat (didn't look tasty, either)
Humbolt squid
kippers with butter
imported dutch whole smoked mackerel....
Pasta vendor
goat cheese and pear tondi
ricotta nad sundried tomato tondi
roased red pepper and eggplant tondi
goat cheese, artichoke and spinaze mezz...una (the pile of delicious-looking pastries obscured the sign)
Pastry vendor
mango mousse
zesty lemon mousse
Texas butter pecan tarts
profiterole cups
frnch chocolate concorde
Cheese vendor
baked ricotta, with olive oil, paprika and herbs....I'm swooning!
The Stock Market
chicken stock, $5.75/liter
vegetable stock
beef stock, $11.00/liter
fish stock
lamb stock
clear veal
brown veal....
and butters of all kinds, and salads and savory pastry and sushi and Indian food and more! It was overwhelming. I ended up with a glass of chocolate milk, home-made chocolate. And that was just the prepared food section. The fresh food section had vegetables of all kinds, nothing like you'd see in the grocery stores. Russian Black Crims tomatoes, twelve different flavors of honey from a local farm, melons I've never seen, fresh young ginger roots the size of a watermelon (don't break them apart!), and these water chestnuts. The only water chestnuts I've ever seen come in a can!
We wandered through the artists shops, and found a wood artist making social-comment collages and birdhouses. We loved this guy's work! Found a wool-felter, who's scarves were to die for, at a price that was correct but way above what I could spend. Her website is propogatelove.com...haven't been there yet. The scarves were a silk, um, gauze? base, with beautiful wet-felted leave shapes worked in. Another felt artist, next door, worked on china silk, and made fabulous capelets with the silk making a little ruffle along the edges. Very much like my friend Glenda has done. She also had cloche hats that I would have loved to buy an entire collection!
After lunch, we caught a bus to the UBC campus, to see the Anthropology Museum. The First Nations exhibit is staged against a three-story tall glass wall, beyond which the mountains and clouds and trees added to the drama. Ancient totem poles, house poles, and house bowls (like the one pictured here) were in the collection. A house bowl was used for feasts, and was filled with special foods - ordinary foods like fish and meat were too common to grace these vessels! The bowls are big enough for grown people to sit in, and the traditionally sat in a place of honor by the door of a house. The trip back to UBC, and the mile-long walk from the bus stop to the museum was worth the effort! I took a photo of the Creation Story carving by Bill Reid that turned out beautifully, and will post it in another post. The First Nation Creation Story is reminiscent of the Christian creation story.
Yarn Bombing at the neighborhood garden!
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