Day Two: Shopping, Stanley Park and the Aquarium

Day two was much greyer and I feared I had brought the British weather with me! We started the morning with a spot of shopping. I love visiting all the shops we don’t have in England, today was the Lego Store, where I let out my inner child / geek again and marvelled at the TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Lego sets. I remember watching the cartoon of these fellas, and am looking forward to the film which comes out here in November. It came out in Canada the day after I left L

In the afternoon we drove through east Vancouver, West Hastings and Downtown to reach Stanley Park. I know most people would find driving in the rain through the city a bit of a bore but I loved looking at the architecture and people watching. Here are a couple of my favourite bits (that I managed to capture)

From Stanley Park you get an amazing view Vancouver city centre:

I love the juxtapositon of the old and new that
can been seen all over Vancouver

I'm probably the only person who like the look of these
 old signs for hotels which have been long closed

...And the structure of bridges!

And then the exciting part, Vancouver Aquarium. What I really like about the aquarium is that it is a non-profit organisation that rescues and rehabilitates sea life, those who can’t be rehabilitated are housed here and they are going through a multimillion dollar refurbishment to make the animal houses bigger. They try to make people more aware of their surroundings and the effect we can have on the environment. It was really interesting to watch the beluga and dolphin shows and learn about their behaviours. I also find the way jellyfish move mesmerising!

The dolphins having fun

and flying through the air

There were so many Jellyfish I could
 have stayed staring all day

ARGH! Even just sitting there he looks menacing!

There was also a butterfly house, so many vibrant
colours, reminded me of Trollbead Uniques!

And this cute guy melted Josephs
heart, clear to see why!

Another First Nation sculpture,
right outside the Aquarium

There is a lot of inspiration for a maritime bracelet here, and with the multitude of silver animal beads I think you could make a really beautiful design here. Maybe that is one to try after I have collected the Gemstones (my current mission!)

Here is what I wore for day two in Canada, the green leather was to tie into my green polo shirt (with flying ducks on) and the blue to pick up on the sea theme (and my chinos). I was feeling overwhelmed at being so far from home and being so busy straight away so picked beads that reminded me of being back in Bristol!

Green Leather, Chess Lock, The Eye,
Limited Edition Christmas 2013 and Tower (Retired)