City Snap Shot

for now...

2007-11-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to let you know that I won't be updating this blog anymore. Work and school are a little crazy right now. Although I will still be visiting blogs whenever i get a chance.
Thanks for all of your comments over the past 6 or 7 months.

Paseo de los Tristes

2007-10-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

This is the Paseo de los Tristes. It means Promenade of the Sad... It gets this name because they used to carry dead bodies through here up to the cemetery.
There isn't anything sad about it as you walk through it in present day. In fact it is a beautiful area filled with shops and cafes that you can see in the above pictures. As well you get a beautiful view of the Alhambra from down here.
Tomorrow I will post more detailed pictures of the shops and the merchandise they sell.

Natural Habitat

2007-10-18T23:49:00.000-05:00

So other than the desert... this is where cactus can live! If you look on the right side of the picture, those are real life cacti. I still can't believe it. Didn't really go to Spain expecting that. Palm trees - yes, Cactus - no.
This is also that Chinese lane that I was talking about the other day... It goes up the hill and around the Alhambra. Quite a nice view from up here.

Taking a dip

2007-10-17T16:33:00.000-05:00

That's me taking a dip in a stream near the Alahambra... VERY hot afternoon in Granada.

It was after climbing a long road which I believe was called something among the lines of Chinese lane... I'll put up pictures of the lane itself tomorrow. It was my first experience in seeing cacti in their natural habitat.

Churros and Fresh OJ

2007-10-16T21:45:00.000-05:00

Here is a traditional Spanish breakfast - Churros with fresh orange juice and of course coffee!
Fine... churros are not really healthy... essentially they are like donuts. BUT you can eat them in the name of following the land's culture and therefore feel way less guilty about it.
MUST try them at least once if you are in Spain!

Beautiful Gardens

2007-10-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

This is part of the gardens of the Alhambra "Generalife". I absolutely love the pink flowers that are overflowing from the side of the wall.

One of my favourite things about Spain is that they value water so much. Granada is not near any body of water... it is more or less in the centre of Spain. However, despite this you can see fountains almost everywhere.

Tomorrow I'll post more of fountains - and me - taking a dip to stay cool!

Alhambra #1

2007-10-14T01:00:00.001-05:00

A ceiling from the Alhambra. This was a large location that was the home of the Muslim kings in Granada, Spain. They let about 2000 tourists in each day to visit the area... this means that if you want to get in you have to line up no later than 7:30 am. We lined up at around 7:00 and got tickets at about 10:00 am to go in after 2:00pm. Although - trust me - after 3 hours of waiting in line in the freezing cold morning and the overheated afternoon - FULLY WORTH IT!
I would recommend clicking on the picture so you can see it in large view. The carvings on the walls are really amazing.

Hello From Spain

2007-10-13T07:13:00.000-05:00

I know I've been away forever... I'm BACK though! I have absolutely no excuses... school got really busy and then I went to Spain and somehow this blog was what got neglected.

From today onwards I'm going to keep you updated - from Spain!

A sunset to remember

2007-06-05T21:44:00.000-05:00

So today I was just sitting around doing my work, trying to pick between a bunch of mediocre pictures to put up on the blog... and then I looked outside my window and saw this! I have never seen so many colours in the sky before... it's just amazing. I haven't edited anything, I haven't changed the colours, this is the same sky I saw. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Short Break...

2007-06-02T17:04:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone... I need to take a 2 day break for the reason show above :)
It's a friends birthday tonight and I foresee that I will not be able to post until Monday night.
Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Waterloo Park - Day 2

2007-05-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

The Birds: I'm not sure what the top ones are... they look a little like geese, but most geese don't look like that around here... and why would they keep geese in a fenced off area? If anyone knows please let me know, I'm rather curious.
The bottom one is a pond with ducks and fish around it... it just seems like such a peaceful and pleasant little place. Would love to sit there and read a book.

Waterloo Park - Day 1

2007-05-27T19:32:00.001-05:00

Sorry about the unexpected break everyone. Hope you all had a good weekend!
I spend some time in Waterloo Park, there is a small zoo there. I usually visit to feed the rabbits, but unfortunately they weren't there... However, I did see this very cute pony and the two rather shy llamas. All in all it was a good weekend, perfect sunshine (until a little rain earlier today).
Tomorrow, some more of the fellas I met!

Good to be Green

2007-05-24T08:39:00.001-05:00

This is the outside of my house after the storm... At the time the rain seemed pretty horrible but in the end it made everything greener. I will start wandering the city again starting today, and from tomorrow more touristy photos! We're experiencing a bit of a heat wave (high 20's) so it will be nice to go browse the city with an ice-cold Popsicle :)

Another Storm

2007-05-22T23:18:00.001-05:00

This is the view from inside my room during yet another spring storm... I liked the ripple effect the water was creating on the glass. The wind was SO HARD though, I honestly thought that the window frames were going to break away... But, it was not so, I am still alive and still have a proper house!

Tallest Tower in the World?

2007-05-21T18:17:00.000-05:00

It's my turn to be a tourist in Toronto.... This is the CN Tower and the Sky Dome. Two of Toronto's most famous land marks. Since I was there this weekend, I thought I'd play the role of tourist, go downtown and take some photos... The only problem was that it was a little cloudy and cold; but I think it turned out ok...
The CN Tower is the tallest tower in the world, I believe, for at least a few more months until a new one goes up... I think it's being build in either China or Japan right now... Anyone know?

An Evening with Damien Rice

2007-05-19T12:21:00.001-05:00

Last night I went to a Damien Rice concert in Toronto at Massey Hall.
My avatar is the inside cover of his latest CD, so that should tell you a lot about how much I like him... (although it also does look a lot like me). We had seats on the THIRD ROW - although at the very side... It was the best concert I have ever been to. If he comes to your city (and you actually like his music) I would highly recommend going to see him!

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Chinatown - French Style

2007-05-18T08:35:00.001-05:00

Entrance gate into the Montreal Chinatown.
Montreal has a really nice Chinatown. This is almost a smaller version on the one in San Francisco, and if you have had the pleasure of going there I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, if not make sure that you do go sometime because it is a must-see (San Francisco)!
On another note, Montreal has the WORST drivers in all of Canada... and you can see that in this picture as one of the cars is about to run some people down...
Fun Fact: Turning right on Red is illegal in Montreal.

Haunted House?

2007-05-16T22:04:00.000-05:00

This is a Cathedral in Montreal. Once again, I'm not sure where it is or what it's called... We were lost and it was dark. Yes, I know, I am directionally challenged.
To me it looks like a Haunted House because of the way the lights are shining.

Rocket Ship Down

2007-05-15T22:13:00.000-05:00

Off to Montreal for a couple of days. This is a cool little building, no idea where 'cause I was lost when I found it... I'm sure that helps! I thought it was pretty random... You only see things like this in Montreal (or are at least WAY more likely to see them) compared to the rest of Canada.

Open Window

2007-05-14T21:17:00.000-05:00

Really fun looking decoration on this building. I like the window... It reminds me a little of Shrek...

Looking up to the Heavens

2007-05-11T21:44:00.000-05:00

Just lying down on the ground, look up to the rest of the world... There is so much out there beyond the blue that we don't know about... Hope it's more peaceful than our planet. :)
Pop over to Cheltenham DP if you don't believe our world is a mess...

Old Tree

2007-05-10T21:34:00.000-05:00

The storm is over, and all is well. Actually, it was a bit of a fake storm, not even any thunder! I was a little disappointed. Although I did get caught in the rain.
Anyway... I found this tree in a town called Elora, located near Waterloo. It has a lot of character; it looks so old and wise... I wouldn't mind having something like this in my house.

Start of a Storm

2007-05-09T20:06:00.000-05:00

The storm JUST began... I'm counting down the minutes to when the power is going to go out. You can't really see it in the picture, but you can tell that everything is wet! I have a bad feeling that it's just going to get worse...
This is certainly a big difference compared to yesterday's perfectly blue sky. Hope y'all are having better weather than us!

Waterloo Pond

2007-05-08T22:44:00.000-05:00

Just enjoying the weather with some ducks beside a nice little pond. I love being in school for the summer... This way I can be outside during the best parts of the day!
Tomorrow there is going to be a major storm in the city, I'll try to bring you the results!

My neighbour

2007-05-07T22:21:00.000-05:00

This lovely fellow came to greet me during my first week in Waterloo. This photo was taken without zoom. This is how close this goose was to me. These animals are not afraid of people, which is a cause for concern. I think because Waterloo is a university town, and so many people feed the geese they have become very friendly (and overly obese).
But nonetheless it was nice to be greeted :)

Going Away

2007-05-07T09:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry that I took such a long break! I was unpacking and my professors have already started to cram us with work... joyous.
One of my co-workers made me this cake (trifle actually) for my last day. It was probably one of the best things I have ever eaten. Absolutely delicious! And since it looks pretty nice too I thought I'd post some pictures of it and make everyone a little jealous.
Tomorrow, I will bring you pictures of my new home!

Telephone anyone?

2007-05-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

Another classic London shot. Seriously, how can you NOT love this city?!?

Classic London

2007-05-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

Tower Bridge, classic London sky and the Thames. In my personal opinion, this is one of the best views in the world. For more London, checkout one of my favourite DP blogs London Daily Photo.

Princess Di Memorial

2007-04-30T20:37:00.000-05:00

The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, which took an extraordinarily long amount of time to build, is located in Hyde Park. I was in London for 16 hours waiting for my connection flight... so... where would I go but here? This is actually on the very day of the second bombings in London. So you could only go as far as Knighsbridge on the Underground...
It is a very nice fountain, and when you see it you don't really care that it took so long to build. Even though it wasn't a particularly warm day, there were children playing around the fountain. It is a very peaceful place.

Hastings

2007-04-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

To me this place just look unreal. The train on the right reminds me of the Hogwarts Express (Harry Potter)... It's a cute little town, wouldn't mind living there!

Town of Battle

2007-04-28T16:32:00.000-05:00

My last photo from Battle. Tomorrow I will take you all to Hastings.
From this angle, the Abbey is directly behind me, as is a small restaurant called "Pilgrim's Rest". This is the rest of the town... not very big is it?

From another view....

2007-04-27T17:06:00.000-05:00

This is from the tower outside the main abbey that the school has turned into an art studio. Nice place to draw! I liked the view from up here... so here it is! It's one of the only ways you can see nearly the entire building.

Imagine going to school here...

2007-04-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you guys, but my school was definitely never this nice... Yes, at this point a part of Battle Abbey is under construction, but I don't think it takes too much away. Imagine learning to use 21st century technology in a building built 10 centuries earlier... Magic, isn't it?

Bloody Lake

2007-04-25T16:47:00.000-05:00

Just past these hills there is a small lake (a pond really), the Bloody Lake. It is rumoured that the water turned red during the Battle of Hastings because of all the bodies that fell into it.
I was standing just outside of the Abbey as I took this picture. It is about an hour walk to reach the lake from this point.
The land you see in front of you is the very site of the Battle of Hastings. In fact, the reenactments that are held annually are held at this very spot.
In my personal opinion it is a site too beautiful to be used for such gruesome purposes... but then again so are many other sites that see the same fate.

Seen King Harold?

2007-04-24T06:15:00.000-05:00

These are some of the ruins in the grounds of Battle Abbey. It is rumoured that the ghost of Harold II of England dwells in these ruins. Most of the students of Battle, particularly the older girls (the school was actually an all girls school until about 20 years ago) will tell you stories of sightings of a ghost when they walked through this particular ruin...
More to come...
PS. I'm sorry about the delay, we had a storm in Toronto last night that left us without Internet and television. It was a pretty boring night...

Battle Abbey

2007-04-22T07:16:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of (a small part of) Battle Abbey. It is a classic, British style boarding school. The town of Battle is located in East Sussex, and it is the location of the the Battle of Hastings.
More pictures and information of this location tomorrow.

Note...

2007-04-22T07:14:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to let you know that during the next week I am packing and moving to a new city. Exciting! I unfortunately will not have time to take picture...
HOWEVER, I will be bringing you some pictures from my last visit to England.
Hope you're all enjoying the weekend!

Red Brick

2007-04-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

So there I was, just walking along the street... And then to my surprise, I see this building! I really liked the look of it. The red brick with the green window and door frames made the house look really different than most other houses you see around. Although the dome-type-thing at the top is most definitely the best feature (IMHO). Plus, as a spring bonus, the sky is perfectly blue!
Happy Friday everyone!

Masonic Temple #2

2007-04-18T21:29:00.000-05:00

You’re going to have to enlarge the picture to see the “Masonic Temple” Sign on this one. I particularly like this location for two reasons:

1- The temple is now the MTV building. The North American (born in the USA) Music Channel that is often accused of “corrupting minds of children”.

2- It’s located on "Church Street". You can see the street sign on the right of the picture.

It’s all a little Ironic isn’t it?

By the way, even though it was supposed to rain in Toronto yesterday, it was a very beautiful sunny day! Lesson learned: never trust meteorologists.

Masonic Temple #1

2007-04-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

Da Vinci Code anyone? Ever since I read that book I have bee noticing a lot of Masonic Temples everywhere... which is strange, as I had never seen any before. This particular one is located in Seattle. I know of one in Toronto as well, and since I am officially back, (if it's not raining tomorrow) I'll bring you a picture of another Masonic Temple tomorrow.
If anyone knows what Masonic Temples are really about please do let me know; the only information I have on them is courtesy of Dan Brown.

Colour n Glass

2007-04-16T18:57:00.000-05:00

This is a glass sculpture in a mall in Bellevue, WA. There is a movie theatre in this mall that has leather seats... Yes, leather seats, you read correctly.
Things may make more sense if I tell you that Bill Gates, and many other people who make more money in a day than we make in our life-time, live in this rather picturesque part of the world. Bellevue mixes beautiful, quiet, green suburbs, with large and glamorous malls.
I admit it is a nice place to visit, but I could never live in a city were Jaguars, and Porches are the norm...

English Jr. Botanical Gardens

2007-04-14T21:14:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of The Carl S. English Botanical Gardens in Seattle. This is a very small Garden located by the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks; however, whatever it lacks in size, it gains in beauty. Even though it is still not warm enough for all of the flowers to comes out yet, the small signs of Spring existed all around the Garden.
Hope you're all having a good, and sunny, weekend!

Free Library?

2007-04-13T22:58:00.000-05:00

Can anyone tell me why some it says "Free Public Library"? I always thought all Public Libraries were free... Hence the word "public".

Spring in Seattle

2007-04-12T18:41:00.000-05:00

Luckily, Spring comes much earlier in Seattle than it does in Toronto! Although it can still be a little cold when the wind comes, but the trees are blooming.

Troll from Scandanavia

2007-04-11T04:22:00.000-05:00

This nice gentleman was standing at the door of a shop to greet everyone that walked in. I thought it was rather polite.

Spring yet?

2007-04-10T17:51:00.000-05:00

Not yet time for flowers to bloom outside, but this lovely plant that I have on a windowsill seems to think it's spring! ...and who am I to disagree?

Gun Shop

2007-04-09T14:23:00.000-05:00

As a Canadian, seeing things like this is very strange to me... This is a store in Seattle that I walk by every time I'm there as it's on the way to one of my favourite book shops, The Elliott Bay Book Company. I highly recommend it if you're ever in the city!

Beans?

2007-04-07T22:28:00.000-05:00

I thought I would continue with this strange signs thing... I think this one speaks for itself. If you have any idea what "Mexican jumping beans" are, please do tell me, I'm rather curious...

Vintage Volvo

2007-04-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

Never knew there were enough Vintage Volvos in a city to fund a specialized mechanic... But apparently I was wrong!

Seattle Library

2007-04-03T18:54:00.000-05:00

This is a picture from Seattle's Rem Koolhaas Public Library. It is a modern art-type-building. It's actually really nice... This though, is one particular "art" that I didn't really understand. It's -I think- holograms of faces that are reciting -once again, I think- parts of novels. It's located beside one of the escalators. It scared me quite a bit... What do you guys think?

The Stone Face

2007-04-01T19:19:00.000-05:00

So I found this statue near Bay and Bloor, and the face just really grabbed my attention. I highly recommend enlarging the top picture to see the details of the face in full.

Northern Sunset

2007-03-31T08:40:00.000-05:00

I'm on a trip for work, last night I was flying over Sudbury (latitude 46 degrees, compared to Toronto's 42) in a small 18 seat private plane, and the colours of the sun and the clouds made the sky look simply unreal.
Most people think Sudbury is an awful (weather and population wise) place, but it's actually one of the most beautiful places I have seen. I was standing outside the airport, and it was the definition of utter and complete peace and silence. The people are also amazingly nice!

Drinkin' in the City

2007-03-28T21:59:00.000-05:00

Who says Canadians don't know how to have fun? THIS, is a liquor store (The LCBO)! That's right, all of it... One of the biggest in the country! It's at Toronto's Rosedale Subway Station; and if I am not mistaking it used to be a major train station. It's a great building, dedicated to a great cause.

Gum Wall

2007-03-26T17:34:00.000-05:00

This is probably one of the greatest things I've ever seen. This is up there with the Mona Lisa and David... This, is the GUM WALL OF SEATTLE! No idea who started it or why, but it's full of gum. It's probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen (that isn't known about)!

Library

2007-03-24T20:05:00.000-05:00

This, The North York Centre Public Library, correct me if I'm wrong, is the second largest public library in Toronto (but the nicest looking one). It has 6 floors of books (as you can see here), and you can find the most obscure texts here. Highly recommend walking through it if you have a chance!

New Outfits for all

2007-03-21T22:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry the quality is rather horrid, but I took these zoomed in on my cell-phone. Focus more on the content than the art. Cheers!

Norooz

2007-03-20T21:26:00.000-05:00

Today, Spring begins in the Northern hemisphere. The Spring Equinox was at 5:07pm GMT. This moment has been celebrated by Zoroastrians for 5000 years. Zoroastrians are largely centred in the country that is now known as Iran. Because of this very special day I have posted a number of photos from my recent visit to the country.
Also, if you have some time I would ask you to watch THIS VIDEO... it may change your preception of Iran forever. It's short, I promise.

Seattle Goes Green

2007-03-19T20:04:00.000-05:00

So... How could you NOT love such a colourful place??? I wish my house looked like that.

I also really liked this alleyway. It was a very quiet, but festive place...

Los Desaparecidos

2007-03-16T16:32:00.000-05:00

Today's entry is in honour of Los Desaparecidos. My picture does not give them the honour they deserve; but perhaps the current exhibition at the North Dakota Museum of Art will come closer.
If you are interested on this topic I also suggest reading Open Democracy's recent article.
I hope one day the people who have committed these horrendous acts will be punished; I also hope that we never forget about those who gave their lives for our freedom.

descansar en paz

Favourite Shops I

2007-03-16T06:01:00.000-05:00

I'm hoping to continue with this, I'll keep bringing you pictures of my favourite shops, restaurants and bars in Toronto every now and then.
SEGOVIA is a Spanish restaurant, it has amazing food and atmosphere. It's also tucked away in a tiny ally, one block away from a major intersection (Yonge and Wellesley). If you come to Toronto, I hope you'll have a chance to go there.

Russian Hero

2007-03-16T05:56:00.000-05:00

Look at the man sitting on the very right of the picture...
To me, he looks like he just escaped out of a Russian story book. Maybe Master and Margarita, or maybe even Anna Karenina...

Seattle in Bloom

2007-03-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

I took this picture on March 1st in Seattle, WA. At this moment there was a huge snowstorm in Toronto... Instead of pink flowers, there was 3 inches of snow on the trees.

Intellectual Wall

2007-03-13T17:11:00.000-05:00

This wall really grabbed my attention.
At first it was mainly the poster for The Wind that Shakes the Barley*. However, if you look closer you will also see a number of Pink Floyd, Siddhartha, Salvador Dali and Radiohead posters.

*Speaking of this film, I saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and it was pretty amazing. Ken Loach is one of my favourite directors, and even though this is not his best film, it is definitely worthwhile.

Summer's Day

2007-03-13T17:04:00.000-05:00

This is Davisville Station on the Toronto Subways system. There are not a lot of outdoor stations, and this is a VERY good thing, as it gets as low as -40 degrees Celsius in the winter.
However, today, the first double digit temperature day of the year (13 degrees), I bet these people were enjoying themselves quite a bit.

The Pink Palace

2007-03-12T15:47:00.000-05:00

This is Queen's Park (Site of the Parliament of Ontario).
The street in front of it is probably the most dangerous street to jaywalk on. Even though it's not a main street, cars often swerve purposely to try to hit you. Perhaps they're just angry at their Members of Parliament.

Hello

2007-03-12T12:45:00.000-05:00

I follow a lot of the daily photo blogs, and the other day I started to look for one about Toronto, and I was extremely surprised that I couldn’t find one!!!
So… I decided to start one.
Usually people who live in a particular city stop looking at their surrounding… They don’t go to visit exhibits or historical sites.
I’m hoping that this blog will be a good incentive for me to go and discover Toronto (Perhaps along the way I can inspire some other Torontonians or even tourists to do the same).