Monday, September 5, 2011

Downtown & In Step With Stephanie

IT WAS A SPECIAL occasion hanging out with Stephanie from Comox, BC. We normally communicate only on our blogs. But when she came into Vancouver for a holiday this past August, it gave us a chance to finally meet in person.

I arrived at the designated Granville Island restaurant early. So I passed the time by taking a few pictures in and around the nearby pond.

There was quite a crowd gathering.

It was entertaining to watch wildlife enjoy the morning air and dip into the cool refreshing water.

This lovely duck seemed to be snoozing with half an eye open.

A turtle the size of a football seemed to have lost its way. It inched along a path littered with cigarette butts.

I was glad to get some shots of its indestructible armor that gleamed in the sunlight as it methodically headed for cover of the vines.

Highrise apartments stood shoulder to shoulder overlooking natural wonders in and around the Granville Island/False Creek area.

The view offers stunning boating scenes and is awash year round with visitors from near and far.

When Stephanie arrived at Pedro's Organic Coffee House I recognized her instantly even without her signature sunglasses. It was like greeting an old friend as I have been following her blog since I started mine almost three years ago. I was first intrigued when she posted her painting of a little girl with an umbrella. Of course, it made me think of Penelope.

After Stephanie bought art supplies at the Opus store nearby, we began to explore. Roses were amid a sea of flowers at the Public Market.

Stephanie and I were both charmed by these unique protea blooms. They reminded me of sea sponges. As it turns out it is an exotic flower possibly imported from Hawaii.

A pretty girl with an unshakable smile swiftly moved her fingers along the violin she played exquisitely for passersby.

Although the inukshuk is a common sight, this rather large one lurking in a corner caught me by surprise.

I found reminders of coming autumn within the colorful squashes.

I could have chosen a tempting peach. But of all the delights I purchased a polished green avocado (no picture taken). It looked gorgeous on the outside but when I got home I found it was gray and spoiled under the skin. Yuck!

There were cases of yummy Canadian Maple Syrup.

Mouthwatering treats were everywhere to satisfy any sweet tooth.

Everything looked delicious as we strolled and chatted along the way. But the best treat was walking alongside Stephanie and getting to know the friendly and creative person behind the photographs, artwork and sunglasses.

Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

To view more sights from around the globe visit Our World.

26 comments:

  1. I tried to comment on this post yesterday, but it wouldn't come up. I'm glad it worked today!

    You take the best photos! I don't know that I would have been able to walk past those chocolates. And I love the turtle. Thanks for taking me along with you and your visit with Stephanie...I love that market! xx

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  2. Beatiful photos and thanks for the introduction to Stephanie. It was lovely to come along with you on your walk around Granville Island.

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  3. Yes, I couldn't comment yesterday, either, but there you are today. Glad I didn't miss you.
    Granville Island looks like such a great place for getting to know people, doesn't it? Especially in good weather. I worked in that neighborhood for many years and never saw a single solitary turtle. Didn't even knew they were around. I'm impressed. Great shots.
    So nice to get to know fellow bloggers in person. I've met several and there is absolutely no problem getting conversations started. So happy you met Stephanie.
    Congratulations on almost-3-years of blogging, and many thanks for introducing me to it almost two years ago.
    Luv — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  4. That was such a wonderful treat! Thank you for letting us come along. :))

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  5. These are all great shots. It's fun meeting people through blogging. I've done that a few times. That turtle looked like a monster. I love turtles but keep my distance from the big ones. I love the shot of the girl playing violin and also the one of Stephanie, and all of them for that matter.

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  6. I want to meet my fellow bloggers too!

    Those turtles are so cute!

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  7. Looks like you had a wonderful day!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  8. Lots of nice pictures to enjoy :)
    I like the girl playing her violin and also the peaches :)

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  9. It is such fun to meet a fellow blogger, isn't it! I've been fortunate enough to meet several and its always fun! Love your photos for the day and it is easy to see that you both had a great day! Thanks for sharing it with us! Have a wonderful week!

    Sylvia

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  10. Hello, what a great visit your blogger friend and the tour. Love the wildlife and those peaches do look great. Thanks for sharing your day.

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  11. What a lovely day! Thanks for sharing.

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  12. a rectangular shaped tortoise, I have not see one.

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  13. A perfectly lovely day with Stephanie, Penelope. This post would be a showcase of fun in downtown filtering through your eyes. Critters and we are almost the same, having fun, puzzled, or struggling with something, aren’t they? By the way, I seem to have been influenced by you .... the red umbrella caught my eyes. I wonder if you intentionally included it? I enjoyed hanging out with you from the beginning to the end. Happy days ahead!

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  14. What a wonderful day, a wonderful post and a wonderful person to finally meet. Thank you for the lovely shots of Vancouver, I only wish I could go there again someday. Lovely roses, lovely peaches, delectable cherries and those little cakes with the ladybugs I certainly could not have resisted.

    Thank you for this great OUR WORLD post.

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  15. Your world is truly an interesting mix of various elements. Lovely shots, too bad about the avocado though.

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  16. What a delicious post - full of mouth-watering goodies and friendship!

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  17. simply beautifully captured shots...lovely!

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  18. What fun (and that fruit looks delicious). I've never yet met another blogger (unless I already know them in real life).

    I was in Vancouver with my family in the early summer, that's when I went to Stanley Park, the waterfront, and the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

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  19. I finally have time to view your post about our visit together, Penelope! I would love a copy of that picture of me. You can email it if possible. Now I see what you meant about the turtle. He was huge! You were lucky to capture him. I see you were busy with the camera before we met for coffee and stroll around the island. It was such a fun morning. Will have to do it again soon. I will be posting about our adventure in my upcoming blog soon.

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  20. These are great! My heart went straight to the turtle shots. Thank you!

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  21. Feels like you two took me along with you on your meet-up! What a great day and wonderful pictures.

    The word Inukshuk is unfamiliar to me although I think I have a good guess. I'm going to go check it out to see if I'm right.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  22. Lovely meeting up with Stephanie, and these were lovely photos too. Granville Island looks like a very nice place.

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  23. I love markts and would love yours as these flowers and food are very appealing.
    Great you met another friend You've already met a lot of Bloggers if I am right. Great fun

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  24. Penelope, you might be establishing a new trend as you transpose virtual friendships to real ones. It was a lot of fun meeting Stephanie through this post, and seeing Granville Island yet again with new eyes. The turtle photographs were special favourites, but the entire post was awash with colour, wonder, and beauty.

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  25. Hello - i just discovered your blog after seeing Stephanie mention name in her Granville island post. I grew up in Victoria and taught for 2 years in Vancouver so love trips back home via blogging. i'll be back to visit soon.

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