We had some lovely, sunny, very spring-like weather back during the winter olympics back in February. Since the end of the games, we've seen a lot of grey overcast skies and rain. This is as if the season has reversed and we're getting now what we should have received earlier in the season. Now that summer is approaching we may finally be seeing a bit more sun. The venues at the games were crowded, the line-ups long but in heading over to
Lonsdale Quay in
North Vancouver to see the
Kruzenshtern I was pleasantly surprised. Here are a few more photos taken during that visit on February 21st.
The
Kruzenshtern is a Russian tallship, a four masted barque built originally in 1926 in
Bremerhaven-Wesermuende,
Germany as shipyard number
S408 as the
Padua. She was given to the
U.S.S.R. in 1946 as war reparations (WWII) and renamed the Kruzenshtern after the 19th century
Baltic German explorer,
Adam Johann Ritter von Krusenstern (1770-1846), descended from Swedish aristocracy (
Krusenstierna). Its the only remaining
Flying P-liners still in use. The Kruzenshtern is used as a training ship based out of
Kaliningrad (the former
Koenigsberg),
Kaliningrad Oblast (region), and
Murmansk,
Russia. If you would like to learn more about the ship, Google "Kruzenshtern" for a start.
Getting this shot above was a bit tricky, so I had to keep the sun behind one of the masts. It wasn't overcrowded at all, which was a pleasant surprise as I mentioned earlier.
This series of shots give us an idea of the size of the ship. It doesn't look all that big from a distance but we realize its true grandeur once we get closer.
The photo above shows the Russian flag at the stern with the name of the ship and its home port in
Cyrillic script. The year, 1795, is rather misleading since the city of
Kaliningrad was then known as
Koenigsberg and part of
Prussia (later part of
Germany after
German unification in 1870) and only part of
Russia after the end of WWII in 1945.
I hope you've enjoyed the photos. Feel free to comment either directly on this blog or via email. Have a great day!!! - V
Here are more photos I took during the walk from Port Moody to Buntzen Lake. I decided to walk rather than wait for the C26 bus. As I was perhaps a quarter of the way up the hill, the bus passed by. Just the same, if I hadn't walked, I wouldn't have seen what I did on the way. The last few rhododendrons were still in bloom but fading and the sky had some clouds in it but it was much more blue sky than we'd seen in a while.
There is a view down the hill or mountain toward Port Moody in the photo above. There were enough flowers to see, such as Scotch Broom and foxgloves as well as seen below. And I love the blue sky against the fresh green growth of conifers. The first wild raspberries were ready for picking. Well, the birds have certainly found some!
There is a beautiful view of the mountains as I walked west-northwest along East Road to Anmore from where the road leads to Buntzen Lake. I found a couple of horses in a field along the road in Anmore and immediately thought of a friend in Pennsylvania who loves horses and has her own. I had to take a couple of photos of which I'm posting one of them.
Then I entered the park and proceeded north along the road to the Buntzen Lake. The water levels at the lake are higher than normal because of construction work below the dam at the north end of the lake. As you view the following photos, you'll see some with picnic tables, signs and trees sitting in water in areas normally dry land.
Swallows were flitting low over the lake and there certainly were enough mosquitos to keep them fed. The birds used this cedar to rest before continuing their foraging.
I also took a few photos of the sky as I waited for the C26 bus into Port Moody at a bus stop in Anmore. We're not seeing enough blue sky this year and temperatures are not as warm but all was well that day! I hope you've enjoyed these photos. There will be more as my trail hiking is only beginning! - V
