For the second time in as many weeks we have been treated to spectacular blue days in Vancouver and again I was enthralled by the autumn colour views. Although cold, the skies were clear again and as I wasn't driving I soaked in all there is to see. I have decided that, just as I was told I've got good bones and can therefore carry off the bald thing, Vancouver is a city that simply has great bones and can therefore carry off what's built in it. There are not many cities that allow you to see the whole thing all at once. In many, such as London or Paris or Madrid you get glimpses of the most wonderful buildings and streets but you don't see the bones that make up the body as you can't see it all at once. So the focus is on what's manmade. Vancouver; like Cape Town or Sydney or Auckland, is one of those cities that can be viewed from afar ......from the water,from the float planes, from the high roads that come in along the mountains. It sits in the most wonderful cradle of mountains, sea and forest and from nearly everywhere you might be you can see a 1000 year old stand of forest, an arm of water with a marina bobbing in it or a mountain sprinkled with sugary snow.The city really 'IS' because of its nature and I've finally got it ....the building bones of nature were there first and the buildings are secondary. There are many cities where the buildings are everything and the background not as important. Perhaps this West Coast natural beauty is getting to me in my old age and I understand that what we put in the bones mustn't spoil or overshadow them.
If I hadn't been able to go back and forth so many times in the past few months I would have missed all this nor would I have realised how I really LOVE it.The detachment from Europe has been slow for me and will never go completely but I do have a fierce possessiveness and love for this city that I never used to have. The photo above is of the SFU Pipes and Drums leading in the Procession yesterday.
Comments