Some Vancouver sights on Saturday for "Sundays in my City"

Photos yesterday were concentrated near the beginning and near the end of our ride around Vancouver's seawall.  There isn't a single bit of evidence to mark the Stanley Park portion of the ride, so you'll have to imagine the perfect temperature and sparkling seascape that seemed never-ending.  There were quite a variety of sights, though, that I'm happy to share with Unknown Mami's Sundays in My City.  Many thanks to her for hosting.

Our first stop was by Canada Place.  I looked uptown and.. 

 found the building reflections mesmerizing.

 The sails against a blue sky..

 and the well-named cruise ship, Silver Shadow,

 provided a maze of geometric shapes..

 to investigate.

 I think "The Canadian Trail" exhibit is something we will have to explore one of these days.  I'm still rather amazed that we have been out day after day over the past few months and found something of interest every single time.   

 Bill and Black Jack waited while I took those photos and then we were back on our bikes..

for about two minutes when Bill spotted a crowd lined up against the bike path railing.  He is so quick when we come across something he knows will be interesting.  Off the bike, pass me the camera, grab my bike to keep Black Jack safe, and off I go to see what's up.  It turned out some fishermen were cleaning their salmon catch, and I guess the seals here, just like the ones at Granville Island, like to gather round to share the leftovers.

 It was hard to stop snapping away.  A kind lady allowed me to squeeze into the teeny space along the railing.  No time to do much with camera settings..

 but the action came through pretty well.

 I love the opportunity to see life underwater and know this is about as close..

as I will get, since I'm pretty sure I've passed the age of taking up diving.  Here, a second seal approaches.  I like to think it may have been a parent feeding..

 a youngster..

 but know it could also have been competition for the best morsels.

 Lovely roll-over here..

 and a nice view of underwater flippers.

 Then, up for air and..

 a good look around to see just how much salmon is still to come.  I still get a little sad for the salmon and didn't feel motivated to take any photos of the cleaning process yesterday.  Perhaps, there was just too much of interest in the water.  Beautiful eyes here. 

 Loved the patterns that appeared for just a moment..

 and then caught a little wave of the flippers again.

 Thanks for visiting, pretty seal.  I hope that the rest of your day was better for having had a good snack.

 We had already planned to stop by one of our favourite ponds before entering the true "sea" portion of the ride around Stanley Park.  There is a huge field here where Black Jack can run, but when I heard the rattle of a King Fisher, it was another jump off the bike for Bill, and a quick pass of the camera to me.  In case you hadn't noticed, Bill really is the best!  I've never heard that rattle so loud.  My shots were straight into the sun, but I caught the King Fisher a split second before..

 it left the driftwood to..

 to fly.. 

 across the pond.

 Too many photos here, but every single wing position..

 seems fascinating..

 to me, and so I hope, to at least a few of you :)

 A reflection shot,

 and maybe a shake-the water-off shot (at first I thought we might be seeing its catch here),

 and just a couple more in the split second it took..

 to cross the pond.  We didn't see it again, though we waited around, 

 enjoying the pond..

 from a variety of angles.

 Then, it was Black Jack's turn for some exercise.

 It was funny to see her bolt towards me, catch drift of something under this rock,

 and then agree that my urgent call should be answered after all.

 A new art installation by Biennale will go up inside that red fence.  I will be watching with great anticipation to see what they come up with this time.  You can see the bike path in this photo.  It winds around that yacht club and then one feels in a different world.

 Two more shots of the pond and then we were off..

 again.  As said, the next shot you see is after we are back to English Bay.

 Bill loved this turtle in the swimming pool by the ocean, and so did I.

 I played a bit with iphoto this morning to bring out some of the reflection colours and..

 textures.

 Bill and Black Jack waited under the sun..

 that was taking on quite a glow.

 We sat on this bench..

 enjoying the view..

 through the trees.

 I had to smile when these bikers came by.  They looked like Harley boys :)

 without the roar of engines.

 Sometimes, their arms were stretched out in front,

 and sometimes they reached to the sky..

 I can't say it looked very comfortable,

 but they certainly appeared to be enjoying life.

 And that's what counts!

 Just a few more..

 sun-disappearing-acts..

 and wing postions..

 of Canada Geese..

 and perhaps one to show..

 other wings overhead, before calling it a day.  Thank you, Bill, and thank you, Unknown Mami, and thank you to YOU.  Have a beautiful Sunday!