Vancouver - Day 2

There are a few lovely parks in Vancouver,  so we decided to visit one. Stanley Park, which is at a point right on the edge of the water.

When I say park,  I'm not referring to a beautiful,  leafy and lawned space with flower beds and play spaces (though there probably are some play spaces). I'm talking forests and open land. A mega park of13km circumference with two lakes in the middle.

There is also a decent amount of wildlife.. 

Apparently. Me n NN2 had a conversation about them stealing children,  until we realised that's dingos. 

I have a fascination with the beautiful,  black squirrels of Canada and - if you peer into the V of this tree -  you will see the end of the tail of such a specimen.. 

Canada Geese in Canada. 

Beautiful beaches -  on this one we saw a seal. 

Beaver Lake. No beavers seen. 

Just water lilies. 

The Lumberman's Arch. I felt a little bereft that neither of us were appropriately attired in lumbermen's shirts,  but what can you do? 

ironically there is even wildlife on the signs..see the caterpillars crawling across the top. 

An interestingly graphic picture of how to collect your dog's poo. I was sorry I didn't have one to try it. 

OK..so let me explain this. Not sure you can see the 20 degree angle and general stony aspect, narrowness and rocky gully at the bottom of this WHEELCHAIR ACCESS TRACK. 

A bench to Elsie,  who cane all the way from Newcastle Upon Tyne and settled here. She was born during 1900, which made me wonder if she moved because of a war (work,  soldier,  to get away) or for another reason. 

And then we went shopping. Canadian shopping. 

Vancouver.

We decided to have a lazy day in Vancouver. Had a lie in and then explored the flat. Which is delightful. Lots of thoughtful little treats everywhere and lovely touches in the bathroom,  with flowers everywhere.

An interesting take on electrics,  which I photographed to send to my brother the electrician.. 

He informed me that a socket above a tap is a code 2 violation by British standards. 

I told him,  it was perfectly placed for the kettle. 

And that NN2 had just made me a cuppa.. 

I decided to check out what we're doing for the next few days. I have  booked a kayaking trip and wanted to see what we were doing (some booking issues so I changed a couple of times and kind of forgot).  Turns out we need a whole raft of stuff we hadn't brought. So we popped to the locals shops where there were a good few thrift stores where we bought what we needed.

Locked and loaded,  we headed back to the flat for a chill,  some air con and food.

We played scrabble, watched Netflix and had a lovely time. 

Seattle - A History of Poo.

Everyone needs a disaster day and we had ours. Well,  when I say disaster, all in relative terms..so not really. 

We woke,  packed,  washed clothes and prepped ourself to leave. NN2 had previously bought about 47 pop tarts (on special offer) in Sonora,  and we still had some left. Just an FYI,  most places don't have toasters. So we'd baked,  fried,  frozen (it's a thing,  read the packet) and even rawed them across the country. Eventually he decided that he's had enough of their non goodness and left the rest in the hostel place we stayed at.

Before leaving I decided to make a coffee. I like a coffee.  I started with my usual,  all the way from the UK,  coffee bag in a cup.

Simple. Effective. 

Then I saw a cafetiere. 

So I decided to have a real coffee. 

It was only once I made it and when coffee and grounds were spurting all over the worktops,  the floor and myself, that I realised the base was cracked. 

Then I saw this.. But there were no filters. So I had a look round and found this weirdness. 

Which did work and eventually I got a coffee. Phew. 

We headed off into Seattle on public transport,  which is very good. Once we got there we looked for a left luggage place near the station, which I had seen ont internet. We arrived but were told we had to make a reservation online. The guy, helpful, young and from Pakistan,  'I came here a year ago for a holiday and never left' let us use his WiFi. He worked in a rougher area of town and warned us against 'people who are not kind'. We booked the left luggage place but it was only showing we could leave stuff till 3pm (or 03.00p, if you're American). He said it was OK. We could collect later. Turns out we had accidently booked the wrong place. We left. 'Hey hi said the lad,  as least I let you use internet'. 

The man at the new place was nice enough there but he shut at 3pm, which left us with the dilemma of what to do with our luggage between then and train time. 

We mooched off to the market,  it was hot and NN2 got impatient with people 'walking so slowly'.  Trying saying it that in a Yorkshire accent 'warkin sirr slurr-ly'.  It was lunchtime,  so we stopped for the most delicious bbq meat at a little booth near the large pig,  under the market sign. The pound of chopped,  bbq pork he ate really cheered him up. 

After that we wandered down to the piers and found some arcades. One of us thrashed the other at Beatlemania pinball and Space Invaders. 

We saw some fun sights. 

The collection of stuffed animals in the Klondike Gold Rush arcade was less fun. 

Eventually we headed back towards the luggage. An angry man who was obviously under the influence threw a fist sized rock towards us then picked it up again,  to which NN2 yelled 'cross' and we dived across the nearest road. Cars stop here. Drivers are much more polite than at home. 

As we neared the luggage we saw an Underground Tour. We decided to go for it. A little because we were intrigued. Mostly because they promised to look after our bags. It's a decent tour. You get to see the basements of some of the buildings and to learn how Seattle grew up. Its interesting. It costs $22 dollar,  which - when compared with the free tours,  where we tip handsomely and fairly - it's not what I would Highly Recommend. 

They talk about rats a lot. 

They also talk about poo. 

Seattle was founded on seven hills. 

When Art Denny (remember him from the Denny party?) landed in 1851, he measured a piece of land which he fancied and - as it fit government approved guidelines for what you could claim - he declared it his own. Art was from a landlocked state (in the previous tour Minnesota and Ohio / in this tour,  Illinois). He measured the land. Then the tide came in. Not to be deterred he kept it and started to build. Others followed. 

Where people live,  people defecate and this was no exception. Seattle was affected by tides. This meant that the streets were frequently flooded (twice daily in fact) and when the tide went out pot holes and erosion were evident. The people combated this by taking sawdust from the sawmill and packing the holes. The dry sawdust was efficient in soaking up the water. The old sawdust at the bottom of the hole was not. It would start to rot, leaving treacherous roads where horses,  carts and people could sink at a moment's notice. Leaving you sitting in a pool of sea water and  feaces. A visiting journalist described it as 'intersections of oatmeal'. 

Then the townspeople heard of an amazing invention. Across the pond Thomas Crapper had invented the first flushing toilet. In 1871 the town  ordered 1000 flushing toilets. 

Next day delivery did not exist at that time. Remember Cape Horn? 

TEN YEARS LATER the delivery of 1000 Crappers arrived. The townspeople were overjoyed. Bingo! They unboxed their Crappers and set about placing them in their homes. 

This was wonderful. 

Until. 

They realised that the flushing facilities only worked when there was a local sewage system to connect to which would remove the fetal matter. So they set about building one. Now,  remember the water table? You couldn't dig down to bury anything. It would get flooded. So they took a number of 1000 year old Douglas Fir trees and hollowed them out. They placed them together on land to form a tunnel system and plumbed the toilets into them.  Go for a poo,  flush,  adios. Worked brilliantly. 

Until. 

The tide came in. 

When this happened the Douglas Fir sewage system, would get backed up,  sea water would force its way back up the pipe.. redelivering the toilets' contents back to the unlucky inhabitants. The town's people had a solution. Block the lids down on the toilets. This was a great idea.  

Until. 

The water pressure became greater than the weight of the block. Result? Wrathful,  exploding toilets! 

They lived like this for ten years until the fire of 1889. 98% of the town was razed to the ground,  though no one died. 

This is when Shit Shaped Seattle. 

The local council told the shop keepers and businesses they could rebuild in the same place,  but with three provisos:

1. They had to be built of stone

2. There had to be a retaining wall between the block and the street. 

3. The first floor would become the entrance, so the door would be placed there. 

The plan was then to flatten two of the seven hills which Seattle was built on and to use this land to fill in (and build Up) the roadways. These would be held in place by the retaining walls. 

Part two of the plan: before the earth went in, pipes would be placed on filled in earth, above the existing water table but under the road surface. This would create a system of higher plumbing, for managing utilities which was not affected by the tide.  

An illustration:

It worked. Though during the four years of house and road construction,  people had to shop by crossing a current level low street,  which still contained sewers,  climbing up a 20ft ladder and then either down to the shop's basement or up again to the new pavement and entrance to the shop. During this time not one woman,  climbing the rickety ladders in her skirts,  hoops and bustles carrying a basket, died from falling off a ladder. 17 inebriated men did though. 

And how did the city fund this rapid growth project? On the backs of women. Or more correctly,  from women on their backs. 12 months before the fire and rebuild project the city decided to shut down the brothels. The mayor was pretty corrupt though,  so one of the main brothel owners,  Madam Graham went to him and said,  you will not do this. You will legalise prostitution. Every month my 'seamstresses' (as they were known) will each pay you £10. This was done and the city coffers quickly swelled.  The mayor then decided to tax gambling and booze. The three together were called the sin tax.  

Madam Graham photographed with her four biggest earners. However, they weren't all women. Study picture carefully. 

People used the basement walkways as routes around the city,  until they were banned from use on 1907 due to a rise in bubonic plague deaths (rats lived in the basements). After the ban the rats flourished and so did illegal life in the basements. As they became illicit gambling dens,  brothels and dumping grounds. 

They are still full of rubbish. 

The tunnels are now lit by electricity but,  when built,  were furnished with glass filled sections of pavements,  which allow a surprising amount of light to filter through. Many still exist today. 

We collected our luggage (again) and set off towards the station. Which is actually pretty,  ornate and fairly empty. Studying the board I realised something slightly alarming. I had booked a ticket to the wrong Vancouver. Argh. We were going to Vancouver,  Washington,  not Vancouver,  British Columbia. Gulp. 

Bloody Vancouver,  naming places after himself. 

After some faff,  a bit more cash,  another WiFi issue,  a very helpful man and three hours wait. We boarded a bus to Vancouver,  BC.  

We arrived very late. Someone had left flowers for us at the station. 

We stumbled out a little confused,  walked 10 minutes to find the transport link which would take us to our accommodation and managed to find the dodgiest part of town with the most homeless people I have ever seen and no sign of pavement because it was covered in tents. 

I followed my age old strategy when I am not at all comfortable. Look like you know where you are going. Pretend not to hear people when they talk to you. Act like you're purposeful and busy. Walk. Talk on your phone. NN2 wasn't aware of my strategy. Kept sort of wandering off and turned his head everytime someone spoke to him. Drifting more than 4m away from me. Eventually I stopped outside a hotel (which was behind a cage) made him stand facing me on the road,  so we could watch each other's backs and celled a taxi. 

It was fine.  We arrived at the loveliest little place to stay. I had splashed out and we had a bedroom each. 

Later I wrote this blog. 

It didn't save and I had to rewrite this day. 

Pffft. 

Seattle.

Walking tour day today.

You know how I love a walking tour!

Before the tour started I grabbed a pastry from this old (1992) bakery - frankly delicious.. 

And wondered why all these people were standing in line

its the oldest existing Starbucks I think. The queue was 50 deep at 10 am. Really people,  TAKE THE TOUR! 

We met between the totem poles in Victor Steinbrueck Park (a poor excuse for a park,  but there you go). 

Totem poles are apparently not true to the Native Americans of the area because (while almost all Native tribes did carve wood) only three every made totem poles and these were/are all in southern Alaska.

The tour was led by Amalia,  a Seattle native and,  to my delight, a guide who tackled and expanded upon the Native American history in the area. She did this proudly and passionately and I was impressed.

The city is nestled on the Puget Sound,  a body of water the details of which are:

Max. length	100 mi (160 km)
Max. width	10 mi (16 km)
Surface area	1,020 sq mi (2,600 km2)
Average depth	450 ft (140 m)
Max. depth	930 ft (280 m)
Water volume	26.5 cu mi (110 km3)
Settlements	Seattle, Tacoma,  Olympia, Everett,  Bremerton

The Puget Sound was mapped and explored by naval explorer Mr Vancouver who, having named two cities and an island after himself,  called the Sound after his mate Peter Puget. Puget and Vancouver were in the navy. Following his one tour Puget returned to Suffolk,  where he led a seemingly quiet and uneventful life and death. Until in the 1980s,  city of Seattle representatives rocked up to his grave and erected a £50000 monument over it. 

Since 2007, Seattle has grown at the rate of over 1000 new people A WEEK.  56000 new people a year. It's expanded due to many companies having large businesses here (Amazon, Facebook etc) . As a result construction is an ongoing thing and house prices have rocketed. 

I saw many homeless people - depressingly comatose or in a  zombielike state. Found a foodbank in a car park. 

And homeless advice on walls:

Seattle has a history of settlement:

Men..boats..

Of wealth:

Timber..

Of fire which decimated the town:

1889..

Of a shortage of women:

The dapper Asa Mercer was sent to find some and bring them back at a rate of $100 a head. He went to Detroit for starters and spoke to educated women,  telling them that there was a settlement out West where the children didn't have teachers, the townsfolk didn't have seamstresses and the sick didn't have nurses. It worked and he bagged 75 women who returned with him. The majority settled and stayed. 

Incidentally,  the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was based on his story. 

The Seattle Art Museum, which has a  collection of over 20,000 Native artefacts (you must book to visit) and is home to the 'hardest working man' in Seattle - this statue whose arm moves up and down four times a minute.

When he was erected earlier this century people hated him.

Common complaints:

1. He's 2D (he cost 2 million)  if we'd have paid 3 million,  would he be 3D?

2. He moves. Art shouldn't move.

3. He's made of iron. Statues should be made of copper or bronze.

A local radio station received so many complaints that for a year they had an hour in the morning where they just played the recorded whinges of citizens. 

Every. Weekday. Morning.

The art director was given a raise.

Now the locals love him and townsfolk knit him socks which he wears between Thanksgiving and New Year.

When the settlers (five families from Minnesota and Ohio called the Denny Party) landed here in 1851 the local tribe,  the Duwamish, came over to see them. The chief of the Duwamish was a charismatic man who was a well respected war chief. Specifically because he didn't go to war. Tall (6'6) and a fantastic negotiator,  he found other ways to solve problems. Mostly by marrying into the other side - thereby bonding,  not killing. He and the other local chiefs,  negotiated rent to be paid by the settlers on Native lands. The settlers happily paid and tribes and settlers co-existed. A man in the party,  Doc Maynard,  was equally charismatic and the two became life long friends. 

Cut to the misery. In 1856, the US government sent a battleship and many armed men,  who set about violently asserting to the natives that settlers would no longer pay rent to them. They were threatened and coerced/forced to sign treaties which legally signalled they were giving up their lands. They were moved to small pockets of allocated land and were housed with other tribes. The government housed the tribes together with others with whom they didn't share a language or had a history of not getting on. However,  this chief refused to sign,  believing that there was a better way.  The US government retaliated by refusing to recognise the existance of his tribe and to this day,  they are not on the federal list of recognised tribes. However,  they are recognised by the city of Seattle and the state of Washington.

The chief was a much respected and well liked figure amongst the settlers. Settlers and tribes had co-married and there was a good accord between the two. Therefore,  when Doc Maynard suggested using the chief's name as the name of the settlement,  there wasn't much push back.

The chief was called Say-a'tchl.

Pronounce it with a sort of little swallow where the apostrophe is.

If you anglicise it, the name is Seattle. Initially,  Say-a'tchl pushed back saying,  'why would I want this place named after me? It will just confuse everyone.'

Doc Maynard said,  'But think of the honour for your children and your children's children that this place is named after you.'

Say-a'tchl responded saying that,  'Honour will not feed my children.'

And so they compensated him for the use of his name and here we are.

Seattle has a really great market area

its a fish lovers dream.

The restrooms are beautifully clean. 

Though they spent so much on imaginative tiles.. 

They can only afford half doors.. 

They have the largest money box you ever saw. 

And a street which.. 

Is covered in.. 

Chewing gum. 

Why? 

But I love Seattle. 

Wide awake in Seattle

A bit of a travel day today,  so not much to report.

Checked out and went to lovely Sonora for a mooch.There's a walk called Dragoon Gulch Trail,  which is supposed to be great. Drove to the base so that we could do the hour's walk. 

Parked and this lady spotted we were looking for the trail and gave us directions. Said it was hard to find. It was. Back in the car. Drove 20 mind in a circle parked in almost the same place. Tried to follow the directions again. Ended up wandering round a retirement community. Eventually found it 40 minutes later,  but we were too hot so went for an ice cream instead. 

In a place where they sold antiques,  so I bought a book. 

And downstairs they had.... 

A tiny exhibition to mining. Whoop. In an ice cream shop. Ha! 

Wandered round town a bit,  but it really was hot. 

Visited the largest public toilet this side of ancient Rome. 

Then drove to return the car and go to the airport. 

Where there was a yoga room. Crazy stuff! So did some yoga because my back is sore probably from all the driving. 

Flew to Seattle with Alaska Airlines,  who were great. Landed at 10pm, then had to find the accommodation, which took a train,  a non existent taxi,  a 23 minute walk at night and some fumbling with a key code thingy. Managed to get to bed at half twelve.