Summer concert in West Vancouver
This weekend is our Labour Day holiday and is the traditional end of summer. After this weekend most people are heading back to work and the lazy days of summer are over.
For us summer was a busy time. First of all the real estate market was busy, with sales volumes at very high levels. (See real estate statistics if you are interested). And the summer is the time when a lot of people come over for their holidays and research trips – so we met a lot of people too.
Some highlights of the summer for us were:
The Harmony Arts festival in West Vancouver where we got to wander around by the water, enjoying the painting, pottery and other artworks. We particularly enjoyed the concerts by people like Dustin Bentall and Jim Byrnes. The fact that most of the artists and performers were locals made this feel like a celebration of our community as well as a series of pleasant days out.
The fair at the PNE is another, larger scale, pleasure for the summer. It is an institution that we, along with thousands of others, enjoy every year. The rides at Playland were something we skipped this year, but we took in the superdogs (we were on the “woof woof” team – aaah), the PNE prize home, the food and several dance shows. We missed the pig races, though we did visit the farm animals. No wonder the PNE is so popular.
The summer brings the fruit and vegetable stands out. We are lucky to have one in our neighbourhood and we were there almost daily for our blueberries, corn, tomatoes, peaches, cherries, nectarines, strawberries, raspberries – each in their own season and picked fresh that morning. We feasted on these delights – and once again being local was the most important factor.
If you have been to Vancouver you will probably have seen the beaches at English Bay or Kitsilano. These are just the most obvious, and crowded, of the beaches. There are miles of beaches on both sides of the Burrard Inlet and most locals will have their favourites – the best ones are those that are closely guarded secrets!
BBQ – or grilling – is another summer treat (though Canadians BBQ all year round). We have been treated to fresh caught salmon and have had some wonderful BBQ parties where we have shared this around. Fresh grilled corn is another summer must have too.
Even if Labour Day marks the end of summer, the weather usually continues warm and sunny for a fair time afterwards. And today, here in Victoria, the sun is shining and it is warm and pleasant – so I am going out to take in the atmosphere around the inner harbour.
