Heritage tour

Today's outing was a heritage walking tour in an area we've rarely spent much time in - part of East Vancouver.

 

We started out in a little park where there's an extensive mosaic walkway, meant to represent a stream that used to run nearby.

 

 LOTS of different things shown in the mosaic, including our Maple Leaf.

 And a rubber boot, matching quite well the boot Jenn was wearing!

 All sorts of interesting things in the neighbourhood, like this mural on a wall at the school.

 This bus was parked on the street (matching the cherry blossoms).

  A closer look showed that the bus is full of balls, making this like the 'ball room' for kids, at McDonalds or Ikea.  Looks like it would be fun!

Some nice gardens in the area - this black bamboo was beautiful.

 And, oh yeah - the houses!  Plenty of beautiful examples of houses from around 100 years ago.  We even got to go into this one for a look at the painstakingly restored interior.

 Former owners had done some wild paint schemes inside, and when the current owner took over, he found the fireplace surround in the back yard.  He was able to strip off all the old paint and stain, and give it a new lease on life.

 It was sad to see some photos of what it looked like before, and amazing to see how his work had restored the character of the house.

 Beautiful detail in the return-air grill.

 This house down the street had a continuous line of wisteria growing on both the main and upper floors - I'd love to see it in full bloom!

 This house was owned by the first person of Chinese descent born in Canada, and has some unique details.

So interesting to learn the history behind many of the houses!