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Vilnius: Abandoned Green House

On our first day in Vilnius, Lithuania, after meeting up with some of my relatives and exploring the old town for a while, Kotryna took us to a wonderful bar/restaurant to relax with some wine and cheese.

This photo is not of the bar, but it's neighbour. It was a curious sight, because as we sat on the shaded patio of this bar enjoying our wine and cheese in the middle of a very well restored old town, this beautiful old house next door was abandoned and decaying. It's unfortunate, since with such a great location and wonderful look, you'd think it would be put to good use. Apparently it was a bar or restaurant recently, but now it's just full of junk etc. I hope someone can take it over and restore it.

More photos of Lithuania soon! It was a fantastic trip, and I'm really enjoying going through my photos to pick the ones for posting here.

Tower Automotive: Filth Trees

The "view" through a window at Tower Automotive on Sterling Rd. The window was covered in so much grime that "filth trees" started growing up from the bottom.

On a completely unrelated note: One of my favourite photography websites is shorpy.com, "a vintage photography blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s." This week they featured a wonderful street scene pic from New York City, 1905. There's so much going on this this photo: Dead horse laying in the brick street, filthy barefoot kids paying in the gutter water, the poses and expressions on the faces of the kids, etc. Fantastic. Make sure you look at the high-def version.

Tower Automotive - Curtains

Another photo from inside the Tower Automotive building at 158 Sterling Rd. Most floors had the same basic structure (tall ceilings, large tapered columns, etc.), but they all had unique colours and other furnishings.

Tower Automotive - Ground Floor

Taking a short break from posting photos of our vacation in Europe. Here's a more recent one from the vacant Northern Aluminum Company / Algoods / Tower Automotive building on Sterling Rd. in Toronto. It's an absolutely beautiful old industrial building dating back to about 1914, which due to its height is a very prominent feature in our neighbourhood. The owners let a group of us in to explore and take photos on December 7 2009, and I'm hoping to go back again soon.

Although it's currently vacant, a developer has purchased the property and is actively working on cleaning up the soil and has some major development plans for the whole area. Glad to see this building will be preserved and re-used.

I will post more photos of this building soon.

A chair designed by Gaetano Pesce at the Danish Museum of Art & Design.

I'm not often wowed by furniture, but I think this chair is fantastic. Although I didn't get a chance to sit in it, it looks like it would be super-comfortable too. Actually, I'm sure it would feel like sitting in a full-figured lady's lap. :-)

Photo taken on July 8, 2009.

Copenhagen Yellow Barracks

Old army barracks in Copenhagen. I really like yellow buildings for some reason. I took lots of yellow building photos during this vacation, especially in Lithuania. Stay tuned for more.

Maybe I will paint our house yellow when Jen isn't looking.

Copenhagen Traffic Jam

This is what the evening rush hour looks like in Copenhagen. Of course there are cars cramming the street, but even more people on bikes in a much tighter space.

If you're ever in the Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square) in Copenhagen and need to know the weather, all you have to do is look up at The Weathergirls. The corner of this building has a large thermometer running up the side, as well as a couple of statues that indicate a rainy or sunny day. On a sunny day, the cyclist comes out. On rainy days it's the pedestrian with an umbrella.

Copenhagen Moms

July 8, 2009, our second day in Copenhagen. One of the many beautiful sights in the city: A couple of Copenhagen Moms were riding with their kids in opposite directions. When they saw each other, they gleefully exchanged greetings and then pulled over to chat. So much friendlier than behind the windshield of a minivan.

Vondelpark Stoners

July 3 2009, Vondelpark, Amsterdam. As we sat and watched the world go by in the park, these very stoned guys with a cargo bike came by. Very slowly and humourously. Hey, better than drinking and driving I guess!

I only wish I had a longer zoom lens. Low-quality photo because I was zoomed in all the way (55mm) and then cropped it down further.