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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.

Hidden Church: Sinner's View

The view from inside the confessional at Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic, AKA "The Hidden Church"), Amsterdam. 2009-07-05.

Amsterdam at night

July 4th, 2009. Amsterdam is full of spectacular scenery at any time of day or night. On this particular evening, we were meandering through the city on our way back to the hostel after dinner. And yes, it's not an optical illusion: Some of those building are crooked.

Jen with a Charlie Card in Boston

Last year's European vacation started with an unscheduled stop very far from Europe: Boston. We missed our connecting flight to Iceland and had to spend a whole day in Beantown. We made the best of it though! After getting a good night's sleep in a hotel, we took the bus and subway downtown and spent the day walking everywhere.

It's a beautiful city with plenty to see, but the most exciting thing for Jen was that she was able to buy a Charlie Card for use on Boston's public transit system. The "Charlie" character was popularized in a 1949 Kingston Trio song, which you can watch a great live performance of on Youtube.

Some more photos from our day in Boston are here.