ILiveInEastVan.com

I have lived just off of Victoria Drive for almost 20 years and it’s a great stretch of road from the Fraser River to the Burrard Inlet.  It has many diversions along the way including the Victoria Diversion which connects it with Commercial Drive.  It sometimes feels like the little brother overshadowed by it’s bigger  more popular brother, The Drive (aka Commercial Drive). Victoria Drive doesn’t get the opportunity to shine quite as often or get the recognition it deserves. Victoria Drive is home to many long standing business such as the Vancouver Alpen Club at 33^rd Avenue, many great ethnic restaurants from 54^th to Kingsway and relative newcomer Second Nature Home on Victoria’s Diversion. Victoria Drive is also home to Trout Lake Community Centre as well as some unique new townhome developments located almost directly across the way. The structures are quite a contrast to some of the older character homes along this stretch of road.  Along Victoria Drive, there are some personal favourites including Figaro’s Gardens, Via Tevere Pizzeria and The Found and the Freed to name just a few.  We think this a pretty unique stretch of road filled with it’s own unique character and charm. So on this Foto Friday, we wanted to feature the many faces of Victoria Drive. Although we didn’t capture it all, here’s a snippet.

Sunrise, sunset. We are so fortunate to live on the West Coast and experience so many beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Living on the Fraser River for many years now has afforded some amazing views. We get our share of moments when we just stop walking as we are awestruck by the simple beauty of nature. Today, we share some of our favourite pics of the sunrise and sunsets we’ve collected over the years. Note, no filters have been used for any of these photos. The colours are that of the sky. We hope you enjoy and have your own opportunity get out and enjoy the nature that surrounds us this long weekend.

This Saturday, March 19th is Earth Hour from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm in an effort to conserve energy for one day globally. Earth Day is Friday, April 22nd and each year volunteers host an Earth Day event in Everett Crowley Park which includes planting trees. If you are not familiar with this park in SE Vancouver at the intersection of SE Marine Drive & Kerr Street, it was once a dump.  It is now an off leash dog park with many beautiful walking trails.  If you haven’t walked through this park, you may wish to take a wander.  There are a number of hidden gems within.  This park has been reborn with the work of many dedicated volunteers over the years.  So in honour of the upcoming Earth Hour, we thought we would feature a few photos of Everett Crowley before it was a dump, during and after. Earth Hour and Earth Day are meant to foster and celebrate environmental respect, action and behaviour change that lessens our impact on the earth. Will you make a change?

And this is what it looks like now  ….

If you missed the tree decorating at Christmas within the park, it’s pretty cool. There are tributes to dogs that are no longer with us, but enjoyed the surroundings. It’s a great little oasis and community gathering spot tucked away in the midst of the City. Definitely worth a visit.

Last weekend we did a wander on East Hastings before the rains came and meandered about with of course a stop in some favourite spots like East Village Bakery. We did try and make a stop at Odd Society Spirits, which was our secret spot for a drink, but alas now that it’s been featured in the Westender’s Best of for 2016, it was a bit busy. Anyhow, we did learn there is a new business on the strip. For those that love pie, take note Sweet & Savoury Pie Co. opened their doors this week at 2261 East Hastings Street. We will be back to check out this new spot. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the photos from our day of wandering around this area.

Chinatown is seeing a lot of changes like many areas in the City. We asked a photographer friend who grew on Shanghai Alley in Chinatown to share a few of his favourite photos of the area. We hope you enjoy them.

We hope that everyone enjoyed a fabulous Family Day this past Monday. It was an amazing weather day and it felt like Spring. We saw lots of families walking and cycling as well as dogs being walked and people just venturing out. We did a bit of wandering of our own starting in Chinatown with a stop at Matchstick Coffee before wandering over to The Drive for Family Day. We have set out some photos below of our wanderings. Happy Friday!

We love East Van and are proud to call it home. There are so many things that make East Van unique and we’d like to feature it in photos. So today we are starting a new feature called Foto Friday in which we feature photos of East Van. They can be yours or ours and on any theme or none at all. The photos should speak to you and what you love about East Van.  Drop us a line with up to 4 photos to ILiveInEastVan@gmail.com, your name and a sentence or two about the photos you wish to share.  Today we will start things off with some recent photos taken along the Fraser River in SE Vancouver on a foggy afternoon.  We are always inspired by the nature that surrounds us each and every day.