Shelagh's Lens
Bringing Vancouver and the world to inspired travellers
Monthly Archives: July 2014
Gaudi’s Barcelona
This is the house that Gaudi built, in Park Güell. Like many, we chose to visit Barcelona based in part on word of the wonders of architect Antoni Gaudi i Cornet. This Catalan genius was born south of Barcelona in…
Read MoreGelato Girls
If you’ve not yet been to the island of Mallorca, Spain, add it to your travel list. Take a stroll down Palma de Mallorca’s Passeig des Born, and you’re in for all sorts of treats!
Read MoreDominoes
Pick a bike, any bike. On a dreary Vancouver day earlier this year, this colourful array of bikes, so neatly arrayed, called to mind a stack of dominoes awaiting a gentle prod to set things in motion. Silly thoughts aside,…
Read MoreBig
When you’re little, everyone and everything around you can seem big, but just consider the size of the statues around this little fellow in the blue shirt. Scale can be fun. While the painted orca is roughly two meters high,…
Read MoreBy the Quay
Near the foot of a steep hill by the New Westminster Quay, this overpass serves as a link between the old and the new. New West, British Columbia’s original Royal City, has century-old houses mere blocks from the shiny new building…
Read MoreHouse of Beauty
Montreal, Quebec is among Canada’s older cities, and is home to Notre-Dame Basilica, which began as a chapel constructed between 1672 and 1683. Architectural influences range from baroque to gothic revival, and the church – which received basilica status in 1982 –…
Read MoreAfter the Game
Here in Lisbon, after a couple of eventful World Cup games, fans made their way home through the shadows and cobbles.
Read MorePlaying for Gold
At Mirador de San Nicolas, tourists gather day and night for views of Granada’s Alhambra. The views, with mountainous backdrop, are gorgeous by daylight and take on enchanted hues as the sun sets on another day. There is a high…
Read MoreNo Place Like Home
Granada, particularly in neighbourhoods such as the Albayzin area in which we stayed, is a city of narrow, cobbled hills and stone. There are advantages to visiting such quarters, including proximity to Mirador de San Nicolas and its views of the…
Read MoreDichotomy on the Plaza
Porto’s Avenue dos Aliados is a splendid site, and is literally on the doorstep of the InterContinental’s Palacio Das Cardosas, where we recently enjoyed stellar hospitality. Stepping outside the hotel one morning, my eyes were drawn to this gorgeous Jaguar….
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