I hate shopping, but this place is cool

Across False Creek from Vancouver's West End lies Granville Island.  It is publicized as Vancouver's chic shopping spot.  Under some protest, I followed the instructions provided by Alice, our GPS, to transport the car full of women rowers from our hotel to the island.

The trip took half an hour, and though I never said a word, I now know everything there is to know about gardening.

Really?  The entrance is under a bridge?
This can't be a good sign.

 We were early, so parking was not an issue.  I soon realized that our timing was good.

Place can't be all bad.

It was plain to see that the entire place was once an industrial site.  The most commonly apparent surface was corrugated metal.  The stuff was everywhere, and brightly colored...never dirty or rusty.  You can do great things with paint.

That's a lot of corrugation.  And paint.

Interesting artistic touches were plentiful.
I believe this sculpture relates to the salmon runs in the area.
That would be something to see some day.

From the island, there is a great view of the south side of the west end.
The little water taxis and buses ran constantly up False Creek and across the water.
Skillful design in limiting automobile access generates a fine business.

Our party discussed the merits of taking a ride on the water.  Cuteness carried the motion, and we were soon treated to floating perspectives of the city from one of the little water buses.

A nicely bent building.
Do you suppose the elevator runs behind the portholes?

No on could figure out what this is.
Or what it is supposed to be.
Perhaps it is not for us to know.

This piece was more meaningful.
It is a whirligig supporting a heron.

And a very nice metallic heron, at that.
Yes, the herons follow me.

Not a bad spot, if you like high-rise living.

Love the terraces.
I looked up some of the real estate values, and it was as expected.
Instead of dollar numbers, they have the usual quote.
"If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it."

Science World sits at the end of False Creek.
Truly!

Don't be noisy here.

Plenty of employment opportunity in Vancouver...

...if you don't mind heights.

But let's get back to the market.

Granville Island opened as a marketplace in 1979.  Industry had declined and moved away.  As the leases became available, the Canadian Government "encouraged" vendors to take over the vacant spaces with minimal remodeling.  Public funding was also minimal.  So what was a rotting hulk of an industrial park under a bridge is now a mixed-use space drawing both locals and tourists.  The food bazaar is a short walk from the thriving cement plant with retailers and offices in between.

One of the gardeners was nice enough to provide me with breakfast
in appreciation of my navigational abilities.

I could not find out what the pipes on posts were all about.
They seemed to be some freshly-painted industrial remnant,
but they remain a mystery to me.  

There was also some new construction
sprinkled in with the market and current industrial activity.
This is the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
Curious name, considering her purported rudeness to students.

The actual marketplace was a plethora of titillating tableaus of sensory delights.

Colorful adornments, stylishly displayed.

Stanley Park had no monopoly on flowers.

Olives for every situation.

This picture procured as I passed the pasta.

The market is a good place to meet.

"Stay in school," said mama,
"or you'll end up on ice."

Somewhere, there is a frying pan calling these smelt.

Interesting to see fish from the sea.

Another of the ample employment opportunities in Vancouver.

...which coincidentally, also involves heights.
Until I saw these people in action,
I had never considered a career as a fruit-stacker.
But I probably won't join them, since I have mastered inaction.

A riot of carrots beckons.

Can't you just taste the fiddleheads?
(make sure you don't get the poisonous varieties)

It is a full-service market.
Offerings are not limited to healthy stuff.

On the way out, we discovered the shop where the First Nations people
get their totem poles.

One cannot help but be affected by a visit to Granville Market.
The Market delivers!