My friend Nigel and I headed up to explore the grounds at McMichael Gallery up in Kleinburg. I had never been to the grounds before and was looking forward to walking their trails.
Statue
One of the trails, located not too far away from the parking, is the Sculpture Garden. There are nine bronze sculptures along this short trail, donated by artist Ivan Eyre.
The Trail
After our short walk among the sculptures, we took the valley walking trail on the other side of the parking for a nice walk along the Humber Valley.
The Reflected Pane
The trail took us to the main entrance of the Gallery and then on to Tom Thomson’s shack. Tom Thomson was a Canadian painter and was an early inspiration for what became the Group of Seven.
A Visitor
Before heading back to the car, we took a break at a bench to enjoy a little bit of the day. As we chatted, a little bug decided to visit us. He hung out for quite a while, so we were able to snap a lot of photos of his journey from one side of the bench to the other. I like this photo of him with his large dark shadow following along.
After spending a couple of hours at the monastery (see the previous post) I had to move on as they were closing for the day. My next stop was to Belém Tower to catch the sunset. On my way over I noticed this little lighthouse that perfectly aligned with the sun.
The Lighthouse
Not much further from the lighthouse was the Tower (you can see it in the distance in the photo above). A couple of nights before they had quite the celebration here and the scaffolding was still up so I didn’t have a lot of great angles to play with as I took my photos of Belém Tower.
Belém Tower
I was lucky enough to catch the sun off the side tower as it was setting. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a vantage point that worked for what I had in my mind. After checking out all the angles I decided to move on and make my way over to the MAAT. The MAAT is the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology located on the other side of Belém close to the train station. Since the sun was going down I wanted to get some fun night shots of the museum and the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge before heading back to the apartment.
Ponte 25 de Abril
As I walked the long road toward the MAAT I was greeted by this modern art piece lit up on dock just in front of the bridge. I”m not sure who the creator is or why it’s there but it’s definitely a conversation piece for those walking along the river.
Maat and Ponte 25 Abril
I waited patiently to get the photo above as there were quite a number of the people on the steps in front of me when I arrived. Surprisingly they all left quickly once the sun disappeared. I think they missed the most beautiful part of the day but it was a bonus for me. The MAAT is a uniquely shaped building, as you can see from the photo above, and what I loved most was the fact that you could walk a ramp up its roof to get some great views.
MAAT Roof and View
I had a great evening out here in Belém. I’m also a little sad as there is only one day left before I leave this beautiful city behind for home. But there are a couple more places I have to visit in central Lisbon not too far away from the apartment before that happens.
I ventured out a little further today to the streets of Bairro Alto and Estrela. I set off just after breakfast to see as much as I could before the heat became too hot to bear. Walking uphill into Chiado and then back down towards Bairro Alto and Estrela I found myself at the Basilica da Estrela. Venturing into the church I snapped a shot of the interior before quickly exiting as it seems that mass was about to begin and I didn’t want to disturb those in attendance.
Basilica da Estrela Interior
Across the street from the Basilica is the Jardim da Estrela. This park provides a haven from the sounds of the bustling city just outside its walls. The central point of Jardim da Estrela is the green wrought-iron bandstand decorated with elegant filigree and where, I hear, musicians play during the summer months. Seems I’m a little late to the party (or possibly just too early) as no bands were playing today.
Bandstand in Jardim da Estrela
The park has numerous exotic plants and trees, ponds and various sculptures for visitors to enjoy. My favourite part of this park was a small pond where a statue of a girl sits in the water. I’m not sure if she is feeding the ducks or just gazing into the water to see her reflection.
Statue in Duck Pond
Exiting the park on the opposite side from where I had entered, I headed back downhill (didn’t I already do that?) and continued to explore the streets of Bairro Alto and Estrela. As usual, I find the funniest things when I explore. Today I discovered a door with dog door handles (or possibly wolf?). Where does one get door handles like these?
Door Knocker
Walking back uphill (does it ever end?) I came across another park, Praça do Principe Real which sits at another high point in the city where you can look out over the rooftops of the city below. In Praça do Principe Real there is a large cedar tree whose branches rest on a trestle and casts its shade on the benches below it. A nice break from the heat the sun beating down on you.
Praça do Principe Real
There are so many treasures here in Lisbon and just not enough time to see them all. I could spend weeks and months here just exploring. Luckily I still have a few days left to try to see more. Tomorrow I go back to Alfama and explore Castelo Sao Jorge.
Our second day in Wawa before heading out to Lake Superior Provincial Park we stopped at the iconic goose statute located on the edge of town. This goose is huge! I’m standing at its base as it looms over me.
Wawa Goose
Our first stop in the park was back to Old Woman’s Bay. Our hope was to see some substantial waves that the area boasts about this time of year. We were a little unlucky on that front as the waves coming in were on the smaller side but look at that beautiful light.
Old Woman Bay
We did see some remnants of trees that looked like they’d been tossed about by those elusive large waves.
We had a couple stops planned today and one that we hiked up to was Sand Falls. While on our hike it started big fluffy snowflakes fell from the sky.
Above Lower Sand Falls
We wanted to try to get a photograph of the sunset as the skies decided to clear a little later in the day. We raced down to Sandy Beach just as the sun was hitting the edge of the horizon. I quickly shot this photo as I got out of the car.
Sunset at Sandy Beach
Overall a great day in the park exploring. With one more day left to explore we are still hoping to find some of those waves.
