Canada Watch: Urban Mountains

Wow. Where to start? I wonder if I can even find the words. :D

At urban ink office, Downtown Vancouver.

First of all, we spent the early afternoon at the urban ink office in Downtown Vancouver, where, thanks to the kindness of Diane Roberts, the Artistic Director, we were able to browse through the archives and learn more about their past projects and performances. We also talked to Diane about her current work, the Arrivals Project, a workshop series focusing on the subjects of Ancestry and Personal Legacy and how they feature in the works of Indigenous and cross-cultural artists. Afterwards, we met with Rosemary Georgeson, urban ink’s Aboriginal Community Director, who told us a lot about her project “From WhereWe Speak” and its positive impact on the lives of young Indigenous people, who learned how to better express themselves and how to speak about troubling issues. The project inspired many of the youths to make more of their lives and to further their education at university. Our two hours at urban ink were extremely fruitful and we are very thankful to the team for such a warm welcome.


At urban ink office with Rosemary Georgeson.

At urban ink office with Diane Roberts and Rosemary Georgeson.

After leaving urban ink we took the sea bus to North Vancouver, where we were picked up by our Polish Canadian friend, who was very intent on taking us on a mountain trip. We began with a short and pleasant trek to the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge, which was amazing on itself, but pales in comparison to what awaited us later. What’s interesting, during our walk we met a family who greeted us in Polish, because they recognized our language. Turns out one of them had family in Poland, and they went on their honeymoon to Gdansk. :D

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge.

After the Suspension Bridge we went to GrouseMountain, where we had a quick lunch before setting off for the peak. We didn’t really make it to the top, but the trip itself was beyond amazing. At first it started pretty non-threatening, with a bit of trekking on beaten snow, but then it turned really exciting. We plowed through knee-deep snowdrifts to find the best spot for observing a sunset over Vancouver Island. I’m not going to exaggerate if I say that hundreds of photos were taken. For us Poles, it’s really quite stunning to see a big city, high mountains and the ocean combined in one place!

How Can You Not Love This?

Grouse Mountain After Dark.

We also had a chance to see a documentary on two resident Grizzly Bears, Grinder and Coola, who are rescued bears kept in a protective area on Grouse Mountain. Every year, when the bears wake up from their hibernation, they are greeted by many cheering fans. You can observe them at all times thanks to cameras installed in their den.