Reminders to those in the Ottawa area. The Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the Museum of Science and Technology wraps up on September 2nd. I went yesterday and enjoyed it. And the Gauguin Portraits exhibit at the National Gallery comes to a conclusion on September 8th.
On the same day as my cemetery visit, I kept walking, heading for downtown Guelph along Woolwich Street. Some of the homes around Guelph are quite old (brand new by European standards). This 1866 limestone house has been designated a cultural heritage building by the city.
The Dominion Public Building here in Guelph started life in the 1930s as federal government office space, and today is used by the County of Wellington.
By the time I got down here, the skies were growing dark and ominous. This street view gives a sense of that. Guelph's war memorial is at left.
The memorial is an impressive one, with names of locals who have died in service on plaques to one side.
This being the home town of John McCrae, his poem is inscribed on a plaque.
Another view of the dark skies. I kept walking.
The above location includes the Speed River, out of sight below the street surface. That street bridge can be seen in this shot, from a pedestrian bridge downstream.
And this view looks downstream as the Speed River heads towards its confluence with the Eramosa River, another local river.
Old Quebec Street is the name of a shopping and office complex that occupies what was once an extension of Quebec Street downtown in Guelph. It was once a smaller scale version of the Eaton Centre, but when that retail chain went out of business, the building seemed in trouble. The city acquired it, and a rethink and renovations were done. A hockey arena for the OHL Guelph Storm team was built onto the far side, and the interior was overhauled to feel more like a street, with retail on the ground floor and offices upstairs. It's a welcome change.
I took a bus back up to my father's retirement home. Those brooding skies were still the order of the day. The wooded area we see across the road is in fact Woodlawn Cemetery.
And this view looks east out of the guest bedroom. The Speed River is hidden by the treeline, and is down slope from the buildings here.
You made me smile with the "brand new"! Dramatic sky indeed.
ReplyDeleteI would be glad to get indoors with a sky that ominous. Never realised John McCrae was Canadian.
ReplyDeleteNice reflections on the portal...
ReplyDeleteI like the 1st building. We have the same type of sky now, might rain any time now.
ReplyDeleteThose skies look as if the heavens are about to open on you. I really like that first little limestone house.
ReplyDelete...we also have a number of limestone buildings around here too, they are favorites of mine. The sky is an interesting thing, it can change quickly and look so different depending on which direction that you look.
ReplyDeleteI always think instead of building memorials they should stop wars so we don't need them anymore ! You have the same skies as we had last week !!
ReplyDeleteThat was quite a walk, yesterday. I was convinced the Speed River was the Rideau Canal. Ha, ha, ha, as if I know my way around Ottawa!
ReplyDeleteJanis, GDP
Dark sky sharing today as storms move into Vermont. Please tell your Dad I say Hi!
ReplyDeletei think u enjoy pushing your own luck William, those storm clouds were chasing. lol. but great for pictures. we keep having terrible afternoon thunderstorms. great for seeing the lighting etc ...but not great for the trees or other stuff in the storms way. stay storm safe. ( ;
ReplyDeleteLove the entrance to the old Quebec Street shopping complex, that sky was beautifully ominous William ✨
ReplyDeleteWe get those skies every few days this summer.
ReplyDeleteWonderful tour with the skies adding more drama than you probably planned! The Speed seems very serene for its name.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to "Early Rubens" at the AGO, Oct-Jan 2020.
ReplyDeleteI would like to go back to Guelph.
Did those grey skies dump rain on you, or did you manage to stay dry?
ReplyDeleteI certainly have to visit Guelph again in the future.
I like the ominous skies. I would head for home in a hurry.
ReplyDelete@Iris: yes, it's strange to think that in Europe there are homes that were there long before my country was founded.
ReplyDelete@Fun60: when I left the downtown, I took a bus back instead of getting caught in the rain. The evening I arrived in Guelph, there was a downpour. I did take the bus, and just as I was getting close to where my father lived, it started. I ducked into a pizza shop to wait it out.
@Italiafinlandia: it's a good reflective wall.
@Nancy: we have unsettled weather here today.
@Rosemary: there are a fair number of old places like that here.
@Tom: these days the weather seems to change quite a bit through the day or night, which isn't a bad thing.
@Gattina: we'll see what the weather brings us today.
@Janis: well I do photograph the Canal so often!
@Maywyn: we're getting much the same weather.
@Beth: I thought better of it and took a bus heading back instead of walking.
@Grace: it certainly was.
@Marie: we get them too.
@Barbara: it has to be named after someone named Speed.
@Catarina: I would like to attend that one.
@Shammickite: I stayed dry, but mainly because I decided to bus it back.
@Red: by the time I was finished downtown, taking the bus seemed the proper course of action.
I like your photos showing the dark clouds!
ReplyDeleteThey did a good job on that shopping complex. I love the older buildings too.
ReplyDeleteI have a nephew (grand) living in Guelph in a house very much like that first one.
ReplyDeleteWonderful series of photos ~ moody sky shot!
ReplyDeleteHappy Day to You,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
It is such a pretty town! How nice that you could stay in a guest bedroom at your Dad's home!
ReplyDeleteGreat Little Town, William! I love how that building was repurposed with the skylight and the iron work.
ReplyDeleteA great little town!! Those skies look quite threatening!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos.
@Marleen: thank you!
ReplyDelete@Sharon: they did indeed.
@Anvilcloud: I wonder if I've seen it.
@Carol: thanks!
@RedPat: it was a good visit.
@Cloudia: so do I.
@Happyone: they did!
Those skies look like ours the last few days. Excellent photos!
ReplyDeleteHopefully you got back before it rained. Those are very atmospheric shots with the broody skies. A great series and loved the look around. Thanks William!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great walkabout. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, and so glad you dodged the rain, I hope.
ReplyDeleteI like the limestone house in the first photo:)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like just the most charming city. Did you make it back before the rain? That one photo of the clouds reflected in the archway window -- FABULOUS!
ReplyDeleteGoodness, the skies were growing dark and ominous.
ReplyDeleteYou got some very nice reflections in some of your photographs though.
All the best Jan
Dark and beautiful!
ReplyDelete@Bill: thank you.
ReplyDelete@Denise: you're welcome.
@Kay: a pleasure to do so.
@Joanne: I did, yes.
@Rosie: me too.
@Jeanie: thanks!
@Jan: they were impressively dark.
@Klara: definitely.