| Wanderful is an ongoing feature where each week I throw a hypothetical dart at the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»map and travel there – by foot or by transit, and attempt to capture some of the cool and interesting small details that make that particular neighborhood unique and special. From sidewalks to back alleys, gardens to graffiti, I’ll become a wandering tourist in my own backyard. Armed with only a camera and very little natural sense of direction, it’s an journey of modest proportions, and an opportunity to see more of what makes this city AWESOME! |
I was immediately interested in this area the second I caught sight of the colourful gigantic bird mural painted on a wall high above two buildings, when meeting a friend at his job one afternoon. It seemed a bit like something you could walk by a bunch of times and never notice unless you had your head in the clouds (which I often do – accounting for a large part of my inherent clumsiness). It’s one of those things that you might never notice it until you did, and then you’d wonder how you ever actually missed it.
When I headed back to the area during the week to more thoroughly explore, it definitely is a lot more of an industry-oriented neighbourhood, but there is also a ton of great little charming touches, once I stop and look a bit more closely.
For example, there are a ton of these cool little birdhouses, tucked up into a bunch of the trees in the area. Or a chain link fence with hundreds of rainbow coloured zap-straps attached to it. It’s another one of those times that I wish things like this had narrating signs attached to them, allowing the more curious of those among us in on the accompanying story. In the meantime, I appreciate the unexpected randomness of it. I love when somewhere can feel both semi-deserted and full of interesting details at the same time. These are my favourite types of places to explore; you never really know what the next alley might reveal.
Or the huge variety of dogs you might happen upon...
Although I've truly appreciated the trees and friendliness in the previous neighbourhoods I’ve checked out so far, I have always had soft spot for industrial urban exploration (and dirty abandoned buildings, truth be told). In all their fenced concrete and metal glory, when you do discover something homey and familiar about them, it feels all the more like secret discovered treasure.
