2008-07-15

My weekend continued!

Sunday morning we got up bright and early to go to the Telus World of Science (TWOS - formerly the Edmonton Space & Science Centre) to see "Body Worlds". This is "The Original Exhibition of Real Human Bodies" and it is fascinating! There is a video clip here which gives you a taste of the exhibit. I could have spent much longer than I did, as it was we took about 90 minutes to go through.

I was just as intrigued watching the people looking at the exhibit as the exhibit itself. There was a father with his daughter & son, the girl was about 8, the boy younger. But the questions that little girl had! It was wonderful to see a young mind so engaged by this and daddy was doing very well explaining. It makes a person wonder, if our generation had been exposed to this sort of thing at that age, would there be more women in science & medical fields today?

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We, went for lunch and then back to the Art-Walk that we had been to on Saturday to see the rest of the exhibits. At the other end, we found I could have had a sketch of me as a Zombie instead of a caricature! Such is life!

They had actually arranged to shut down two blocks of Whyte Avenue and the businesses were involved in a street sale, there was a fashion show, and live music. The two blocks they shut down are the two busiest blocks of Whyte and it was rather surreal to see it like this:

A little back history is called for here. Edmonton used to be two cities a long time ago, Edmonton on the North side of the river (the North Saskatchewan) and Strathcona on the South side. Whyte Avenue would have been the "main" street of Strathcona and the area is now known as "Old Strathcona", there are many historic buildings and the crowd is mostly arty, funky, hip people. The University of Alberta is at the west end of Whyte Ave, so there are always young people around. It is where the Fringe Festival is held along with many other festivals.

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This is the Great Divide Waterfall! Seen from the South side at the top of the river valley. The waterfall is man-made and pumps 50,000 litres of water per minute out the nozzles and costs about $2000.00/hour to run. More stats can be found by clicking the link above. It was made for Alberta's 75th Anniversary.

I have very good friends who willingly drove me to a place that I could take photos, then took me across the river to get more shots from different angles. At the cost of gas and the size of vehicle they drive, yes, they are very good friends!



This is just entering the river valley, we had to wait for pedestrians.

I didn't crop this, just to give you a bit of perspective. This is about 1/2 way down into the river valley.

This is looking directly on from the Low Level Bridge.


This is the waterfall from the North side of the river, by the Legislature grounds.

From a bit closer you can see how far out the water shoots.


This is driving onto the bridge.


And a good shot of the girders and pedestrian rail - obviously not what I was aiming for.


This is all you can see while looking straight out.

Quite a lot of water puddles onto the bridge deck and there is a bit of back spray. I imagine walking or biking across gets you a bit damp.

So, that was my Sunday & I am exhausted just telling it here. One day, I may walk (gasp - not that) across the bridge when the waterfall is on, but I don't think it will be this year.

Have a good Wednesday everyone.

6 comments:

Crabby McSlacker said...

Wow, what an eventful weekend! Thanks for sharing it with us and including all those wonderful pictures.

Hilary said...

Sounds and looks like a great time. Great shots and great friends for indulging you.. in turn we are the indulged. Thanks for that.

Leah J. Utas said...

Reb, I love those shots you did of the waterfall. Nicely done and good perspective.

the Bag Lady said...

Reb - terrific shots! Sounds like a fun-filled weekend, and how wonderful of E & S to indulge you (although I'm sure they enjoyed the day, too!).

gary rith said...

thanks for the tour!

Reb said...

Crabby, thanks. It was that.

Hilary, we did have fun, glad you enjoyed.

Leah, thanks. I took so many more, I love digital!

Sis, thanks, I think they did too.

Gary, welcome!