White Sails at Canada Place

 

Another view of Vancouver's Canada Place ferry terminal + convention centre in June 2007  This is one part of the roof constructed to look like white sails  (actually made from fiberglass and teflon coated sheets, stretched across steel cables and are supported by 40-ft steel masts).

Nine and Fifty Swans

This pretty shop in a side street in Gort, Galway, Ireland says it stocks stuff that is "handmade, vintage and beautifully useful"  photographed in June 2026

My Shop ... Granny Likes It.

 

This gift shop in Galway, Ireland says it features the best of Irish design.   It looks like it was named as a joke- and the joke stuck.   It's quite hard to get a good picture of but I spotted this on day in later March 2026.

What came behind Whale Street?

Captain Ahab and his crew in their glory

This year, I hid behind a mobile street-diversion sign, and got some great close-up photos of Galway International Arts Festival parade.   The parade title is Whale Street, and it is apparently a "thrilling outdoor reimagining of Moby Dick, that transforms the city into a vast, moving stage as ... Captain Ahab and his crew" persue Moby Dick, who nevertheless stops frequently to spray the crowd and play music.

Photos above start at the end of the parade, and go thru to the beginning.

Setting sun over the bay

On this evening in early July 2026,  it felt like the setting sun over the hills of Clare was drawing the sea out of Galway Bay.

Delightful daisies

These determinedly cheerful Dorotheanthus bellidiformis, aka Livingstone daisies, were spotted in a corner in Doughiska one sunny day.

Industrial estate hoodlum

Saw this ldistingushed gentleman in an industrial estate on the east of Galway city this evening.  Google tells me he's a hooded crow, aka a hoodie.

Not a great pic, he was a bit camera shy.  But I don't think I've seen one before.

Arthur Colahan Memorial

 

The words of Arthur Colahan's sentimental ode to Galway Bay, in Irish and English now grace this rather unimposing pair of plaques on the beachfront in Upper Salthill Road.

King of the funfair

The ferris wheel is King of the funfair!

This year's Salthill-funfair seems a little more restrained and tasteful - or maybe I was just seeing it in a  lovely sunset on a hot, sleepy day.

Celebrating Galway's Seagulls?

The Claddagh Icon is a public artwork in Galway near Claddagh Quay.  It normally blends into the grey background.  Except when the sun strikes it at just the right angle, which I happened while I was strolling past one day in October 2017.

Officially it's a Galway Hooker (ie traditional sailing boat) and a cormorant with the sun as a backdrop of the sun. But it could become known as the Seagull Monument.

Carrolls with window boxes

The flowering window boxes above this pub were just a at the right stage - blooming without overwhelming the elegance of old stone building, and giving the impression that the whole place is being cared for.  But the grass growing out of the chimney brings things back 

Minature megalithic mushrooms

Spotted these impressive mushroom-esque monsters  in Briarhill Business Park one afternoon after a  recent heatwave.

Acting the goat in Gort

 

The perfectly purple 💜 Goats Lane Cafe is in Gort, Co Galway.   And they make lovely coffee.

Canada Place

 

Another view of the Canada Place cruise ship terminal, hotel and convention/trade centre - showing the dockside location.   (June 2007)

Ise Tusa: Well is she you?

A clothing shop in Clarenbridge, which makes good use of an older building despite the amazing lack of symmetry..     It's actually called Mise Tusia (trans You are mine) except local kids felt they needed an M.

The bus shelter is NOT for moving

 

Scrolling back thru my photos looking for just the right kind of bench (don't ask!) and I came upon this gem from 2015.  

Despite the bold orange sign which is attached to the bus shelter, it is pretty clear that the bus shelter has not in fact moved to Lough Atalia Road, or where else for that matter.   

Eleven years later, and much the came bus shelter is in the same place, but that's a different story.  Back in 2015 though,  while the bus stop did  moved to the road on the far side of the brass, the shelter stood in dignified silence until the one-way trial expired.

Indie bookshop with a witchy vibe

This newly-decorated Inkbound Bookshop in Gort, south County Galway, Ireland, has an indie / alternative vibe from the outside, which is strengthened when you see just how few books they actually have for sale.   

Nonetheless, the store appears to be infinitely instagrammable - and one of the pictures was just "loved" on Google Maps, so here they are for you too.

Oi ! What are you doing at MY bus stop?

Standing at a bus stop beside a business park in Galway, Ireland one day, and this cow came over to see what I was up to.   She kept a sharp eye on me!

Neon shamrock in the night

Pretty sure this neon-glass shamrock symbol in Quay Lane, above the side-entrance to The Quays restaurant and bar, is new addition. It's cute in a kitchy kind of way, rather than the fleeting kind of beauty I'm usually looking for.  

Canada Place

 I photographed this building in Vancouver, Canada in June 2007. 

It's a fascinating mix of cruise ship terminal, hotel and convention/trade centre.  In 2026, the internet says it was designed to resemble a massive ship, although I'm not sure I recognised it as that  when I snapped.

Salthill's Two Sisters

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I don't know if anyone does actually call these two famous Salthill buildings "sisters" - but it feels like they should!

Lonergan's has had a red coat for as long as I remember.    Until a few weeks age, it went bright blue.  It looked a bit odd at first, but on reflection is  a better fit with the "Atlantic bar" idea.

I'm not sure what the side street is actually called, and from the looks of the signs, neither are the council   Atlantic Tc, San Antonio Tce, San Antonio Park - or whatever you're having yourself.

(Salthill, Galway, 1 June 2026)

Mr S Seagull

 

One of our neighbours, out for a early morning walk while we were heading home.  With a mean look in his eye, too.

(Galway,  June 2025, just after midnight).

Cows, cash and otherwise

 

One day in September 2007. at the Cliffs of Mohr in County Clare. Ireland.   The cash cow are the ones on the path in the background. 

It's not really a factory

 

Another photo that's been surprisingly popular on Google Maps:  the wet day really highlights the cheerful light yellow of this restaurant with short-stay accommodationupstairs, compared to the dull grey carpark gates and old townhouse next door.

Eyre Square Hotel

 

Another spot which doesn't often feature beauty in the built environment - but this day in May 2026, it positively glowed for a few minutes at least.

Sparkling in the sunshine

 

Just happened by this corner as the sun was sparking off the lettering.   Its not not normally a spot for moments of fleeting beauty, but every corner has it's moment.

(Galway, May 2026)

Just a carpark

I snapped this carpark in Canada (somewhere near Banff?) in June 2007.  In the moment, the sheer scale if it was impressive, with scow capped mountains that felt like they were right next door.

The Gastown Steam Clock, Vancouver

Built only in 1977, this is somehow a historic tourist attraction.  It “chimes” by sending up puffs of steam to the classic chock-chiming tune, every 15 minutes.

Photos taken in June 2007, Vancouver.

The Iconic Corrib

This a snap I took one day in May 20206 of a frequently-photographed section of the river Corrib.

In the middle of the river are the remains of fish traps, constructed during the 1800s, designed to catch spawning Atlantic salmon swimming upstream.  Behind is Weir House which is home to the low-profile Galway County Club, and the Fisheries buildings.  Further up the river, you can see the Salmon Weir bridge - and the modern salmon-weir is out of site behind it.  

A very cross street

You'd be grumpy, too, if a piece of dental work took weeks to complete!

(Galway, corner Cross and Mainguard Streets, May 2026, weekend after the Fleadh Na Bealtaine fesitval.)

A D Hamilton Jewellers and Coin Shop

 

This very ordinary picture of a jweller's shop in Glasgow was snapped in Septembe 2023.

Someone "loved" in in Google maps this week so I decided to share it here.

Glasgow, 2023 - loved on maps in 2926

Public Market Center

Signs at the entrance to Seattle's  Pike Place Market, sometime around closing at 5:30pm were bold and in-your-face - just like the cars.   (May / June 2007).

 

Claude, sans intelligence

 

Bold, brash and in your face, but better than the colour-scheme before this one.

Liminal light in Salthill

 

Ten minutes earlier,  I was definitely staying on the bus rather than hop off into the rainstorm.  Now, the sun is out.  

Mostly.  But I need to walk under those clouds. 

An elusive Western

 

It's very difficult to get a good photo of this hotel, which has a charm in how it blends architectural styles and pragmatic frontages.  Even today there was still scaffolding in place detracting from the interesting curved wall n on the left hand side.

A trio of lillies in the Square

Seaside coffee-kiosk with dramatic skies

 

This city-council owned seaside coffee kiosk is between licensees, but still enjoys dramatic sky-views:  fleeting moments of beauty at the intersection of nature and the built environment. 

Fleeting beauty - in a bookies office?

 

Today this betting-shop looked shiny, new and clean.  My "moments of fleeting beauty"-meter normally needs more than that!  But here and now, it pinged.

The sloped top that was added to the electricity cabinet outside helps!

Builder's provider, with a dripping tap

 

I've never understood how the drip on this tap  doesn't get more attention.   But the building looks mighty fine on a sunny day.  (Galway, Ireland,  April 2026).

Small apartment block under construction in the late-afternoon sunshine

Apartments under construction on the very edge of Salthill - or is it Knocknacarra?  
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Part of the same site - back in 2017 - CC BY 4.0 ... find out more