ADVENTURE OVER A RIVER

A SWINGING BRIDGE

My first visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada was a cruise stop. I saw just enough to whet my appetite to see more of this marvelous city. However, on that first trip many years ago I did walk across the Capilano Bridge.

On my week-long visit with Jan I had a couple of things I wanted to make sure she saw and the swinging bridge was one of them. Like me, she is pretty fearless, so I knew there would be no problem in getting her to walk across the bridge suspended over the river 230 feet below!

The bridge is located in the Pacific Northwest Temperate Rainforest which extends from northern California to southern Alaska. The Capilano area receives 78-97 inches of rain a year! The Western Red Cedar here grows up to 200 feet tall.

The 450-foot long foot-bridge over the Capilano River is the longest suspension bridge in the world. A Scotsman by the name of George Grant Mackey, a civil engineer, was so impressed with the beauty of the area that he built a cabin for himself and his wife. Then in 1889 with the help of local natives and a team of horses he pulled taut the first cedar plank and hemp rope bridge over the gorge.

The bridge became such an attraction that in 1903 a more secure wire bridge was built. In 1914 that bridge was replaced with another wire bridge with both cable ends firmly encased in concrete. The fourth and present bridge was built in 1956. There are 13 tons of concrete anchoring each end. During a 1962 hurricane eight large trees fell on the bridge, but remarkably resulted in no damage to the bridge!

On my first trip the wind was blowing pretty hard and blew a couple of hats off heads carrying them into the ravine below. This time the winds were a lot calmer, but the bridge still swayed pretty well with several people crossing at the same time. On this trip we took the time to enjoy the wonderful walking paths through the forest on the other side of the gorge. There are several creative colorful information signs stating fun information along the way. Several benches are located in picturesque spots for one to sit and enjoy the peace and sounds of nature.

Capilano is too far to walk from downtown, but the local bus took us right there and the friendly driver told us what his return times were so we could   either go farther up to Grouse Mountain or to return to town.

AN UNUSUAL SIGHT

A Sunken Church

            One noontime while cruising Russian waterways the loud speaker alerted us to grab out cameras and get on deck. It was a surprise to suddenly see a lovely church tower  standing in the middle of the river! What a photo op!

            As we passed over what once was Kalyazin’s market square, we learned that, “The city of Kalyazin was flooded when the Uglich hydroelectric plant was built in the 1940s. The city originally sprung up around a 15^th century monastery. By the 16^th century the monastery was one of the richest in Russia. The flooded belfry was part of St. Nicholas Cathedral, built in 1800.  At 210 feet high, it was considered one of the finest structures along the Volga. 

“Ivan the Terrible visited and donated rare manuscripts to the monastery and in the 20^th century Stalin dynamited the monastery to ruins.”

The present town of Kalyazin, with a population of about 12,000, lies around the mouth of the Zhabnya River.

By late afternoon we docked in the charming city of Uglich. More about the city another time but first about an outstanding evening we had visiting a Russian family.

An old van traveled over rather rough roads taking four of us to a housing development of Stalin-era concrete apartment buildings. Ludmilla, our hostess, rode with us. A schoolteacher, she spoke some English and was delighted to be hosting a dinner for us. We walked up two flights of stairs to her small three-room apartment. Her daughters Natasha and Nadia (25 and 27) plus her 79 year old mom, Maria, were waiting for us.

This family made us feel at home. Conversation flowed all evening as the girls spoke good English. Both the mom and grandmother were widowed. It was interesting to hear about their life. I can’t remember what we ate for dinner, but I do remember it was all good. Grandma had done a great job making the outstanding vodka, and one of the daughters had made the delicious apricot sweet buns for dessert.

It was a delightful evening with very gracious people. As we left to return to the boat the girls gave each of us a bookmark they had made using dried flowers. What a lovely gesture and wonderful end to a memorable evening!