My partner and I recently went on a quick trip up to Seattle and Vancouver BC, below are the highlights.

On this Seattle trip, we avoided downtown altogether and instead explored the tucked away neighborhoods of Ballard and Fremont. Above is one of the many “Henry” murals I ran across in Fremont. Apparently this Seattle muralist by the name Ryan Henry Ward is has set out to paint 50 murals in different Seattle neighborhoods. By my count on my short visit there, he is well on his way.

In addition to Henry’s murals, Fremont was teeming with other quirky art destinations including an old cold war era rocket, mounted to the side a building – marking the spot where Fremont was declared Center of the Universe, the largest Lenin statue in the US, and this troll sculpture under the Aurora Bridge. This giant concrete sculpture boasts a huge glass eye, and a crushed Volkswagon Beetle in its claws.

Onto Vancouver BC, where we stayed at an adorable Bed & “Breakfast” (toast) and set to the task of exploring as much of the city by foot in one day as we could.

The city was all a bustle in preparation for the Olympic Games. Giant digital clocks counted down the minutes until opening ceremonies, construction crews were working around every corner. One public art installation in place for the games was a series of eagle sculptures painted by various artists. All the sculptures will be auctioned off in Spring of 2010 after the Paralympic games.

Vancouver was alive with graffiti art, like this poster I found in Chinatown.

My wonderful birthday dinner at Vancouver’s best Indian food restaurant, Vj’s in the South Granville neighborhoods. The appetizer was amazing, a Cauliflower, Spinach, Onion and Potato Pakoras with daal, and dessert was a free birthday rice pudding for me. The perfect ending to a tiring day exploring the streets, galleries, shops and neighborhoods of Vancouver.