On my last day in Montreal, I went for a walk near Rivière des Prairies, on the northwestern part of the island of Montreal. There, I walked in Parc de la Merci, Parc des Bateliers and Ile Perry, a small island in the river. I then crossed the Rivière des Prairies to Laval.
Parc Jean Drapeau is a large park in Montreal located on Ile Saint-Hélène and Ile Notre-Dame, in the Saint-Lawrence river. It is named after Jean Drapeau, who served as mayor of Montreal for many years. The islands were the site of Expo 67 and the best-known and most visible feature of the park, the Montreal Biosphere, is a remnant of that event: It was the pavilion of the United States during the Expo.
Starting from the Bassins Peel, I walked in the Cité du Havre neighbourhood, passing by the brutalist Habitat 67, until I reached the Parc de la Cité du Havre (recently renamed Parc de Dieppe), at the tip of the peninsula. There was a great view on the Old Port, Pont Jacques Cartier and Parc Jean Drapeau from the park. I then crossed the Saint-Lawrence river on Pont de la Concorde until Ile Notre-Dame. At that point, it was getting dark so I walked to Ile Saint-Hélène and Parc Jean Drapeau to take the subway back to the city. I stopped at the Biosphère on the way.
REM Eiland is a platform that used to broadcast pirate TV and radio from the North Sea but that now sits near the IJ river in Houthaven, in Amsterdam West. The roof can be accessed freely and also has a restaurant. I was there during SAIL Amsterdam 2015, hence all the boats on the IJ.
Takosenbei (たこせんべい), with real bits of octopus. I bought it freshly made from a stand near the Samuel Cocking Garden on Enoshima. There are also packaged biscuits for sale at most souvenir shops on the island.
Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse Dome is located on a corner of Yumenoshima Park, in Koto Ward, Tokyo, and features a giant domed greenhouse. This dome holds about 1,000 varieties of tropical and subtropical plants, with colorful fruits and flowers throughout the year. It is heated using waste heat from trash burning at the nearby incineration plant. Boats floating at a yacht harbor can also be seen from the north side of the dome.
Ariake is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay, near Toyosu and Odaiba. It hosts the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center, museums, sporting arenas and hotels.
Odaiba is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. It is home to the No. 3 Battery Park (“Dai-San Daiba”), numerous shopping malls, a ferris wheel, a beach (no swimming allowed though…), the Fuji TV building (photo above) and the Miraikan museum, as well as hotels, offices and residential towers. Part of the island is used as a port for cargo ship operations.
