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Urban Santa Maria

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Description

The Santa Maria replica in the West Edmonton Mall (from behind). 
The mall is easily one of my favourite places, mostly for nostalgic reasons. I saw my first cetaceans in this mall (the 300,000 gallon dolphin lagoon was actually built within this large lagoon, and it just behind the ship at this angle! It's a very underwhelming tank that now houses California Sea Lions)
Looking back at photos, most things about the mall that I loved in my childhood are gone, being replaced by more modern things, or more practical things for the busy crowds this place sees. The lagoon used to have submarines, there used to be flamingos, there used to be a giant sculpture of a right whale, the basic interior design of benches and whatnot have even changed, there used to be a fire breathing animatronic dragon in the theatre, there used to be bumper boats (rather briefly) in the lagoon that I always wanted to ride but never did! I could go on and on about how much this place has changed since it was when I really really loved it. This damn boat is one of the few things that's been constant. I really miss the mall from my childhood. Nostalgia is such a cynical perspective and I kind of hate it, because it almost suggests that there's nothing redeemable about today (otherwise why else would you long for the past?) which is a newer realization I have had. Granted I am a rather cynical person, but I do think there is so much happening today that I should be enjoying that I just can't because I'm stuck longing for my childhood.
thingsigoogled.com/wp-content/…
There's the old whale. I do remember in it's latter years, it needed some love to be restored. BUT WAIT... As I wrote this rather cynical thing APPARENTLY THE WHALE HAS BEEN RESTORED www.edmontonjournal.com/news/A…
It was taken out in 2010 (rather devastating if I say so) to make room for more benches, to keep consumers more comfortable. BUT APPARENTLY IT WAS TAKEN OUT OF STORAGE EARLIER THIS MONTH AND WILL BE REINSTALLED BY SEARS! :D This makes me so incredibly happy that I can go inside this whale's belly again, but also quite sad I didn't know about this and never went down by Sears, I could have seen my old friend!
//very little of this is relevant to the Santa Maria, whoops!
Image size
4912x3264px 6.81 MB
Make
SONY
Model
NEX-C3
Shutter Speed
1/30 second
Aperture
F/7.1
Focal Length
18 mm
ISO Speed
200
Date Taken
Feb 5, 2014, 11:45:20 PM
Comments4
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AkelahNaih's avatar
I knew this looked familiar! It's been YEARS since I last visted WEM! Gorgeous shot and lots of neat info!