With September upon us and the fall semester ramping up, we thought it would be nice to have a final look back at the Summer of 2023 through the lenses of members of the McGill community.
Once again, the width and breadth of your submissions was impressive. We soaked up the sun on beaches around the world, climbed mountains in at least three continents, and rode in any number of vehicles including tuk tuks, kayaks, hot air balloons, tractors, ocean liners, and tramways. We walked through the streets of ancient cities, hiked mountain trails and lush forests, and left our footprints in the sand.
We explored far and wide. We had fun close to home. We made memories for ourselves, our friends, and our families.
Thanks to everyone who submitted!
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On top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa
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Cabo da Roca, Portugal, the most westerly point of mainland Europe.
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Summit of Mont Blanc, France
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« The Bluenose 2 » Stationed in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
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The town of Ronda in Andalucia is white village set in a landscape of rolling hills. The “new” (dating to the 17th century!) portion of the town is separated from the old town by a tall, arcaded bridge which crosses a 90-metre gorge. For scale, look at the tiny fluo yellow dot in the bottom left – that is a munical worker on the road below
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Together with reenactment friends from La Garde du Lys portraying the personal guard of musketeers of Alexandre de Prouville, Marquis of Tracy, lieutenant general of French possessions in North America (1664-1667), Frédéric Fabry (Director, Bieler School of Environment, rightmost person) and Véronique Meunier (Research assistant, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, second rightmost person) went to the birthplace of d'Artagnan in Lupiac, France. There, they participated in the d'Artagnan Festival on the 350th anniversary of his death.
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Still Standing, North Rustico, PEI. Hurricane Fiona hit PEI hard and they lost an estimated 40 per cent of their trees last September and a whole lot of roofs. This little house by the shore survived…sort of.
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Prof Barrington-Leigh overlooks Garibaldi Lake, BC, on a trail run.
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Cabarita Beach, New South Wales, Australia
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Waiting for my ride on hot air balloon in Egypt
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My son and partner helping with the garlic harvest in Vermont
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Chilling off Glen Island, Lake George, NY
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Falcon at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Queensland, Australia
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When my friend offered, I jumped at the opportunity to take the Queen Mary (Cunard) from Southampton (UK) to Le Havre (France) to Brooklyn (NY, USA). Le Havre is the port city that my mother’s family departed when they immigrated to Canada (also on a ship operated by Cunard), so the opportunity to spend some hours walking around there was a special treat. My week-long journey across the Atlantic was fancier than my family’s was 70-some years ago – with daily lectures, nightly shows, musical entertainment, black tie galas, and endless food (including a healthy dose of warm scones with clotted cream at 4 pm).
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With son Charlie, daughter Molly, and dog Woody on landlocked boat in farmer’s field, Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba
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Bow Lake, Icefields Parkway, Canadian Rockies
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This summer I spent a lot of time training for the Pan Am Games in Wushu, a performance-based Chinese martial art that includes weapons and barehand forms. It is acrobatic and includes lots of jumping. So after months of grueling training, cardio, legs the entire works, I ended up with a bronze medal in two events – Jianshu (straightsword) and Changquan (long fist, barehand).
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Early morning at the cottage
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Praca de commercio, Lisbon, Portugal
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Visite d'un vignoble québécois et dégustation de vins aux Artisans du terroir, à Saint-Paul d'Abbotsford (à gauche : Isabelle Laffont, maître de chai; à droite : Mariève Isabel).
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Family camping in Grand-Remous, Quebec
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Waiting for the ferry boat at St-Siméon, Quebec
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Hawaii botanical garden on Big Island: such beautiful, lush vegetation
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The Torii Gates of the Fushimi Inari-taisha, Kyoto, Japan
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Visite de vignobles en Grèce. Photo prise sur une parcelle de vieilles vignes de Savatiano au domaine Anastasia Fragou, dans la région vinicole de l'Attique.
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St. Martins sea cave, New Brunswick
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Andes mountains from Mendoza, Argentina, July 25, 2023
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Four McGillians (myself – Johanna Boucher, HR Advisor for Financial Services; Nancy Lewis, Associate Director, Student Affairs in the Faculty of Engineering; Amy Malenfant, Industry Liaison Associate in the Faculty of Engineering; and Lisa Hoffman, former McGill student) in Napa Valley, California
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Île de sable éphémère (qui apparaît seulement à marée basse) dans le Saint-Laurent, près de Saint-Jean-Port-Joli.
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Acadia National Park
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Sunset on Kelley’s Bay, Cape Cod
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Molly and the oyster
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Night lights in Lima
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Cottage morning
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Sleeping under the stars high in BC's coast range
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Insectarium
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Rainbows over Iguazu Falls, Brazil, July 14, 2023
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When my friend offered, I jumped at the opportunity to take the Queen Mary (Cunard) from Southampton (UK) to Le Havre (France) to Brooklyn (NY, USA). Le Havre is the port city that my mother’s family departed when they immigrated to Canada (also on a ship operated by Cunard), so the opportunity to spend some hours walking around there was a special treat. My week-long journey across the Atlantic was fancier than my family’s was 70-some years ago – with daily lectures, nightly shows, musical entertainment, black tie galas, and endless food (including a healthy dose of warm scones with clotted cream at 4 pm).
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Nile River
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Tram 28 in downtown Lisbon, Portugal
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Out at night with friends, finding moths
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Sunset at Goûter Hut (3,835 m). Mont Blanc, France
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Crossing the Tropic of Capricorn while traveling through Namibia
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The approach to The Fort of São João Baptista which dates back to the 16th century. The fort is found on the largest island of the archipelago of the Berlengas, Portugal
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Off-road driving school at Gunstock Mountain in New Hampshire
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San Diego, June 2013
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When my friend offered, I jumped at the opportunity to take the Queen Mary (Cunard) from Southampton (UK) to Le Havre (France) to Brooklyn (NY, USA). Le Havre is the port city that my mother’s family departed when they immigrated to Canada (also on a ship operated by Cunard), so the opportunity to spend some hours walking around there was a special treat. My week-long journey across the Atlantic was fancier than my family’s was 70-some years ago – with daily lectures, nightly shows, musical entertainment, black tie galas, and endless food (including a healthy dose of warm scones with clotted cream at 4 pm).
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Climbing to the summit of Mt. Etna
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Mushrooms and ferns
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Exploring the coast at Thunder Cove, Prince Edward Island
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Emerald Falls, Percé QC
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Tourists in our own city, at the lookout on Mont-Royal
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Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
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Dorou River, Porto
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Gold Coast, Australia
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The forest canopy, perfect filtered light
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Schnauzer jewelry with actual schnauzer, near Kakabeka Falls, Ontario
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Pizzo, Italy
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Whale watching in Tadoussac
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Ile Saint Bernard, Chateauguay
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An afternoon exploring the Benagil grottos and sea caves in Portugal
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Heading out to Nantucket Sound from the Bass River, Cape Cod
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Climbing to the summit of Mt. Etna
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A brief, magical glimpse of Chamonix's mythical Aiguille du Midi. Mont Blanc, France
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Sea lions in Ushuaia
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Bucegi Plateau, Romania
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Giza Pyramids
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View from the REM
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“Messi Baby Blue” break from the hot sun in Shediac, New Brunswick
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Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
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Discovering the beauty of Canadian nature
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Four McGillians (myself – Johanna Boucher, HR Advisor for Financial Services; Nancy Lewis, Associate Director, Student Affairs in the Faculty of Engineering; Amy Malenfant, Industry Liaison Associate in the Faculty of Engineering; and and Lisa Hoffman, former McGill student) in San Francisco
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Hiking in Labelle, Quebec with Pearl
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Helicopter tour on Kauai island to see the Na Pali coast
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My son Noah feeding a Chipmunk in Gaspé
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An early Sunday morning stopover in Paris means I got to bike past the Louvre Museum before the crowds showed up
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Stunning sunset in Matane, Quebec
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Still
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A butterfly “ring” - camping around Stowe, Vemont
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The Alhambra is a restored 14th-century Nasrid palace in Granada, a beautiful city in the south of Spain. North African Berber and Arab caliphs ruled a large part of the Iberian peninsula for 800 years. There are few examples left of the amazing architecture that date to the days when this region, Al-Andalus, was one of the intellectual centres of the Arab Renaissance, while Europe was still in the Dark Ages. These buildings dates from the tail end of their rule.
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L'Île Verte, Quebec, enveloped by smoke from forest fires
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“Sunset Boulevard” photo taken in Saint Alexandre de Kamouraska, QC on our way to the Maritimes.
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Insect Housing is a photo of part of a large “housing development” designed to attract all kinds of insects at the New Brunswick Botanical Garden in Edmundston, New Brunswick. We were passing through and on a whim decided to stop in. What a gorgeous place!
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CN engine unloading on a foggy afternoon in Matane, Quebec
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Incoming! Lac Packington, Quebec. The stretch of road between NB and Riviere du Loup is usually one you just want to get through but the skies were really dramatic and before the deluge, we decided to overnight in Temiscouata, at the lake edge. Another very nice find.
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Three Valley Lake Chateau, Revelstoke, B.C.
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Praia da Falésia in the Algarve, Portugal
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Family camping in Grand-Remous, Quebec
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Slap Virje, Slovenia
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Shy friend in the Falklands
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Visiting Vancouver Island
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Ferry from Point-aux-Trembles to Old Port
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Lungomare di Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, Italy
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“Ice Cream Chilling” in Digsby, Nova Scotia
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Four McGillians (myself – Johanna Boucher, HR Advisor for Financial Services; Nancy Lewis, Associate Director, Student Affairs in the Faculty of Engineering; Amy Malenfant, Industry Liaison Associate in the Faculty of Engineering; and Lisa Hoffman, former McGill student) in San Francisco
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Tide’s Out, Victoria by the Sea, PEI. Victoria by the Sea is one of the first villages after getting off the Confederation Bridge. Most people fly by but it is really pretty and you can get a good meal at the wharf.
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Flower fields in Hokaiddo, Japan
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One of the first photos I took upon arriving in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Practicing my wave with my sons at Buckingham Palace
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Andes mountains from Mendoza, Argentina , July 25, 2023
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Casse-Croute in Saint-Remi
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Family camping in Grand-Remous, Quebec
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Waimea canyon on Kauai island
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Visiting a local farm, Gaspé, QC
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Navark River Shuttle to Ile Saint Bernard Chateauguay
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The receiving rooms of the Nasrid Palaces in the Alhambra in Granada were designed to impress visiting dignitaries and they do not disappoint; their intricate plasterwork and tiles, as well as the elegant gardens and fountains are masterworks. It’s not surprising that the Alhambra is the most visited monument in Spain.
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Brother Barry and my daughter Molly before seeing Barbie, in Gimli, Manitoba
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The Palácio da Pena in Sintra, Portugal
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Popradské Pleso, Slovakia