Calgary Police at Tim Horton's! It is not what you might be thinking!!!

This morning Peter, Carlton Jensen, a friend of Peters, and I had an amazing day sight seeing in southern Alberta. The first stop was Tim Horton's. Tim Horton was a great Canadian hockey player and he now has a chain of coffee/donut/sandwich shops that are everywhere. Since we were on our way by 6:00ish a.m., not much was open but Tim Horton's and since it is a treat anyway, we were happy to stop in and get our morning coffee and Tim bits. Tim bits are what they call donut holes. We saw a Calgary police car drive by and we kind of laughed and commented about the fact that they had not stopped at Tim Horton's and how Calgary police must be different than United States police because they did not stop. Well...it wasn't long before they did stop and come in for a delicious cup of Tim Horton's coffee. They were kind enough to let me take a picture of them so that I could add it to the blog. They were very polite when I asked if I could take there picture and they told me to have a great day. That we did.

Canada Day - Evening

The joke is on us. I had hoped to capture the beautiful Canada Day fireworks in a picture to share with you all. We planned the entire day around staying up until 10:45 to watch the Canada Day fireworks downtown. You all know that is a stretch for me since I am usually asleep by 9:00. Since the patio has a great view of downtown, we strategically places our chairs so that we had a perfect view, or so we thought. We are really spoiled because we thought the fireworks in Calgary for Canada Day would be like the fireworks in Houston for the 4th of July. We were very wrong. All we saw from the patio was an orange glow and a cloud of white smoke. We faintly heard some fireworks but we could see nothing. The buildings blocked our view of everything. We were bummed but kind of laughed to ourselves. I am not sure about everything being bigger in Texas but the fireworks displays sure seem to be. Enjoy the 4th of July fireworks for us this year!

Canada Day - late afternoon

After our morning walk, we went back to the condo, got the car and ran around town a little. Peter has been looking for a particular type of hat called a Tilley. We found exactly what he was looking for in a little shopping area that was new to both of us. After we purchased the hat, we went to a cheese shop, a fresh seafood shop, and a wine shop. Of course we purchased a little something at each shop. The wine shop was particularly interesting because they were many different samples of all kinds of beverages all around the store. I tasted a blueberry wine that is made in far eastern Canada. It reminded me of medicine, Dimetap to be exact, that I used to give Karla and Christopher when they were little. Needless to say, that one we did not buy. Why would you use perfectly good blueberries to make wine instead of grapes? The cheese shop had about 400 different kinds of cheeses from all over the world and we picked out a couple that we have not had before. At the seafood shop we picked up some sausages and some maple smoked salmon.

When we got back to the condo after running our errands, we decided to go back to the island to see what we could find. By this time it was about 5:00 and things were winding down. We walked around a little and sat by the river watching people and the ducks and geese. That is when we took these two pictures. It had warmed up a little and we enjoyed just sitting and watching.

Canada Day - morning

Today is Canada Day. That means, among other things, that just about everyone in town has the day off including Peter. We started out the day with a walk. Peter's condo is in the buildings on the far right side of the picture so that will give you an idea of how far we walked. Hopefully you can also tell that we changed elevation a little as well. We left the condo, crossed onto the island, traversed the island, crossed the river on the other side and then walked up about 14 flights of stairs to McHugh Bluff. The view was well worth it. That whole process took about 45 minutes. We took is very slowly up the stairs. It was about 50 degrees and very breezy when we started our walk. On the way back to the condo we found a little coffee shop and I had a great extra hot latte.

Back to the island. I have mentioned Prince's Island before. It is the small island behind Peter's condo. For Canada Day the island was the center of Calgary's celebration with many thousands of people visiting this area of town. There were three stages with different venues and countless vendors selling everything from Jamaican meat pies to Peruvian finger puppets. The only thing that we tried were the mini donuts. We had seen them at the Farmer's Market but had never tried them. They were little hot donuts sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. They were a nice treat.

The +15 (aka Plus 15)

Today was another absolutely gorgeous sun filled day in Calgary. I started the day once again enjoying the walk to the grocery store. I had a few things to pick up and I got started fairly early so it was nice and cool.

I have not talked at all about what food prices are like in Calgary. I wanted to pick up something to cook for dinner tonight and we have not had chicken since I have been here so I thought I might pick up some chicken. I quickly changed my mind when I priced the chicken. Just a plain whole chicken was averaging about $11.00 to $12.00. The boneless, skinless chicken was more than that. They had no just plain bone in chicken breasts. Needless to say, I did not buy chicken, I bought beef, a very small roast was on sale for around $8.00. A qt. of regular milk is $2.89. It is amazing how expensive everything is. I try to buy Canadian when I can so that it is fresher and cheaper.

Peter came home early today so that we could go to the bank downtown and get me added to his bank accounts. His bank is in the heart of downtown so off we went. We walked about four blocks and then once again caught the C-Train. After we finished at the bank, and by the way I got my first bit of Canadian money today, we found ourselves back on Stephens Ave. Peter had not had lunch and it was about 3:00 so we stopped at a pub with outside dining called The Unicorn. It claims to be the first pub in Calgary. The Wednesday Unicorn special is Creemore beer for $4.95 and ten wings for $3.50. By Calgary standards, that is dirt cheap. We felt like it was our obligation to give it a shot. I had a lifeless glass of sangria. It was kind of fun to sit and watch the traffic go by and see the locals hit the pub after work. Tomorrow is a national holiday, Canada Day, so it felt like a Friday evening.

On the way home we decided not to take the train back, we decided to take the plus 15 at Bankers Hall. The plus 15 is an elevated walkway that connects many of the buildings in downtown Calgary. You can actually walk from one end of downtown to the other without having to get out in the weather. It is crowded when it is cold or when it rains, neither of those describe today, but Peter thought that it might be an interesting change. The plus 15 is lined with businesses of all kinds from coffee shops to jewelry stores and there are no traffic lights to deal with. One of the pictures is what the plus 15 looks like from the street. The other picture is of what the same street looks like from the plus 15. The street that you are looking at is Stephens Ave. It is like a city within a city. You could actually never leave the plus 15 if your office is connected to your apartment. That is not the case with Peter. He has to walk about two blocks to the plus 15 and his office has moved so he is not working in downtown any more.

Just another manic Monday

Sorry, I could not resist. Today started out slowly after the alarm went off at 4:30. Peter was off to work within about an hour. As usual, it took me a couple of cups of coffee to get going but there was laundry to catch up on and groceries to buy. There are two grocery stores that are fairly close that I could go to. Both are Safeway's, one is downtown and one is in a neighborhood across the river in a neighborhood called Kensington. When I blogged about going to the grocery store earlier I had gone to the Safeway that is downtown. To get to that store I walk nine blocks through town with all of the manic business people rushing around surrounded by high rise buildings and then under the railroad tracks. It seems to take for ever. To get the other Safeway, I walk across the bridge that goes over the river and then through a little older tree lined neighborhood where most of the houses have seen better days but they almost all have little random flower gardens of some kind. Most of the lawns are far from perfect. Guess which route I took this morning? You guessed it, the walk across the river. That walk is calming and peaceful because I spend my time looking for little treasures in each of the yards that I pass. I don't even realize how far I have walked by the time you get to the store. There are old roses, irises and as you can tell, peonies just to name a few. Susan, I wish I could bring some peonies home for you. You would love them.

When Peter got home we once again crossed the river and found a family filled little Italian restaurant in Kensington. We split a traditional Italian pizza made in a wood fired oven, appropriate beverages, coffee, and a wonderful tiramisu. The tiramisu was made with a very moist sponge cake and was not nearly as sweet as what we usually have. It was close to perfect.

Saturday out of order

So as not to miss out on a day of excitement, Peter and I got up early and headed out seeking adventure where ever we could find it. We started out back on Stephen's Ave. and ate breakfast at a tiny but bustling restaurant. Peter ordered his traditional eggs, hash browns and sausage but I thought I would try something different. I had a carrot cake waffle. It sounds really sweet and gooey but it wasn't. It was a crispy cinnamon walnut waffle with grated carrots and maple flavor whipped cream on top surrounded by blueberries and blackberries. After tasting it, Peter had breakfast envy although he did manage to finish most of what he had ordered. I will try to duplicate that when I get back home. It was really yummy.

Next we set out for this place Peter had heard about called the Okotoks. This area of Canada was carved out by a glacier tens of thousands of years ago and I have marveled at how many of the rocks that you see are so rounded and smooth due to this glacial influence. Soooo Peter was taking me to this real rock that was deposited by a glacier. This is a mans rock that weighs 16,500 tons and sits in the middle of a farmers field. There are no other rocks like this anywhere near so this rock is called a glacial erratic. Peter, being the man that he is, likes to think of it as glacial poop. You know how he is always on the look out for what ever poop he can see so this description is perfect. I was a little excited about going to see this rock but when we got there, about a 45 minute drive from Calgary, all it was was just that, a big stinkin rock. Okay, I get that it is the only one of its kind and it was deposited by a glacier but really, it is just a big rock in a field. Peter was very disappointed that I was not thrilled. Originally I was not even going to add it to the blog but after sleeping on it a couple of nights, I decided the experience was worthy to share. So, enjoy the picture of the glacial erratic. That sounds so much better than calling it a stinkin rock, which is really what it is. Enjoy!

Majesty,

worship His majesty. The words of that hymn came to mind as we walked up to Lake Louise. Lake Louise was just the first stop of an amazing day. The picture of Lake Louise will give you a hint of why millions of people a year visit Banff National Park. Our next stop was beautiful Banff with its gondola and the Fairmont Hotel. The gondola ride was a stretch for me but I made it. You can tell from the picture that our assent was at least 2,000 ft. The views were breathtaking. Our last stop of the day was the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. That place is also breathtaking. It looks like a huge castle with views of rivers and the mountains. We found our way to the patio that is located about three floors up and overlooks everything. Our late lunch on the patio consisted of a brie and ham sandwich and soup. Peter had another new beer, a Canadian beer called Creemore Amber Ale. I ended lunch with a flavored coffee that was topped with whipped cream. The lip of the cup was dipped in cinnamon sugar. That was a treat. The wind was gusty and it was a little cool so the soup and coffee hit the spot. We had a great day. Peter is already lamenting about having to go to work tomorrow. I say someone better work so we can keep up with this tourist life style to which I am becoming accustomed!

In the shadow of the tower.

Friday night we decided to go out to dinner so we took the C-train (Calgary train) to town to see what we could find. To get to the train, we walked about four blocks and then rode the train about five or six blocks. There is a street in the middle of down town called 8Th Ave. SW also called Stephen's Ave. It has only one lane of car traffic on Friday evenings so it is fairly void of automobile noise and is lined with restaurants and bars of every kind with many of them offering outside dining. You all know how much we enjoy eating outside so we found an Irish Pub with outside dining. It was great fun. Peter got to try a new beer called Smithwick's and of course he talked our server out of a Smithwick's glass for his collection. He was a happy man. We looked up in the middle of eating and realized that we were in the shadow of the Calgary Tower, one of the major tourist attractions of Calgary. It was a nice evening.