Day 264: Banff - Calgary
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Friday April 29th
My alarm went off at 2:30am, and I jumped onto my laptop to watch the official live streaming of the royal wedding. The coverage started with the arrival of the 'normal' guests like Posh and David Beckham (Posh looked gorgeous!!) - you know it's a VIP guest list when those two are the 'normal' guests! Of course, the moment we were all waiting for was the first glimpse of the dress, and wasn't it gorgeous! Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton really stole the show for me - both were absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I'll take up British citizenship and aim to be the next princess with Harry :-)
I went back to sleep shortly before 6am and caught a few more hours of sleep before waking at 9am. The boys looked like zombies after their big night - Alan was absolutely hysterical, only able to take baby steps and looking identical to a zombie! We all managed to make it down to breakfast before it closed at 10am, where I gave everyone an update on the royal wedding. Then it was time to pack and check-out, ready for our next destination: Calgary.
Calgary was only 127kms from Banff, and within an hour we were on the outskirts of the city. It was really unlike any city I've been to. It covers a massive area with very low density housing, considering it's a city of 1.2 million people. The city itself is very industrial and boring. Luke and I were trying to put our finger on exactly what was missing - unlike most cities of the world, it doesn't have a pool of water or large park as a centrepiece of the CBD. It's also missing greenery, with trees unable to grow well giving the cold climate; and is dominated by ugly concrete buildings, headquarters of gas/oil/energy companies. (Seriously, even 2nd office is for an energy company, with the industry dominating the province).
Whilst in the car we used a brochure and the phone to scour accommodation options, eventually deciding n the Ramada Downtown. We checked in and then headed out for lunch, a simple baguette at a coffee shop nearby. Then it was time to farewell Alan. He was heading out to stay with his family for the night before making his way back to Whistler for the summer season. This also left us car-less for a few days, until we picked up the rental car on Sunday.
Luke and Amanda headed back to the hotel whilst I decided to check out the CBD. Using my finely-tuned shopping radar, I found the mall within minutes, and spent a few hours perusing H&M, The Bay, and Holt Renfrew. I spent half an hour alone looking at socks in The Bay, buying a few funky pairs of anklets to wear with heels. I could have spent soo much money, but I was good - we will be at West Edmonton Mall in a week after all, with 800+ stores to choose from!
We were all exhausted in the evening, after the last night (or early start, in my case), so ordered room service for dinner and did our laundry. Doing laundry is an effort when travelling, but also very rewarding - it's so nice to have clean clothes, especially when you only have a few oufits to choose from everyday, and all of mine were dirty!
My alarm went off at 2:30am, and I jumped onto my laptop to watch the official live streaming of the royal wedding. The coverage started with the arrival of the 'normal' guests like Posh and David Beckham (Posh looked gorgeous!!) - you know it's a VIP guest list when those two are the 'normal' guests! Of course, the moment we were all waiting for was the first glimpse of the dress, and wasn't it gorgeous! Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton really stole the show for me - both were absolutely gorgeous. Maybe I'll take up British citizenship and aim to be the next princess with Harry :-)
I went back to sleep shortly before 6am and caught a few more hours of sleep before waking at 9am. The boys looked like zombies after their big night - Alan was absolutely hysterical, only able to take baby steps and looking identical to a zombie! We all managed to make it down to breakfast before it closed at 10am, where I gave everyone an update on the royal wedding. Then it was time to pack and check-out, ready for our next destination: Calgary.
Calgary was only 127kms from Banff, and within an hour we were on the outskirts of the city. It was really unlike any city I've been to. It covers a massive area with very low density housing, considering it's a city of 1.2 million people. The city itself is very industrial and boring. Luke and I were trying to put our finger on exactly what was missing - unlike most cities of the world, it doesn't have a pool of water or large park as a centrepiece of the CBD. It's also missing greenery, with trees unable to grow well giving the cold climate; and is dominated by ugly concrete buildings, headquarters of gas/oil/energy companies. (Seriously, even 2nd office is for an energy company, with the industry dominating the province).
Whilst in the car we used a brochure and the phone to scour accommodation options, eventually deciding n the Ramada Downtown. We checked in and then headed out for lunch, a simple baguette at a coffee shop nearby. Then it was time to farewell Alan. He was heading out to stay with his family for the night before making his way back to Whistler for the summer season. This also left us car-less for a few days, until we picked up the rental car on Sunday.
Luke and Amanda headed back to the hotel whilst I decided to check out the CBD. Using my finely-tuned shopping radar, I found the mall within minutes, and spent a few hours perusing H&M, The Bay, and Holt Renfrew. I spent half an hour alone looking at socks in The Bay, buying a few funky pairs of anklets to wear with heels. I could have spent soo much money, but I was good - we will be at West Edmonton Mall in a week after all, with 800+ stores to choose from!
We were all exhausted in the evening, after the last night (or early start, in my case), so ordered room service for dinner and did our laundry. Doing laundry is an effort when travelling, but also very rewarding - it's so nice to have clean clothes, especially when you only have a few oufits to choose from everyday, and all of mine were dirty!
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