Exploring Calgary and Edmonton
Darren’s truck is humming along the motorway as the sun is standing high up in the sky. We’ve just left the skyscrapers of downtown Calgary behind and I am about to get out into the Rocky Mountains for the first time in my life. “Just over that hill then you’ll see them” Darren says and shortly after, the majestic mountain range appears in the distance, a grey outline against the blue sky. Less than an hour later, we’re already in Canmore, ready to put on these walking boots and get out into the wild.
I only got to Calgary a week or so ago. At first it seems like any other Canadian city – wide roads and the more and more familiar grid structure that makes it so easy to find your way. The Wicked Hostel where I’m staying, is situated right next to the Stampede ground. The Stampede, subtitled, the “greatest outdoor show on earth”, will take place in a couple of weeks featuring rodeo, chuck waggon racing and other Wild West events. Numerous shop windows have been painted with cowboys or –girls and their horses wishing everyone a happy Stampede.
I decide to explore the city the usual way, by having a good stroll around. From the hostel it’s about a 20 minute walk to downtown, past the Olympic Plaza and through Stephens Avenue Walk on 8th Avenue, featuring lots of bars and shops. Calgary is a relatively new city, founded as Fort Calgary in the 1870s and experiencing an oil-related boom in the 1960s. I find it to be very tidy, laid-back and friendly; it actually reminds me a little bit of Perth in Australia (and if you know me, this can only be a good thing). On my first day, when I am trying to locate myself with a map in my hand, a homeless guy asks me if I need any help at all and genuinely doesn’t even ask for cash.
Whilst the Wicked Hostel is small and not in the most attractive location, it offers great services for backpackers that aren’t typical for most hostels, such as free laundry service and a free phone for international calls. However the really great thing about this hostel is that it’s amazing for socialising. Activities are planned nearly every night. On my second evening, I join the hostel crowd for 24 ct chicken wings (yes that’s right – each chicken wing costs 24 CAD cents (14 GBP cents / 17 EUR cents)) at Joyce on 4th Street, an Irish pub in one of Calgary’s after work locations. Steins (a litre of beer or “Mass” as we call it in Germany) is also on special so it’s a pretty good vibe for a Monday night. But then who cares when you’re not working. After setting my own personal chicken wings record (and no I’m not saying how many because it’s actually a bit gross) we move on to Hudson’s Bar for free entry and long drinks on special. The next night a visit to a country club is on the agenda which I have to give a miss although I would have seen a proper line dance for the first time in my life.
Alongside Calgary’s Bow River, plenty of walk and cycle paths invite to explore Calgary’s parks and greens, just like Prince’s Island Park from which you can take in a great view of Calgary’s commercial district. Elbow River is a smaller stream flowing around the Stampede grounds and surrounding a massive sports complex, the Talisman Centre. Not having done any exercise in a while, I feel after my chicken wing infusion it is the perfect time for a little spa day. And following a little run along the river and a bit of a work out in the gym, I reward myself with a steam room and a long soak in the hot tub (day ticket is 14 CAD (8 GBP / 10 EUR) respectively 8 CAD if admission is less than 1.5 hours before closure).
My next Greyhound journey is taking me up to Edmonton. I am just about to see Jeremy again, whom I met seven years ago in Australia. We haven’t actually been in touch that much since then so I’m really excited and happy that Jeremy has offered that I can stay with him and his wife Vanessa. When Jeremy picks me up from the bus, I really have to smile – I think he hasn’t changed one bit! After some catching up and moving my stuff into the comfortable spare room in their lovely house in St. Albert, we head off to the pub to meet some of Jeremy’s friends for a few pints.
As Jeremy and Vanessa are both working the next day, Jeremy’s friend Darren has agreed to show me around Edmonton. He arrives Canadian-style with his pick-up truck and already has a bike for me in the back. We head off towards the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton first. Edmonton has more designated urban park area than any other city in Canada according to the Lonleyplanet. Walk and cycle tracks stretch over 160 km. Up a steep hill and over a high bridge, and here, I see for the first time what I had imagined a typical Canadian landscape would be like: A really wide river with dense forest left and right. Edmonton as such is so wide spread that I some point I wonder if we’re out of the city when we’re still in it. After several hours of biking along the river, past the zoo and heading back again towards the city and the Alberta Legislature Building, we stop at the Sugarbowl pub for my first ever bison chilly (and a well-deserved pint).
In the evening, after some yummy burgers at Jeremy’s and Vanessa’s place, we’re heading out to the pub again because Jeremy’s brother is in town. It is a long night with darts and pints and lots of fun with Jeremy’s friends and I’m yet again sad that I’m not staying longer. But after a visit to the cute little farmer’s market in St. Alberts, Vanessa provides me with a little can of home-made maple syrup from her parents and we sadly have to say goodbye for now as I’m heading down to Calgary again.
The following two days are jam-packed because Calgary residents Darren and his friend Mike are introducing me to the Canadian active life style at a pace. At 9 am, Darren picks me up and we head to Mike where the professional chef is whizzing up a yummy breakfast for the two of us so we can watch Germany win over Slovakia in the EUROS before we head out to Canmore. To prepare me for this adventure, Darren has made sure to show me the bear-attack scene of “The Revenant”. We’re hiking up a popular trail leading us to Grassi Lakes and no bear in sight. Just over an hour away from Calgary, the hike leads us past a magnificent waterfall under which we stick our heads because it’s so hot before we continue, upwards and onwards, enjoying the views across mountains and forests that keep unfolding the higher up we get.
In the first lake we get to, the water is so clear that we can see right to the ground. It’s intensely blue waters reveal the green plants underneath the surface and we can see fishes very clearly with the water surface reflecting the mountains above. It’s so beautiful I have to just stand there and watch. One last scramble and we arrive at the vast Spray Lakes Reservoir and rest up a little with the mountains as the perfect back drop before we head down past Grassi Lake again.
We’re so happy about the fantastic hike that instead of the normal route, we take the scenic route back to Calgary, leading us past another lake where we stop for a beer and a Cesar enjoying the scenery before going back to Calgary and to Mike’s place for more Cesars and smokeys (hot-dog type sausages from the barbecue).
Now, if you read attentively, you may ask yourself, what is a Cesar? I got introduced to this drink first time around with Nathan in Regina. In its most basic form, it’s Clamato juice (like Tomato Juice but also containing a bit of clam juice) and vodka, so to say, it’s the Canadian version of a Bloody Mary. However, I am a bit astounded as to what Mike puts into our Cesars (and I only try it because he prepares the same for all of us). Our Cesars contain the Clamato juice, gin, grilled bacon from the breakfast, a pickled gherkin and its juice, horseradish, spices and ice. I am really not convinced but after suspiciously trying it, I have to say it tastes awesome.
Sooner than I wish, my stay in Calgary has come to an end. I am renting a free bike from the cosy HI Hostel I am staying in and it is again another early-ish start as Darren and I head to the Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary for some canoeing and biking. Despite the fact that the Calgary Canoe Club still operates on spring hours, which means they wouldn’t normally open before 4 pm, they provide us with a canoe for 25 CAD (14 GBP / 17 EUR) for three hours in which we loop around the reservoir before Mike joins us for a bike ride. I wish I hadn’t booked my Greyhound bus for the next day already because I feel there is still so much to do especially around Calgary, but sooner than I like, I have to say goodbye for now to my new-found friends, knowing that I will see them again no later than Stampede in a couple of weeks.
This sounds like an awesome place!!!! Xx