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Published: March 21st 2012
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It all started with a totally screwed-up arrival. Every airplane was delayed, the flight from Paris to Toronto was delayed by an hour. That was why (at least theoretically) I was about to miss my flight from Toronto to Calgary. After endless conversations with the airline staff, in which they wanted to send me to Ottawa first, and from there to Calgary, I had a ticket for the direct flight from Toronto to Calgary. Ironically, it was the flight I theoretically missed, but in the end did not, since this flight was delayed by 6!!!!! hours. The airlines gave me food vouchers for about 37 Canadian Dollars. Finally, at about 3.30 am local time, I arrived in Calgary! Yes, first mission accomplished.
I was surprised how many things stayed the same in Calgary, and how many things changed, as well. I realized how abandoned downtown is at weekends. Finally "The Bow" was finished, as well as the digital library and residence buildings on the U of C campus. The brownies of "cookies by george" are still amazing! Janelle, my former U of C roommate, is still a sweetheart. For the 12 days I lived in her flat. We went to
Calgary's skyline
... was shot at the same place as 4 years ago: The lookout close to Ramsey Street. Yoga, which was a nice experience. I never thought that I could be that physically demanding.
My little spontaneous Banff trip As I planned to visit the mountains anyway, I spontaneously booked the bus tickets, hostel, and day trips on the second day of my stay (Friday). On Sunday
my little Banff trip started. I went there very early in the morning, checked in, and started to stroll around. Never before did I realize how SMALL this town is. Seriously. In the afternoon I did a half-day trip to
Johnston Canyon. The frozen lower falls and especially the upper falls are stunning. They are massive walls of frozen water and sometimes they shine a little blueish. On the other hand, I would advise you to do the tour on your own (the booked tours are IMHO too expensive for the service offered), but remember to bring some small crampons, otherwise you may slide and fall. Monday morning I planned to do the
Marsh Loop in Banff. Unfortunately, my cell phone could not find any service and I could not see anyone or any house. Therefore, I decided after half the way was done to turn around and go
back home. I was a little afraid to meet wildlife (esp. bears) and no one would ever find me again 😉 In the afternoon the snowshoeing trip started. From Banff they drove us to Kootenay NP, to the
Paint Pots parking lot. It was a nice group, and it was my first time snowshoeing with "modern" snow shoes, which made it SOOOOOOOOOO much easier to walk in the snow compared to the wooden ones. Since it was snowy all over the place, you could not see the paint pots, and could just guess where they were. They must be amazing in the summer (I took a picture of a small hole in the snow where you can see the water of one paint pot). And our guide Jeff made some nice maple taffies. That was the point when
I was actually eating yellow snow. Yes, yellow snow can be tasty in some instances. How the taffies are made you can see in the pictures. On the third day it was snowing so much! Unbelievable. I went to
the Bow Falls and to the library afterwards, since I felt cold and I had to check out at the hostel. My bus
Cookies by George
... oh man, I guess I am addicted... back to Calgary was about to leave at 9 pm, so I had some time to spend in Banff.
After walking Banff Ave up and down about 5 times, I was starting to get bored. I took the bus to the middle section of Sulphur Mountain, right at the time, when it was not snowing. Just some minutes before I took the bus back to Banff again, it started to now, again. Then I did the
Fentrail walk and went to the
Vermillion lakes, but it was so windy and cold. I was freezing. It is a nice walk though, it does not take a lot of time and you can take a little explanation guide at the "entrance", which tells you something about the flora and fauna next to the trail. The creek in the forest, which you pass, looked so unreal with the freshly fallen snow. At 9 pm the bus arrived on time and I went back to Calgary.
Exploring Calgary - Coming back home? The days after the Banff trips I stayed in Calgary and went for example to
Bowmont Park and Waterfall Valley, a nice area in the northwest of Calgary, very close
to the market mall. I also watched a
national snowboard competition (but there were just a handful of spectators, I have no idea why). I strolled through
china town and went jogging. And I booked a snowshoeing trip at the U of C outdoor center 😊 It took place on my last day in Calgary and we went to K
ananaskis Country (Mud Lake). Carla, a very nice Canadian, drove us there. I asked her to share the costs for the ride but she said I do not have to pay for it (after all it was a 2-hour ride to the starting point). Actually, the tour guide planned to go to Burstall Meadows, but since the Friday before there was about 40 cm of new snow, she decided to leave the snowy trails for the cross-country skiers. Finally, we just circled the "Mud Lake", a tour of only 3.5 km. It was funny as we walked through the forest, I just followed the others and I was aware of these little holes around the trees. Finally, I don't know how it happened,
I got stuck with one of my feet in one of these holes. I never thought it's so
tricky to get out of there again. But I finally made it with the aid of a hiking pole 😊 Otherwise, I would have to wait until the end of the winter until the snow melts again :D
Unfortunately, every holiday comes to an end 😞 Therefore, I had to fly back on Monday. That meant getting up early (3.30 am), saying goodbye to Janelle (my former U of C roommate), taking the bags, and taking the bus to the airport. Unfortunately, my checked-in baggage was too heavy, so I dug out my backpack and wanted to take it with me as carry-on baggage.
At the security check, I was finally facing a problem: my multitool was still in my backpack! Since the officer guided me out of the security check area I felt somehow like a criminal. I now had 3 options: leave the multitool in Calgary (no way), send it by air mail (quite expensive and takes its time) or check in my backpack (which meant paying 70 Canadian Dollars extra). I chose the 3rd one. Oh man. The ironic thing was, the multitool did not even have a sharp knife, just one for making sandwiches. Oh
Strolling through Inglewood
... one of the oldest districts in Calgary well. It was a little funny as the airplane clerk offered me to put a plastic bag around my backpack ("You have to pay so much money, so you're backpack should arrive safely.") Yes, I took that plastic bag (a very expensive one, eh?!). And, finally, I also arrived safely in Leipzig. Yes, second mission accomplished!
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