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Hello From the Canadian Rockies - Part 2: First Impressions of Calgary

As so often, I used my AirMiles to book flights to Calgary (With the Westjet Mastercard AirMiles get to fly to the west for 1600 miles only air instead of having to use aerial 3000 miles high season with other airlines). As a traveler you have to look clever at every opportunity to reduce travel expenses and airline miles is one of my favorite tools. A direct flight took us from Toronto to Calgary in about three hours.

We arrived at Calgary airport at around 11:25 a.m. and the weather was rather cloudy on arrival with an outside temperature -12 degrees Celsius. Since there were only about a day in Calgary, a city official visit would give us the very lay of the land and time Jocelyne Morrison to Touring was there to pick it up. Jocelyne it actually comes from Quebec, but has been living in Calgary for the past 10 years. It turns out that he loves the city and is an absolute expert on it.

The first thing I noticed upon arrival that all statues and sculptures located in the baggage carousels, all with different topics. Calgary obviously likes to entertain visitors while they wait for their luggage at the airport. The next time that caught my attention was a volunteer dressed in a bright red vest and cowboy hat who was there to welcome tourists. Jocelyne explained that in fact, Calgary is a city of volunteers: 7 out of 10 Calgarians volunteer their time for a good cause, and volunteers were among the main reasons why the Calgary Olympics in 1988 were the first Games Olympic history to realize (rather than lose) money.

Jocelyne we filled the van on tour and we were very compact in our exploration of Calgary. The first thing that caught my attention was its topography Calgary: located in a relatively flat area with a series of long, low lying hills. In the days good you can actually see the Rocky Mountains in the west, but unfortunately the weather was cloudy, so that you never saw the Rockies today.

Calgary is divided north and south by the Bow River and Centre Street divides the city from the west. As a result, the city has four quadrants with the streets running north to south and avenues running east to west. So to find a direction that we must always know whether it is in the northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast quadrant of Calgary. Jocelyne explained that many of the streets in Calgary are named after native names, for example. Deerfoot Avenue (apparently the name of a native speaker who was a runner too fast).

Nose Hill is one of the most prominent hills in Calgary, this is a topographic feature lying along without much vegetation. Jocelyne explains that this type of landscape is fairly typical of Calgary as a city of the prairie. Much of Calgary natural landscape is a mix of grassland and semi-arid forests. When becomes very dry in summer, there are a lot of grass fires.

Calgary is a booming city. Cranes everywhere, and new subdivisions are growing out of the ground like mushrooms. In essence, only the center of the city has tall buildings, while residential areas outside the nucleus, mainly single-family homes instead of high-rise apartments. Calgary, as the "Energy Capital of Canada" and the center of the oil industry in Canada, is experiencing rapid economic growth and people from across Canada are migrating here. The current population is approximately 1 million.

He went on by McMahon Stadium, where it is based on Calgary Stampeders football team. This stadium was also used for opening and closing of the 1988 Olympic Games, another reason why Calgary made money in these games: through reuse and refurbishment of existing facilities. Prudent management work financial ......

The next item on the itinerary was great "CP": Canada Olympic Park, a place so interesting that it deserves its own story. After our tour of Olympic facilities headed by Sarcee Trail to enter the center of Calgary. Upon reaching the city from the west side had a very good view of downtown skyscrapers group. While driving through residential areas, Jocelyne explained that a large number of neighbors of evolution are going up downtown. An example of the population explosion was the transfer of Canadian Pacific headquarters from Montreal to Calgary in 1996, when 700 families moved to the city, at the same time.

Calgary pays much attention to the quality of life for its residents. The city has hundreds of miles of roads and trails, especially next to the elbow and the Bow River. Doglovers, in particular, I have everything here because the city offers many off-leash areas for dog-owners. 55 golf courses are nearby Calgary and golf is a popular pastime here.

We entered the city center and Jocelyne said the Gulf of Mexico and Canada Canada headhquarters Pacific. The steam engine last used by the CP Rail is on display outside the office tower of the PP. The two skyscrapers dominate Bankers Hall the horizon, a silver roof, the other a gold one. We went to the Calgary Tower, built between 1967 and 1968, originally as the Tower "Husky." It has a restaurant Rotary and was officially closed today for a private function, but if we had the opportunity to regain a lofty vision of the city.

Just the year past the Calgary Tower added a glass bottom viewing area. Jocelyne mentioned that for a special occasion a horse was brought for a photo shoot, but the horse would oppose any effort to be coaxed to the area with glass bottom. I can only understand that very well, because when I was standing there looking down, made me feel very apprehensive as well.

Our journey continued driving to Fort Calgary, a major milestone in Calgary. Fort Calgary was established in 1875 as a Police North West Mounted Outpost and now houses an interpretive center and museum. Jocelyne explained that the exploration of the West evolved differently here than in the US relations with the native tribes were relatively peaceful. Prime Minister John A. MacDonald founded the North West Mounted Police, who later became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The police arrived in the west before the settlers and established relations with the natives.

The neighborhood of Inglewood is located adjacent to Fort Calgary, at the confluence of the Elbow and Bow rivers. It is a charming neighborhood with old trees and houses set around a pretty street and commercial many restaurants and antique shops. Jocelyne then took us to a residential district called "The Scotsman Hill, which offers a tremendous view of the Dome A chair and Calgary Stampede grounds, against the backdrop of the skyline. A wonderful ...

Then he took us beyond the grounds of the "Calgary Stampede ", the most famous event in Calgary. What began as an agricultural fair origjnally has become an annual celebration throughout the city 10-day hospitality and Western traditions and includes wagon races, rodeos, rides and a great show Grandstand Show. Stampede this year will be held from 7 to 16 July 2006.

Back center Jocelyne took us through a former industrial area called "Eau Claire", which has become one of the districts of Calgary most popular residential center. In our walk through downtown Calgary Jocelyne says a typical feature: the "15 s": the connection gateways high high-rise towers so that people can walk among commercial buildings sheltered from the elements. These "15" gateways connecting several shopping centers allows you to explore commercial center of the city of Calgary, without ever setting foot outside.

The name came about because these roads had to be at least 15 feet above the street below. Calgary is built on bedrock, and against Toronto or Montreal, which both have an extensive network of passages, Calgary has chosen to provide housing through the elevated walkways time.

From there we crossed the river side and entered the suburb of Kensington, a primary restaurant Calgary and shopping areas. Our guide pointed to a store owned by famous Belgian chocolatier Bernard Callebeaut makes sweet local delicacies. I've heard some say these are the best chocolates "in the world "....

The next area on our menu was the Uptown neighborhood of 17th Avenue, another area full of restaurants and shops. Last but not least, after taking us on the street 4, which also hosts a wealth of restaurants and fashion stories, Jocelyne took us all the way to our bed and breakfast, the historic Twin Gables B & B, where we settle in after our look at Calgary.

It was a whirlwind trip of four hours by the people and by the end of it my head was spinning with all the information. But Jocelyne did a phenomenal job of making known to us to his hometown and was elected a perfect introduction to Calgary - "The heart of the New West."

To read the full article, including photos, please visit
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/calgary_first_impressions.htm

About the Author

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of Travel and Transitions (
http://www.travelandtransitions.com
), a popular web portal for unconventional travel & cross-cultural connections. Check out our brand new section featuring FREE ebooks about travel.

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