A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

We're now back from Calgary. I was trying to think of what today's entry could summarize or what event would be best remembered. There was one thing ...

It was near freezing so one wouldn't expect to see crowded streets. Yet, they sometimes looked quite bare! Where were all the people? Surely, the downtown workers didn't stay home because of the temperature. After a bit of traipsing around we discovered the 'Walk +15' signs. (See a pdf map.) Unlike Montrealers who can spend the winter in an underground shopping and subway system, Calgarians can spend a good deal of their time walking through and between buildings on an over-the-road, pedestrian walkway system.

During the trip, Jay asked if I remembered a Canadian movie that we'd seen a few years ago. He said it was shot in those Calgary walkways. He has such a good memory! I found the plot summary in the Internet Movie Database.

Waydowntown (2000)

Labels: Alberta, Canada, movies, places

... home.

We're heading to the Greyhound station pretty early tomorrow for the 7:15 AM (local time) departure. As the sun rises we will be travelling toward Banff. Then later during the morning, we'll be climbing back over the Rockies and some of BC's other mountain ranges. BC's wide and it'll be nearly 9:00 PM (PST) before we pull into Vancouver.

This morning we saw The Last Samurai. I like films when I come away feeling I've learned something while being entertained. I did.

Labels: movies

In order to squeeze out every penny from the day pass, we rode the rails today. We managed to visit an LRT station that's only been open for two days.

The weather guy on the news is talking about how warm it is, but I'm freezing! I never wear gloves in Vancouver so I promptly lost a pair I'd brought along. There seems to be quite a difference between Calgary's dry 3 degrees and those wet 12 degree days found in Vancouver!


Today, we went up the Calgary Tower. The view was worth the admission
of ten bucks. Here's a shot looking west towards the Rocky Mountains.

Labels: Alberta, Canada, places

Today the temperature got up to about 5 degrees Celsius. There's ice on some sidewalks which seems unusual for us. We're right on the edge of the downtown core in the Sandman Hotel. Although housing sprawls across the suburbs, the downtown is quite compact. I think there's just shy of a million people here. The LRT Trains are free down the street we're on but I've still walked my poor feet off. Maybe tomorrow we can buy a transit day pass.

Labels: Alberta, Canada, places

The 22nd floor of the Sandman is fine!

I've discovered how to get a hotel deal: First, you research the very the best deal you can on Expedia. Then you dial up the chain directly and say that you're about to hit the enter key. They won't want to pay the rather expensive fee to the web agency, so they'll undoubtedly offer you a better deal. Even if they are at a loss at doing more than a few dollars cheaper, you can still demand a better room!

Greyhound Canada was efficient and comfortable; however, travelling through the night isn't as easy as it sounds. The stations are all nice. (This is unlike the ugly, dirty ones we visited when we once rode to Reno.) By taking the bus, we were able to travel directly here. If we'd have driven we would have had to allow an overnight in each direction cutting down on the time in Calgary.

Labels: Alberta, Canada, places

An occasional blog update may occur while we're in Calgary because I might duck into an Internet cafe or my hotel's business centre. I'll bring my digital camera, but will probably not find an access point to get the pics off the Smartmedia card.

So, please return next weekend to the see entries from December 14th to 19th. I shall post trip photos and additional comment upon our return.

In the meantime, perhaps you can find something interesting to read at blogger.com.

Labels: Alberta, blogging