Day 1 Started on a Thursday. Once again after a work night, with some quick last-minute packing, and a late morning flight leaving out of Austin at 11 a.m. After that quick flight I had a short one-hour layover in Houston and from there, heading directly to Canada. It would be my first time visiting. I picked Calgary Alberta for this round, after hearing good things about the city from friends and co-workers, who either lived or visited. Most importantly it is surrounded by a lot of natural sites; of those, my main focus was Lake Louise.
Once I was in the air, heading to Calgary Alberta, I decided to prepare myself for a nap. This consisted of snacks such as charcuterie, crackers, cheese and snicker doodle cookies; all of which I was washed down with Titos vodka and orange juice. Perfect sleep concoction or nah? After a 4-hour flight, half of which was spent sleeping, I finally arrived in Canada. Getting through customs was a breeze and very speedy. From start to finish it only took about 30 minutes or so.
My first order of business was to get to my hotel room to check-in and then grab some food. Once I was out of the airport, I called the Applause Hotel by Clique for a shuttle ride there. I really liked the hotel. It had an awesome modern look and a very friendly staff. Upon checking in, they gave me two drink vouchers for each day that I would be there, along with coupons for dining in the hotel restaurant, which I would be trying shortly.
After dropping my bags in the room, I went back down to try some food at the Tonic Kitchen and bar, located near the hotel lobby. Since I was in Canada I had to let my taste buds try some Poutine. Now I come to think that my taste buds have exquisite taste, but Poutine had the works on it. For those who don’t know what Poutine is, it’s simply French fries, cheese curds and brown gravy. At this particular restaurant they went a bit further with it and had the option to add BBQ pulled pork to the mix. So why the hell not? After a few bites, I realized I just wasn’t digging it at all. It wasn’t nasty, but I guess I just couldn’t get used to that particular mix of flavors. I also ordered a main dish, that consisted of a French dip sandwich with a side of mashed potatoes. That was very tasty, and after a decent meal, I headed back to my room for a nap.
I woke up around 10 p.m. and had a text from my friend Abu, who lives in Canada. He stopped by for a quick visit and gifted me a bottle of wine. We hung out for a little while and caught up with each other about life. This was actually our first time meeting in person, as we became friends through social media. What a cool and small world. After Abu headed home, I went to go hang out in the hot tub for a little while, before heading back to my room for some much needed rest.
Day 2
Started bright and early, as I wanted to get out and explore Calgary. But first things first, which was breakfast at the hotel restaurant. I decided to go with the buttermilk pancakes, topped with sautéed banana slices and brown sugar, eggs and sausage links, and washed it all down with a glass of orange juice. I also received a complimentary Bloody Mary, due to the fact that Victoria Day was coming up, which was a celebration of Queen Victoria’s birthday & May Long Weekend.
My next move was heading to the downtown area of Calgary to first get my rental car. I arrived at AVIS car rental, where I met Juvi, who works at AVIS and actually upgraded my car rental to a nice BMW for the weekend. I left the car in the garage for a moment, while I headed a few doors down to visit the Calgary Tower, which I also got a free pass to from Juvi. The Calgary Tower is a 623 foot observation tower in the downtown area. I explored the shopping area to get a few souvenirs before heading to the top of the tower. Now once I made it to the top, I could feel the vertigo kicking in a little. At the top of the tower there is a section with glass flooring, so you can see all 623 feet all the way down to the street. It also had huge glass windows to view the city, which was a really awesome site. You could literally see everywhere.
After leaving the Calgary tower, I spent some time walking around downtown just exploring the different shops and stores for more souvenirs. I was looking to find a Canadian flag to hang up in my living room, with the other flags of various countries I had been to before. My walks took me to places such as Chinatown, The CORE shopping center, which is a mall. Then to State & Main bar for a few drinks and a quick snack. I saw some cool artwork called The Brotherhood of Mankind, which are ten 21 ft tall, human-like statues near 1st street and 6th avenue. After that I visited the Medina café and grill to smoke some shisha and have a fruit smoothie. After all of this site seeing, I headed back to the hotel for some rest.
Day 3
Was my final one there. I started it early afternoon, as I wanted to make the 2 hour trip to Lake Louise. The drive wasn’t bad at all. It was full of sites to see, including forest ranges and of course the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I forgot to mention that since it was May Long Weekend, the national parks in Canada had free entry, which I was informed of on my entry to the Banff National Park. Before making my way to the lake, I made a pit stop at the souvenir shops. One of my favorite being a little shop that was full of native American artwork and crafts; I wanted to take it all home. Once I was finished gift shopping, I made my way to the park area of Lake Louise and made the short trail walk to the lake.
Upon exiting the tree line, you could see various mountain ranges, including Mount St. Piran, Mount Aberdeen, and Mount Victoria with Lake Louise right below it. Lake Louise is named after the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. During the time I was there, the lake was still frozen, but you could still see some of the cool blue coloring, which was all due to and provided by the nearby glaciers.
After about an hour of walking around and taking pictures, I decided it was time to head back and of course, look for some food. My next stop would be a small town called Canmore, which is situated in the Rocky Mountains. It is glorious to look at when driving or walking through the town. I arrived at about 9 p.m. and even then, it was still bright outside and full of sunshine. My stomach dropped me at a pub called the Grizzle Paw Brewing Company. One cool thing about this place is that they brew all of their own beer, as well as soda, with all local and natural ingredients; including the fresh water provided by the local mountain ranges. The food options were numerous, and I had a hard time choosing, so I ended up getting everything. This included tater totchos, which are tater tots topped with pico de gallo, buffalo chicken sauce, jalapenos, and cheese curds. I also had BBQ chicken wings and chicken and waffles. The chicken and waffles were interesting because they were drizzled with a sauce that kind of reminded me of thousand islands dressing, on top of a bed of house made slaw, pickles and cauliflower. But none the less, all of the food was amazing, and I would definitely go back the next time I visit Canada.
After stuffing my face, I decided to head back to my hotel, which turned into the longest 1 hour drive ever, once the itis kicked in. When I arrived to my room, I quickly passed out, getting some good sleep before my early 6 a.m. flight back to Austin. All in all, Canada was a treat full of amazing natural sites, great food, friendly people and nothing but good times. I can’t wait until my next visit. See you soon Canada.
*Have you even been, or want to go to Canada? If so let me know what are some of your favorite places, or what places you want to see in the comments below.
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