Monday, May 16, 2022

ALBERTA, “WILD ROSE COUNTRY”

CALGARY, "HEART OF THE NEW WEST"

 BY CLAY LARROY
Traveling can be a great way to meet new people and experience other cultures. New friends are waiting to meet you in places you have only dreamed of traveling. It can be a wonderful way to see all that the world has to offer. Travel can be a hobby and an adventure that will lead you to unexpected places.  Canada is a close locations to take vacations. When you want to plan a vacation contact me!


Things to do in Calgary

Activities

Skiing and snowboarding
You don't even have to leave Calgary's city limits to strap on your skis or snowboard. Canada Olympic Park is perfect for an evening on the slopes to practice your turns before you hit the big mountains. You can also bobsleigh, hurl yourself off the ski jump or try cross-country skiing. If the sight of the Rockies is too tempting, Banff and Lake Louise have world-class ski resorts with bucket loads of powder.
Ice skating
Canada isn't renowned for its balmy winters, but cold weather means there are plenty of outdoor ice rinks. In downtown Calgary, you can skate at Olympic Plaza (originally the medal presentation site during the 1988 Winter Olympics) from mid-November to mid-March. For a more natural ice experience, glide on the frozen lagoons at Bowness and Prince's Island Parks. Apart from Olympic Plaza, outdoor rinks are typically open from December to February.
Walking and cycling
Calgary has a whopping 700km (453 miles) of pathways for pedestrians and cyclists and 7,800 hectares (19,300 acres) of parkland. Walk, cycle or rollerblade along the banks of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, or hike the trails in Nose Hill Park, where you might spot deer or coyotes. Fish Creek Provincial Park is Canada's largest urban park and is home to a large variety of birds and mammals, including beavers, bald eagles and white-tailed deer.
Fly fishing
Calgary's position on the Bow River means you don't have to travel far to fly fish. The river is considered one of the world's best spots for trout fishing. Anglers have a good chance of catching good-sized brown and rainbow trout in the Lower Bow River near Downtown, which is said to hold an astonishing 2,500 trout’s per mile. It's not uncommon to hook a 50cm-plus (20-inch) fish. Local guides can help you bag your trophy trout.
Tel: (403) 470 3474.
Website: www.bowriverflyfishing.com
Rafting and tubing
Come summer, Calgary experiences scorching hot days, and a wonderful way to cool off is to float on the water. For a super gentle trip, tubing on the Elbow River is relaxing and undemanding. A popular, four-hour float-rafting route is from Bowness Park to Calgary Zoo on the Bow River. You can hire floater rafts and tubes from a few operators in town.
Lazy Day Raft Rentals
Tel: (403) 258 0575.
Website: www.lazydayraftrentals.com
Calgary Outdoor Centre
Tel: (403) 220 5038.
Website: www.calgaryoutdoorcentre.ca
Watching ice hockey
Join in the roar of over 19,000 fans in the Saddledome (named for its saddle-shaped roof) as they cheer on their city's NHL ice-hockey team, the Calgary Flames. Games against arch rivals the Edmonton Oilers are especially fiery. The Saddledome is also home to Western Hockey League team the Calgary Hitmen as well as the Calgary Roughnecks professional lacrosse team. It doubles up as a major concert venue.
Tel: (403) 777 4646.
Websites: www.scotiabanksaddledome.com ; http://flames.nhl.com
Bull riding
You've watched the action at Stampede, wonder how hard it could really be and now you fancy a go. Look no further than Calgary's bull-riding school Fantasy Adventure Bull Riding, run by Australian cowboy Joe Messina on a working rodeo ranch just 15 minutes from Downtown. You'll meet the animals, practice on a mechanical simulator, then have the opportunity to strap onto a 900kg (2,000lb) bucking bull. Get this far and you're eligible to ride a live bull.
Tel: (403) 681 3577.
Website: www.fantasyadventurebullriding.com


Calgary Nightlife

Calgary's nightlife is better than you might expect of a cowboy and oil town in the middle of the Canadian prairie. Locals are friendly, festive and always ready to put away a big Alberta steak or a few drinks, especially on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. However, during the Stampede, Calgary transforms into a true party city.
Calgary's nightlife is best explored through its various neighborhoods. Downtown is a fine place for a drink during the day or early evening and the partying continues at bars and clubs dotted throughout the area. If you want your action more concentrated, stick to areas like Kensington (with a diverse range of cafés, bars, restaurants and clubs) or 17th Avenue SW (west of 4th Street), where the pubs have more character and the restaurants veer more towards the ethnic.
In matters of high culture such as theatre or literature, critics often characterize Calgary as an oil-driven cowboy town, inferior to Edmonton (its provincial rival). But Calgary boasts a dynamic variety of theatre, opera and classical music, as well as hosting a renowned literary festival each October.
The city plans to cement its reputation for live music through the building of a new National Music Centre around the historic King Eddy Hotel, which closed in 2004 after decades as a renowned blues venue. Slated to open in 2014, the center will celebrate all Canadian music, housing a live music venue, performance hall and interactive exhibits.
You can find events and nightlife listings in Swerve, available with the Friday edition of the Calgary Herald (http://swervecalgary.com), in where magazine (www.where.ca/calgary) and in the free FFWD Weekly (www.ffwdweekly.com). You can buy tickets for most cultural performances through Ticketmaster Canada (tel: (403) 777 0000;www.ticketmaster.ca).
West
This swanky three-floor restaurant-cum-bar-cum-nightclub in Calgary's Scotia Centre is a stylish lunch and dinner spot which pulls in the after-work crowd, then entices them to stay late. At weekends, you can literally dance until dawn. Reminisce on 'Rewind Fridays' as music from the 1970s to 1990s blasts out, then cool off and enjoy the view on the usually heaving rooftop patio. Very much a place to see and be seen.
225 7th Avenue SW
Calgary, Canada
Telephone:  (403) 237 5556.
Website:  http://www.westrestaurantandbar.com
Flames Central
This giant sports bar is spread over three floors and promises to show any game, anytime, anywhere, as long as it's broadcast on satellite TV. The main bar, the vast 'virtual arena', seats 150, with a 9m (30ft) HD projection screen and 150 TVs. There are private lounges, a mezzanine area and a restaurant too. Expect the place to be packed on hockey nights, when shuttles carry fans to and from live games.
219 8th Avenue SW
Calgary,  Canada
Telephone:  (403) 935 2637.
Website:  http://www.flamescentral.com
Ranchman's
If you're in Calgary during Stampede, it's practically obligatory to party at Ranchman's, which plays non-stop live music from noon until the small hours throughout the festival. At other times of the year, you can still enjoy this true cowboy bar, whose walls are plastered with rodeo memorabilia. Tuck into steaks and ribs, then work it off in the dancehall (lessons available). Live bands play from Thursday to Saturday. You can even test your rodeo skills on a mechanical bull.
Address:
9615 MacLeod Trail South
Calgary, Canada
Telephone: (403) 253 1100.
Website: http://www.ranchmans.com

REFERENCE SITES:
I love Calgary. It's a great city. I enjoyed my time there, quite a bit. Shooting and filming in that cold could be very difficult, at times. When you're shooting nights, and it's 3 in the morning and minus 35 degrees, that's hard to work in. - Author: Colin Hanks
Live, Love and Travel to create memories that will last a lifetime!


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