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Sunday, March 12, 2006
Hello from the Canadian Rockies: A Final
Walk Through Calgary
Our last couple of hours before our departure had arrived. We
had left Banff at about 9:30 am and got into Calgary just shortly
before 11, parked our car just east of downtown and set off on foot
on our final walk to explore a bit more of downtown Calgary.
Calgary City Hall
The first place we passed by was Calgary City Hall, a classic sandstone
building, located right opposite the Olympic Plaza. Originally constructed
for the medal ceremonies for the 1988 Olympics, Olympic Plaza has
become a centre of activities in downtown Calgary and many festivals
are held here. During the Calgary Stampede every year pancake breakfasts
are served at Olympic Plaza. During the winter it serves as a skating
rink.
Olympic Plaza
The Telus Convention Centre is adjacent to the Olympic Plaza,
and the Art Gallery of Calgary as well as the Glenbow Museum are
right around the corner. The south-west corner of the Olympic Plaza
holds the “Famous Five” sculptures commemorating 5 famous
women activists who changed Canada, celebrating that women had become
persons. A copy of this sculpture is located on Parliament Hill
in Ottawa.
2 of the "Famous Five": "Women are Persons"
From there we continued on to the Stephen Avenue Walk. Named after
the first Canadian Pacific Railway president, Lord George Mount
Stephen, it was officially declared a Canadian Historic site in
2002.Calgary experienced a huge boom in the early 1900s and as a
result wealthy merchants built a variety of prestigious sandstone
buildings that housed shops, saloons and restaurants. Today the
entire street is a pedestrian area and surrounded by six major shopping
centres, a variety of boutiques and galleries. In the summer it
is the location of live performances, festivals, musical and artistic
events.
A peak at the Calgary Tower
One of Calgary’s unique features is its system of interconnected
elevated walkways that connect shopping areas in numerous high-rise
office towers downtown. They are called “+15s”, referring
to the fact that originally these walkways had to be at least 15
feet above the streets that they were traversing.
Two more members of the "Famous Five"
The most visually stunning elevated walkway is the Royal Canadian
Pacific Pavillion that is suspended above the street below. This
particular facility is not accessible to the general public. Calgary’s
+15s are the world largest enclosed elevated walkway system, they
span 18 km and consist of 58 bridges that connect over 100 offices,
retail and other buildings in downtown Calgary.
The Royal Canadian Pacific Pavillion
We decided to check out this walkway system that connects all the
main buildings flanking the Stephen Avenue Walk including buildings
such as the Calgary Eaton Centre, TD Square, Bankers Hall, The Bay
and the Scotia Centre.
The Stephen Avenue Walk, a National Historic District
Right in the TD Square you can find a tropical refuge from city
life called “Devonian Gardens”. This is one of the world’s
largest indoor parks and includes waterfalls, tropical plants and
flowers, a secluded woodland setting, water fountains, humongous
goldfish, water turtles and many other delights. It is a wonderful
place to relax, it’s open from 9 am to 9 pm every day and
admission is free. On this cold winter day we enjoyed this tropical
sanctuary and Calgarians and tourist alike appreciated the enclosed
indoor spaces that Calgary has to offer.
The tropical refuge of Devonian Gardens
One of the corridors leading to a +15 walkway contains a collection
of historic posters of the Calgary Stampede, dating all the way
back to the early 20th century. It was interesting to see graphic
design and the visual representation of the Stampede evolve through
almost 100 years.
Commemorating the Calgary Stampede
Well, our departure time was getting closer, and we had to leave
and take our rental car back and hop onto the plane back to Toronto.
But our sneak peak at Calgary and our entire week in Banff
had given us a great opportunity to explore Western Canadian
history and hospitality. I am sure we’ll be back…..
The Calgary Tower on a grey day
Historic Stephen Avenue
Calgary's agricultural roots become evident
This Stephen Avenue sculpture is called "The Conversation"
Mor greenery in the tropical oasis of the Devonian Gardens
Orchids in the Devonian Gardens
More historic posters for the Calgary Stampede
Stampede posters
Related Articles:
An overview of our discovery of the
Canadian Rockies
Arrival in Calgary and our
whirlwind tour of the city
Discovering Canada Olympic Park,
one of Calgary's most visited attractions
Our fabulous dinner at Il Giardino's
and a connection with one of Calgary's most successful entrepreneurs
- an Italian-Canadian immigrant success story
Comfort, luxury and our celebrity
breakfast at the Historic Twin Gables B&B
Calgary's Kensington area and a
meeting with a local entrepeneur who went from Vietnamese boat person
to successful restauranteur
Arrival in Banff & exploring
a local landmark: the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
Our first skiing experience: perfectly
groomed trails at Norquay
High altitude skiing on the
Continental Divide: Sunshine Village
Exploring Canadian history: the
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Skiing in the largest ski resort in
the Canadian Rockies at Lake Louise
A real adventure: dogsledding in
the Canadian Rockies
A gondola trip to the top of
Sulphur Mountain and discoveries of Banff
Our final walk through downtown
Calgary - discoveries of downtown
An interview with Tourism Calgary:
what to see and do in Calgary
An interview with
Tourism Banff Lake Louise
Useful Websites:
Tourism
Calgary
Tourism
Banff Lake Louise
Canada
Olympic Park
Ski the Big 3:
Banff, Lake Louise and Sunshine
Banff
National Park of Canada
Useful books about Calgary and the Canadian Rockies:
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