Calgary - Last stop in Canada

After yesterday's relaxing day, we hit the road again early today. This time we only had about 100 km to cover: from Canmore to Calgary.

Under a bright blue sky with a fantastic view of the Rockies, we set off. Our first stop in Calgary was supposed to be the Olympic Park. The plan was to get a look at the ski jump and bobsleigh track, as well as the entire park. However, in the end we could only see the ski jump from the side. The rest of the park was closed to the public or required a permit, which we didn't have...

So we continued to the city and parked above Princess Island Park, which provided a beautiful view of the city after climbing what felt like 280,000 steps. The neighborhood we found ourselves in was also nicely built. By the way, there are many well-maintained and architecturally beautiful houses in Calgary, and by that we mean private houses...

We descended the stairs and walked through the park towards downtown. The first thing we noticed was how clean and well-maintained it was. And for a city with 1.25 million inhabitants, it felt relaxed and had little traffic.

We made our way through the streets to the Calgary Tower. Unfortunately, it couldn't be seen from any street. At first, we thought it didn't really exist because there were no signs indicating its location. The numerous high-rises built after the Calgary Tower in 1967 now overshadow and hide it. At 190 meters, it was once the tallest observation tower in North America, but today it's just a "dwarf" among its neighboring buildings...

We didn't want to miss the view of the city and the barely visible snowy peaks of the Rockies. Thorsten also wanted to test the glass floor installed in 2005, which is part of the observation deck (since the Glacier Skywalk was canceled earlier). When we reached the top, we stood before the glass floor. The visitors cautiously stood on the glass... you never know... but it held...

Thorsten took some great pictures then. I still found it a bit suspicious... I don't have to do everything... and not provoke anything... :)

The view from the 360° observation deck over the city was also pretty good.

Once back down, we naturally had to find another magnet. We now have nearly 20 new souvenirs of this kind for our wall board, which definitely needs to be expanded.

Next stop was a four-story mall, where a small botanical garden (Devonian Gardens) was created on the top floor under a glass roof, featuring many green plants and ponds. You can visit it, but it's not a must-see...

After a short detour to an outlet near the airport, which we wanted to explore due to the favorable exchange rate, we drove to the car rental return at the airport. Our last night on Canadian soil was to be spent at the airport. No, not on the seats in the waiting lounge, but in a hotel. Since the flight to Chicago (and then on to Boston) was scheduled to depart at 6:00 a.m., it was the best solution.

We think it was also time to leave Calgary, as we were constantly confronted with the Stampede Festival, which would take place two days later. Everyone and everything was in a cowboy frenzy... Western clothes and hats were available everywhere, and there was always an (old, shaggy) cowboy band playing old cowboy songs about campfires, prairies, and wide open spaces...

That was just too much for us, so we drew the tickets to the ongoing warmth...