Calgary

Good morning, we have slept well, filled our stomachs with English breakfast and started the engine promptly at 11:00. The sun is shining bright. The weather forecast for the next week is only sunny and up to 32 degrees Celsius.

Today we are heading to Calgary. We have 120 km ahead of us and a small detour due to our broken key. We had an appointment with the locksmith at 11:30 in a parking lot. While we were waiting at the said parking lot, the nice gentleman sent us a message that he will only arrive at 12:30. What a waste of time - luckily, we are standing in the shade. At least, the key fit right away and we managed to put some oil on the lock. And it was only half as expensive as estimated.

So, we will continue at 13:15. Slowly, we leave the mountains behind

and immerse ourselves in the forest and meadow landscape. 

Now, we also come across the occasional house. And here are the first cows (cocoa flavor) which do not belong to the "wildlife" category.

We reach our campsite, next to an amusement park. A big grassy area, some spots with a few trees, many spots without. And the sun is scorching hot. Wow, it's warm. Darling spent the hour waiting for the locksmith by raiding the hardware store and brought us a new companion.

Thanks to our combined expertise and craftsmanship, we quickly assembled it.

We want to spend the remaining part of the day sightseeing in Calgary. Just like the entire vacation, we are not well-prepared and only have a rough idea of what sights there are. So, we hop on the tram and head to downtown city.

Facts: Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta and the fourth largest city in Canada. It was officially founded in 1884. However, the first settlers arrived around 1860. At that time, cattle ranchers from the southern United States were looking for new grazing land for their cattle and drove their herds further north into the prairies of Alberta, which was not yet part of Canada at that time. Calgary became a center for cattle breeding and cowboys. This tradition continues today with the Calgary Stampede.

With approximately 1.5 million visitors, it is the largest outdoor agricultural exhibition in the world. It is considered the largest rodeo show in the world. More than $2 million in prize money is awarded annually.

But more on that tomorrow.

Starting from 1940, Calgary transformed from a city dominated by cattle farming and cattle trading to an economic metropolis due to oil.

In 1988, the first Canadian Olympic Winter Games took place in Calgary.

Calgary somewhat reminds of New York. Also, streets laid out in a grid pattern with one-way streets, just without yellow taxis and fewer skyscrapers.

Here are some impressions

We refuel in Chinatown 

at a restaurant with authentic Chinese cuisine. Tip from TripAdvisor. 

It was super delicious, but we are used to having rice as a side dish, apparently that is not common here. It's much healthier and good for the figure to only eat vegetables and a source of protein (meat). I'm telling you, we will come back fit and slim.

By now, it's 8:30 pm, it's still unbearably hot and the sun is still high in the sky. Tomorrow we are going to the Stampede. The whole city is in a cowboy frenzy. Once a year, everyone takes out their cowboy boots, big belt buckles, fringed shirts, and cowboy hats and celebrates for 10 days.

We will be there in style.

Yeehaw! Howdy