By 6.00pm as we rolled into the skyscraper canyons of Calgary the sun had begun to shine again. Everything is ‘big’ in Calgary, tall skyscrapers, the Calgary Tower – of which more below – the hats and even my waitress at over 6 foot tall – again of which more below. Even my room on the 24th floor of the International Hotel and Suites was huge.
Calgary was established in 1875 and is famous for hosting the Winter Olympics in 1988 – not that I noticed – and of course for the Calgary Stampede of which today is the last so the city was particularly full of cowboy outfits! It is a sophisticated city with skyscrapers, galleries and theatres but retains the air of a frontier town according to my DK Eyewitness Guide, well if you think pink cowboy hats, of which there were many, gives it this atmosphere. The modern skyline is courtesy of the 1960s oil boom.
I dithered whether to go to the Stampede but decided in the end that the weather didn’t look too promising and that I should really make use of the voucher I had to scale the Calgary Tower. This is the city’s third tallest building with two elevators that whisk you to top of the tower – 627 feet – in 62 seconds. Luckily these were internal lifts not like the Harbour Tower in Vancouver that were wall climbers. The tower was built to for the Winter Olympics and as I later discovered a real gas flame lights its apex at night – I got some fabulous shots of the tower and flame reflected in the glass facades of nearby skyscrapers.
The views from the top were pretty incredible especially looking east towards the vast plains of the Canadian Prairies and looking down since unlike the Cliffwalk in Capilano Vancouver this tower does have a glass floor section!!
I could clearly see the Stampede grounds but as expected this mainly consisted of a vast funfair and souvenir stalls. To get in would have not only cost money but there were no tickets for the rodeo events in the main arena and it was nowbucketing with rain so pleased I didn’t go along. On exiting the Tower the desk staff told me that if I would like to come back before 10.30pm – the last ascent lift – then I was welcome to return and watch the closing firework display of this the 100th Stampede.
I had spotted a half decent restaurant on the way to the tower so to get out of the rain I go in for a meal and the tallest young women I have ever met in my life serves me! Caitlin must have been well over 6ft 4ins but like so many Canadians I had met on this trip had a lovely personality and actually knelt down to take my order – talk about being served! She was a performing arts student earning some money in the summer to return tocollege to take a linguistics degree. I have French onion soup, herb encrusted halibut and as a last treat a piece of carrot cake!
After spinning out the meal for an hour or so I emerged into a bright sunset and head back up the Calgary Tower for some pretty sunset shots across the skyscrapers and to await the fireworks which turned out to be a bit of a damp squib – appropriate really for the weather over the last few days. Anyway at long last I get a chance to try out the video on the camera with some pleasing results.
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