More snow in Calgary

The photo is of our balcony after a night of snow. What snow in Spring?!?!


http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/More+snow+come+Calgary/1441797/story.html

AFL Dream Team - Round One

Suffice to say, Shannon is not happy.

The Wrestler

This weekend we saw The Wrestler. We had been meaning to see this some time ago. I found the movie sad and found Mickey R quite selfish throughout the movie. But thats just me.

Calgary Farmers Market

This weekend, we went to the Calgary Farmers Market (http://www.calgaryfarmersmarket.ca/) for the first time, which is probably a 10 min max drive from our house. I was impressed! The market is indoors and set up really well - it has a really nice feel to it. Like most places in Calgary, the place looks dodgey on the outside, but is impressive on the inside. The market had organic food, dips, pies, fresh fruit & vegetables, art & lots of yummy food stalls. We bought some bits and bobs from one of the many bakeries (which we scoffed down for lunch).

A definite recommend. We will be back

Snow still....

Our car isnt normally parked outside, as we have a car park in the building..... but this weekend, the car park was being cleaned, so we had to park our car outside our building for the weekend. It just so happens, that there was about 25 centimetres of snow overnight. So lucky for Shan, he had to get all the snow off our car..... he wasn't happy....

More snow in Calgary today....

Co-op Annual Grape Escape

Shan for the last couple of nights has had to work at the Calgary Co-Op Grape Escape, which is one of Calgary's largest wine festivals (http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/food-restaurants/Grape+Escape+coming/1374180/story.html). Tickets were $40 each and people were making the most of getting their free samples of booze.

I came along tonight to have a nosey. I was happy to see that the Australian wines were well represented, Lindemans, Hardys, Yellow Tail, Peter Lehman, Jacobs Creek were all there. Go you aussie good thing!

Shan's painful face is after drinking some strong alcohol..... hahahaha

Cochrane

Today we ventured off to Cochrane for the first time (having a car makes it a lot easier to get to places!), which is approx. 30 kms out from Calgary. It is a small country town, which has an old time feel.

Cochrane - HQ Coffee Co & Pie Emporium

We used our entertainment book to go to the HQ Cofee Co & Pie Emporium. Shan had a steak sandwich, while I had a tex mex pie (heritage style apparently).

Cochrane - Recession is here

Cars - Buy one, get one free ?!?!?!?!?

Dream Team - Pick the Ranga!

Dream Team

Shan & I are doing the AFL Dream Team thing....5 days, 8 hours and counting till it starts. Stay tuned for an update on the battle of the Footy Fanatic versus someone who picks their team based on .... well... ok.... i based it on the price really! I have no idea who half the people in my team are!

Fringe Festival

Ok, so I am may be missing out on the Adelaide fringe festival at the moment.... but Calgary has the equivalent!

A snowy day in Lake Louise

Fun in the snow!

Some cheeky business in Lake Louise

The Frozen Lake at Lake Louise

The pictures above are of Lake Louise. No seriously - it really is. It just so happens that at this time of year it is frozen and covered in snow.

The lake was originally named emerald lake, but was changed to lake louise after the 4th daughter of Queen Victoria. The emerald colour of the lake (which I am yet to see!) is from the rock flour carried into the water by the melting glacier.

The lake is .8km squared and we managed to walk 1/3 of the lake straight throught the middle. The snow was quite deep and we (ok - really just Anne) sank quite a bit (almost to the knees in some spots). Shannon took great delight in watching me fall over and others as well!

Johnston Canyon

On Saturday morning, we had booked a tour through the fairmont hotel to visit Johnston Canyon. The canyon was 1/2 hour drive from the hotel. We shared the tour with one other person - so the tour was quite personal - just the 4 of us.

We started off on the wrong foot. Anne had the wrong shoes. We were wearing "death cloth" (i.e. jeans. because jeans is made out of cotton and cotton when wet, does not dry). Shan was wearing "summer hiking shoes". Anne had the wrong gloves. urgh - we are such tourists. But we went ahead anyway! We equipped ourselves with ice cleats (http://cozywinters.com/ice-cleats/ice-cleats.html) which are basically grips that attach to shoes and make walking on slippery services a lot easier.

The place is famous for its waterfalls (Upper & Lower) - but as you can see from the photos; they were frozen! We will definitely be back to see the waterfalls in summer - to compare. On our way back from the frozen waterfalls, we saw lots of people with backpacks and ropes. These guys were frozen waterfall climbers! Our guide tried to convince us that frozen waterfall climbing was less risky than skiing - but I don't buy it! People use picks and spikes to climb up these waterfalls - not for me thankyou!

An extract from the web "Johnston Canyon was named after a prospector who struck gold while panning in the creek. The Lower Falls are arguably the most famous in Banff National Park. The rushing water of the creek and the interesting rock formations along the recently upgraded hiking trail offer an exhilarating experience for the avid hiker or relaxing ambiance for a leisurely stroll. Then venture on to the breath-taking Upper Falls. The beauty, serenity and splendour of this wilderness retreat continues to inspire many photographers, nature lovers, birdwatchers and sightseers. At an elevation of 4710 feet above sea-level, Johnston Canyon is literally one of the top sites of the Rockies in Canada."

Fairmont Lake Louise - Lakeview Lounge

On our first day, we ventured to the Lakeview Lounge in the Fairmont hotel (we ate just at the hotel over the weekend!). We figured we should get a view of the lake during the day and this was the best place for it! Our waitress was an aussie (yes, another one).

We had shared halibut for the first time (we have heard so much about it from a Mr. Gordon Ramsey) and a burger. Probably not the best mix, but o well! Shan enjoyed the crisps the most (see the empty silver container) - we kept getting these instead of bread in the hotel! But the wasabi peas didn't go over too well. We were lucky we didn't have a "Shan & Oyster" moment (read, spit out the food!)

Fairmont Lake Louise - Glacier Saloon

We visited the Glacier Saloon twice whilst at the Fairmont. The restaurant is part of the hotel and has a cowboy feel - our waiter wore a cowboy hat and the salt & pepper shakers were kept together by horse shoes. The look on shannon's face in the first piccie is due to the fact we ordered so much food and we both weren't hungry! Butter chicken for Shan and Lamb kebabs for Anne. Shan forgot that you could order butter chicken from the deli downstairs (and it cost 10 bucks less), but when he remembered, he wasn't happy. Our waitress on the first night was an aussie (they are everywhere!). For lunch the next day, we shared a club sandwich and Shan had an urge for calamari. We expected to get 3 - 6 pieces - but we ended up with heaps! We figured being far away from the ocean would make seafood expensive - but in the case we were wrong.