Calgary, Alberta, Canada
This week I would be going to Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta for three days of business meetings. Two of my biggest brokers are in Calgary and I have been asking for my two years with this company to be sent to Calgary to meet my brokers. As with my Montreal trip in July management will not send me anywhere so I contacted our western marketing rep myself to arrange the trip to co-incide with his meetings.
Alberta is two hours behind Toronto time so we would gain time going but lose time coming back. We left work at 2pm to catch the nearby UP Express train to Pearson Airport for our 5pm flight. It was a four hour flight, meals are available for purchase only, as are headphones. I forgot to bring mine so could only watch movies with no audio.
I've never been to Alberta before. My first trip out west was to Vancouver and Victoria last summer. I had planned on coming to Alberta this summer but due to my other trips to Europe I had no vacation time left. Normally on company trips I would take Friday off and fly back on the weekend but with no vacation time left and not ideal weather this time of year I had to put that off too.
What little I'd seen of Western Canada was by air. My flights to Korea or Asia were normally night flights so not much to see, and my flight to Vancouver this year and during this trip there was all cloud so nothing to see except for take off and landing.
Our landing was about 6.30pm local time and still some sunlight as the sun was setting. I'd chosen the correct side to sit on the left hand. Calgary was on the left side and there were stunning views of the sun setting across the city and the Rocky Mountains in the western horizon. Unfortunately from a moving plane night pictures do not come out that great.
It was a nice view nonetheless. I could see the downtown cluster of skyscrapers. It was flat landscape and countryside with a group of highrise office towers in the centre, like a desert city. We landed just before nightfall and it was clear weather so good city views.
Inside the airport terminal there is a road which absent mindedly you would walk right thru not expecting a roadway in the middle of a passenger terminal!
We took a cab to our hotel for $35 since we can expense it. I then wanted to go out and some exploring as this was our only evening. Tomorrow we had all day meetings then drive to Edmonton from 5pm so will not be in the city again. I decided to goto the pedestrian street to see something of the city and look for some food.
Barclay Mall is the north-south pedestrian street on 3 ST SW leading to the east-west Stephen St on 8th Ave SW. We did see heritage buildings and fancy sit down restaurants but no fast food other the McDonald's which I refuse to eat at. Weather was still +8 so ok to explore but expected to drop to -10 by Wednesday with their extreme fluctuations out west.
It was a strange city core. There were no shops other than retail stores which had closed for the day. There were no convenience shops or 7-11 variety stores to buy a drink or snacks. Where do people go for cigarettes or coffee we couldnt find anything open? Even the Starbucks in our hotel had closed. No wonder they shoot movies in this ghost town.
Eventually by City Hall we found a Korean restaurant which was the only place we could find open. On 7th Ave SW is the C-Train. Essentially they just laid tracks down the middle of the road, closed it to traffic, and this is now their downtown rail line. I didnt know but all the station downtown on 7th Ave are free and we could have rode the train up and down. I've never seen a free public transit system!
I'd kept half the Korean pancake for breakfast as it was so much and wanted to go explore nearby Chinatown before our 9am meetings start. I didnt realize the sun doesnt rise till after 8am and it wasnt proper daylight till 830am leaving no time to explore. Must be a vampire city!
My room was facing north east overlooking the Bow River, Chinatown and the Centre St bridge, and the distant airport.
There were also lots of walkways connecting buildings across the street. Because of their harsh winters with wind chills in high the minus double digits these walkways were to allow people to cross without going outdoors. We then noticed shops inside the buildings by the walkways so this is where all the convenience stores were hiding but I dont know how we would have got indoors last night after hours.
It was a nice brief introduction to the city and I'll have to come back in the summer to explore when I have freetime on my own as some of the places I want to see are outdoors so seasonal in nature due to the winters.
crowdywendy
2017-11-20
Relieved to hear about your views on McDonalds Asif!The Korean pancake looked good though. Interesting read about the city - and the airport. Thank you!