Calgary

I caught the greyhound from Edmonton to Calgary on Saturday and looked around the city over the couple of days that I was there. It was unfortunate that I was there over Easter weekend as it meant the city was even quieter than on a normal weekend. Most things being closed due to Easter, coupled with the fact that it was quite cold, meant however that I finally found time to start reading Memoirs of a Giesha (cheers Bridge).

I did however amble around and check out a few sites before I got too cold and sought refuge - here are a few snaps...

Calgary Tower with Olympic Plaza in the foreground. Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and Olympic Plaza was where the medal ceremonies were held.

Calgary Tower - up close and personal!

So I've got a 'thing' against marketing towers as tourist attractions - all cities seem to have them (Auckland, Sydney, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto etc) and altho the view is often quite nice from the top of the tower it doesnt seem worth the at least $15 it costs to go up the tower, at the end of the day it's just a view of a city and most cities are more or less the same... However all the ranting aside, when the people at the hostel in calgary (HI) said that guests could get a free pass I decided I might as well go up and have a looksee ;)

The building in the centre is the Saddledome, home of the Calgary Flames (ice hockey team) and various other sporting teams, as well as the annual Calgary Stampede which I've heard is a great event, I'm already thinking of going next year...

The Devonian Gardens are basically indoor gardens, on the top floor of a shopping mall. It seems a kinda weird concept coming from NZ but I spose with the bitterly cold winters Calgary experiences this means that people in the inner city always have a park like refuge.