MIH – Calgary

We are taking care of a precocious little cat, named Flannel.  She’s very sweet but has little to do with us….until we give her a tuna juice ice cube.  Because Flannel is an inside cat it gives us a little more freedom to explore the area.  As we often do we take neighbor walks and use public transportation while exploring.  Our house is within a short walk to an area of Calgary called Marda Loop.  It’s a very sweet, vibrant, little suburb of the city.  During our time here they celebrate Marda Gras, a play on words for Mardi Gras.  The main street is closed off and a variety of vendors, activities, and music performances take place.  I had wanted to see the pet parade but it must have been a very short parade as we arrived just a short time after the scheduled start and it was already over.  There were certain aspects of the celebration that reminded me of home.

There was so much going on in Calgary, I think there was some sort of festival every day that we were there.  We went into the city during the Taste of Calgary festival.  Lots and lots of food and beverage vendors.  Unlike Taste of Chicago, tasting vouchers were much more reasonable and we enjoyed trying several different items.  It was a lovely stop after our walk in Princes Island Park. 

 

 Princes Island Park sits along the Bow River.  There is a short informational marsh walk which was very interesting.  The Shakespeare by the Bow theater company perform on an outdoor stage in the park as well.  The performances are by donation and we had planned to go but for some reason never did. 

We spent an afternoon walking around the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.  We took the bus, stopping at the nearest bus stop and arrived in a roundabout way to the sanctuary.  We didn’t see a whole lot of birds but we had a lovely time.  We made a nice connection with a young woman who was working there.  She was set up along one of the paths with a variety of animal skulls and we did the whole match the skull to the right animal and had a lovely chat.  As we walked along the path we encountered (up close) a deer. I’ve seen a lot of deer in my life but I’m still amazed at how sweet and innocent they look.  I’ve never really thought of the phrase “doe eyes” before, but in thinking about it and looking at the picture I have a better understanding of the term.

Downtown Calgary is like most other large cities.  There is a pedestrian only street (like Church Street in Burlington) that is filled with a wide variety of restaurants and shops.  Strolling along the street was very enjoyable.

The one thing that I have wanted to do while in the west was to go to a rodeo.  We just missed the Calgary Stampede so I think that at some point we will need to come back.