The city of Calgary gets its own full blog post as we spent two nights here, took a three hour walking tour, had two great meals and we were very impressed by this city. Calgary is at the end of the prairies and nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.
Our first view of Calgary.Brotherhood of mankind sculpture. We passed this in the car on the way in but never found our way back here. This sculpture was installed in 1968 and still looks good and feels significant. The figures are 20+ feet in height.Our room in Hotel Arts. Jim had no idea why he picked it but it was fine with a good location.View from our balcony.We had dinner across the street at Ten Foot Henry which is a “vegetable anchored” menu. It was recommended to us by our Canadian friends that we met in Tokyo. We had tuna crudo, seared scallops, cauliflower and marinated beets. The tuna was the best and we would recommend this place.We sat at a bar facing the kitchen. The restaurant’s name is after a famed 1930 comic strip character, Henry which Jim remembers. He was a long time Calgary icon. There is a replica of his character that stands 10 feet tall in the restaurant but we did not know that at the time and did not see it.
Video of the kitchen action.After dinner we walked to the iconic Calgary Tower. This is the glass viewing platform looking down at the street.Pictures were very difficult at night due to the reflection off the windows.Looking southwest, residual sunset.The Calgary Tower is a 626 foot observation tower weighing approximately 10,884 tons. It was built at a cost of $3,500,000 as part of an urban renewal plan and to celebrate Canada’s centennial in 1967.Looking down on Stephen Avenue going left to right.Stephen Avenue is the main pedestrian street of Calgary. It was named for the Canadian Pacific Railway’s first president, Lord George Mount Stephen.We found a tip only tour online and booked it for Sunday morning at 10am. We have taken quite a few of these in other cities but Toonie Tours is a Canadian outfit and this is our first tour with them.Toonie Tours occupies the ground floor of this solid sandstone building which used to be the Alberta Hotel. The Alberta Hotel was the preeminent hotel in Calgary after it opened in 1890.The building later became headquarters of the Calgary Herald Newspaper and humorous gargoyles were added relating to the news business.Our tour guide was Matthew who was a bit of a character. He went to architectural school so he was quite knowledgeable about the buildings of the city which we enjoyed.This is one of the only remaining wooden structures in downtown Calgary.Looking west on Stephens Streetand East. Nearly deserted on a cold Sunday morning.Jim was fascinated with this building and took pictures of it from every side. The building in front of it is the old Bank of Montreal, now a fitness center.He likes how it seems to spiral.It is a residential building. The building to the far right is called The Bow building, after the Bow river and also its bowed shape.The Calgary Tower, Residences at Telus Sky and The Bow building from left to right.The Molson’s Bank. The same family as Molson’s beer. This building is now a bar but they do not serve Molson’s beer. It is now The James Joyce Irish Pub.The Calgary Tower from below this time.“The Women Are Persons” Monument in Calgary’s Olympic Plaza depicts Alberta’s “Famous Five” suffragettes who paved the way for woman suffrages and right to run for public office in Canada. These figures seemed greater than life size but we have read online descriptions saying they are life-size..Olympic plaza built as a venue for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is now an urban park and popular gathering space. It looks so tiny compared to present day Olympic venues. The arch displays the Olympic motto; citius, altius, fortius. The Latin inscription translates to faster, higher, stronger. This wall in the Olympic park our guide said was just for fun. We think they look like whack-a-moles.Old City Hall, the mayor’s office is still just under the clock.A makeshift memorial of shoes, toys and messages has lived on the steps of the New City Hall to serve as a reminder of the horrors of Indigenous residential schools and the children who never came home. Canada had a school system for indigenous children which separated families and tried to weaken their culture. Over 3,000 children died while at the schools over the last century. For more information on this, click HERE.New City Hall is just to the right of the old one.Just a parking garage but there is a basketball court in the center.New Calgary Library. The entire building is oval -shaped. The entrance is framed by wood-clad arches inspired by the shape of arched clouds made by Chinook winds in Alberta. Landscaping around the library and adjoining plaza consists of terracing inspired by the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.The use of natural light is provided by a large slightly shaded oculus in the central library ceiling. It provides a warm light that is constantly changing throughout the day.Day of the Dead installation in the library. The St Louis Hotel in the East Village is a designated heritage site and a storied local landmark where some of Calgary’s most colorful characters made history. Imaginary Horse races took place in the basement where the mayor and other politicians convened every Friday to place bets. It is now renovated and they are recreating the horse races again.Studio Bell is home to the national music center. It is in the shape of a guitar if viewed from above, with the body on the left, neck in center and headstock on the right. The brick building in the center is the old King Edward Hotel.The King Edward Hotel was Calgary’s home of the blues, a legendary club that hosted some of the world’s best musicians. When “The Eddy” was condemned and doomed for demolition local patrons rallied to keep it alive. According to our guide the building was taken apart brick by brick, each numbered and then reassembled on a new foundation which now supports the modern Studio Bell. The music center is a major part of the revitalization of Calgary’s East Village.This art installation is labeled “Device to Root out Evil”. It is an upside down 70 meter high sculpture mounted on a concrete platform, of an upside down country church with its steeple thrust into the ground and base raised up high as if to invite scrutiny from the heavens. It is one of the most recognized sculptures in the world.The old Simmons mattress factory warehouse built in 1912 and is now a riverfront restaurant. It is an excellent representation of the pre WW I industrial buildings. Considered modern for its time it cost $20,000 to build.The Reconciliation Bridge took on its current name in 2017 to facilitate the City’s process of healing and public truth sharing that acknowledges and redresses past harms as referred to above.A Ukrainian church across the river.The Interesting shapes to these condos or apartment rentals reminded us a bit of the Cube Houses we saw in Rotterdam.This is the Bow River Pathway along the banks of the Bow River. It contains a network of pedestrian and bicycle paths connecting parks on both sides of the river which spans 30 miles. It is used for running, walking, cycling, rollerblading and skateboarding.We keep thinking that we have seen the last of the fall colors and then another tree pops up.Entering Calgary’s Chinatown near the end of the tour.Tour group photo in front of the Wonderland Sculpture which is in the shape of a girls head ( possibly modeled after the artist’s daughter) and stands 39 feet tall. The bent wire sculpture was created by Jaume Plensa. It is meant to represent the dreams of the young people of the Province. The Bow building in front of the sculpture is a crescent shaped skyscraper that has been ranked as one of the top 10 architectureal projects in the world.Second night dinner at Saltlik, a rare steakhouse. We did have a great meal here.A Sunday night hockey game at the Saddledome in Calgary. Calgary Flames versus their arch-rival Edmonton Oilers. We saw a few couples wearing opposing jerseys in Saltlik. The Oilers won the game. We wonder how the night ended for this couple?😡This rusting horse, built almost entirely from found metal stood outside the steak house restaurant.Canadian Pacific Railway station in Calgary.Leaving Calgary, our first view of the Canadian Rockies with snow covered peaks.
We really loved Calgary as it seems like such a small big city. Local officials refer to Calgary as “the handshake city” as they feel that Calgarians always strive to be helpful to one another and tourists. At least half of our tour group were from Canada and some of those were from Calgary.
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