Hello From Banff Arrival In Banff And Skiing At Norquay

•Hello From The Canadian Rockies Our First Excursion To Calgary Banff And Lake Louise
My husband and I try to go skiing for a week at least once a year and so far we've been to about 15 different ski resorts on the east coast, anywhere from Ontario to Quebec, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. But we had never been out west in the Rockies. Well, it was time to change that..... So we planned a trip to the Canadian Rockies, and for both of us it was the first time for us to see this majestic mountain range. Just after we landed on March 4, 2006 we started off with a whirlwind...

•Hello From Banff High Altitude Skiing At Sunshine Village
We planned on an afternoon of skiing at Sunshine Village, one of the largest ski resorts in Canada. It is located just 15 minutes from Banff, going west on the TransCanada Highway. Sunshine Village is a pretty historic place and as a ski resort it dates all the way back to 1936. With over 3,300 acres of skiable terrain Sunshine Village is one of the largest ski resorts in Canada. The top elevation is 8,954 feet (2730 m) and the base elevation is 3,514 feet (1070 m). It receives a huge amount...

•Hello From Banff Taking The Gondola Up To Sulphur Mountain And A Last Walk Through The Village
Our skiing had come to an end and I allocated the last full day in Banff to explore some more local attractions while my husband headed into Calgary to do some shopping. We got going at about 11:30 am and Nigel dropped me off at the foot of the Banff Gondola. This historic attraction has been around since 1959 and the gondola was just recently reconstructed and reopened in 1998 and features a state-of-the-art gondola system engineered by a Swiss gondola construction company. On the parking...

•Hello From The Canadian Rockies Part 26 A Final Walk Through Calgary
Our last couple of hours before our departure had arrived. We had left Banff at about 9:30 am and got into Calgary just shortly before 11, parked our car just east of downtown and set off on foot on our final walk to explore a bit more of downtown Calgary. The first place we passed by was Calgary City Hall, a classic sandstone building, located right opposite the Olympic Plaza. Originally constructed for the medal ceremonies for the 1988 Olympics, Olympic Plaza has become a centre of...

•Hello From The Canadian Rockies Skiing In Lake Louise
Lake Louise strikes you for two reasons: the absolutely stunning scenery that surrounds it, and its huge size. Lake Louise is located in a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in Canada's first National Park. It has more than 4200 skiable acres (1700 hectares), which makes it one of the largest ski areas in all of North America. What's nice about Lake Louise, it offers all sorts of terrain, from bunny hills and easy green runs, to manageable blue runs and more difficult single and double-black...

•Kensington One Of The Main Entertainment Areas In Calgary
Calgary is currently experiencing a major boom and one of the most dynamic and fastest growing cities in Canada. It is truly the gateway to Canada's West. During a our trip this spring to Banff and Lake Louise we had a chance to get to get a sneak peek at Alberta's capital and one of the areas I explored is called Kensington, a lively neighborhood featuring a variety of restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries and specialty retailers that has received awards for its shopping opportunities over the...

•Hello From The Canadian Rockies Part 4 Dinner At Il Giardino Meeting One Of Calgary s Most Successful Entrepreneurs
After catching a lovely and much needed rest at the historic Twin Gables Bed and Breakfast we set off to explore the immediate neighbourhood, the restaurant area on 4th Street. We were going to walk, but considering I had been really sick with an aweful chest cold in the last few days, venturing out into the cold evening air had me a little leery. Henry from the Twin Gables was really kind to offer us a drive a few blocks up to a restaurant called Il Giardino, one of the places that had come...

•Exploring Ontario In The Winter Hello From Barrie
Our winter getaway over the last two days was supposed to include a couple of different activities: snow-tubing and outdoor skating. Well, our outdoor skating fell through, due to the extraordinarily warm conditions, however, we had a beautiful day yesterday on Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie, where we enjoyed some great outdoor time on frozen Lake Simcoe. Today, after our delicious filling breakfast at Nicholyn Farms Bed and Breakfast, we headed off for another adventure: snowtubing at Horseshoe...

•Hello From Victoria Part 1 Reaching The West Coast
Jetlag is an amazing thing. It's barely after 5 am and I have already been reading for an hour an a half. So I figured I might as well use this bout of sleeplessness and record my first impressions of British Columbia. My WestJet flight out of Toronto left a 7:15 am yesterday, so that meant I got up at 4:30 am, after 2.5 hours of sleep, to check all my luggage, eat a brief breakfast and get myself out to the airport. Sometimes a little travel savvy goes a long way, I had decided to use my...

•Hello From Orlando Part 20 The Walking Hall Of Fame Of The PGA Father Son Challenge At ChampionsGate
After our exciting round at Mystic Dunes, it was only mid-afternoon on a gorgeous day with blue skies, so we decided to take a 10 minute drive and drop in on the Father Son Challenge at Champion's Gate, which has been held for the last 3 years at this golf course in the South part of Orlando. You can't miss Champion's Gate, when you first get off exit 58 on the I-4, the impressive main entrance gates to Champion's Gate are right there. The Father Son Legend is truly a walking Hall of Fame of...