Deve’s Blog

(photo set here)

After getting to Banff in the afternoon, we went on to take possession of our rooms, some very nice 4-people chalets; but Mike and I got like and had one all for us… They’re just out of town, but in a few minutes by taxi or 20 minutes on foot you can get there easily.

After a shower we headed to the Bow River Falls, for the traditional group photo… with a little accident… good ol’ Bear, next to me in the pic, lost his balance and fell from the little wall we were standing on… trying to keep up, he hanged on to me, literally ripping off a part of my polo shirt, under the right arm! We had no time to get back to the hotel, but fortunately the temperature was quite cool, so I could cover up the problem by wearing a cardigan…

The dinner was included, honestly I can’t remember the place… maybe it was Melissa’s Restaurant? Could be… dinner was not bad, even if there wasn’t any really nifty food; we stayed in the bar are for a while, playing pool and foosball, before Ron led us to Wild Bill’s Saloon (dedicated to the Bill Peyto whose name was given to the omonimous lake…) for a cocktail and some country music, before getting a taxi back to the hotel.

The following morning we went to the bottom of Suplhur Mountain, where we caught the gondola up, for a really good view. After some pictures and a sandwich for lunch, some brave people (me, Mike, Kylie, maybe also Emily, but I don’t remember exactly who else…) decided to go down on foot and not on the gondola again, walking on the trail along the side of the mountain… we managed that in one and a half hour or so, passed by the hot springs, then onto a trail again and payed a visit to the imposing Fairmont Banff Springs, twin hotel of the Château Frontenac we had already seen in Québec City.

Quite tired, we hailed a taxi to get to the hotel, where we only have half an hour to rest, as we’re leaving again for the afternoon excursion… horseback riding with barbecue! It was my first ride, but it went well (even if the usual discharge of responsibility signature before leaving had us a bit upset)… the horses were very calm, with “american training” (reins to the left or right to turn, reins pulled to slow down or go reverse, heel kick on the belly to go forward or accelerate), and as we were all moving in a column, with the guides escorting us, there were no problems. My horse was called Adair and it carried me around for 45 minutes of walking, through classic Canadian landscapes, until we reached the barbecue place. It was quite enjoyable, evne if the position you’re sitting in isn’t very comfortable, and the day after many of us had various pains in muscles whose existence we had ignored untile then… Also, at the few times the horses decided to trot a bit, my family jewels were seriously endangered…

The barbecue was not bad, a nice steak just how like them, unfortunately the place was full of mosquitoes, although they weren’t very aggressive. We also practiced with the lasso a bit… but with very lame results

We then got on the saddle again, heading back on a different route, going uphill in the woods, and got back to the ranch; I wasn’t expecting it, but it was a really nice experience, although I don’t think I’ll ever be a skilled horseman…

For the evening, a great touch by Ron… Thursday night at the Hoodoo Lounge it was ONE DOLLAR DRINK NIGHT! Until 11 pm, all the cocktails (mostly vodka and orange or rhum and coke…) were 1 dollar, and you could take up to two at a time (but if you wanted all “here and now” you only had to get back in the queue). Well, such awesome scenes! Pyramids of empty glasses, people coming back with 4 drinks in their hands… And before 11 they even had a countdown on the monitors around the place! I got to 7 cocktails, slightly dizzy but not drunk… instead poor Kelly ended up bending in half and puking on the floor… well, nothing too bad, just some hangover the day after, and ready to go
On a cultural note: the Hoodoo giving the name to the venue is not the folk magic, but one of the geologic formations that are typical in the area

The morning after was a free one; waking up with no rush, Mike and I went for a nice walk from the hotel to downtown Banff, which unfortunately wasn’t at its best because of many road renovation works going on. A very frequent joke among Canadians is that Canada only has two seasons: “winter” and “construction”… indeed because of the very rigid temperatures, it’s not possible to work in winter on roads or contruction yards, so these works end up concentrating around summer.

As we strolled throught the town we decided to get to the Bow River Falls, where we had taken our group picture, walking along the river; then we came back and had a healthy carnivorous lunch at the awesome Grizzly House, where without hesitation I went for a 45 dollars Hunter’s Fondue: buffalo, wild board and venison, to be cooked at the moment on a hot stone, with various sauces to go with… magnificent, especially the boar was great! And to close off with a bang, a nice Chocolate Fondue… yum…

Back to the hotel we met Ron and Dave, who took the people who signed up for it to the heliport, for a 30 minutes fly over the glaciers.
We got there a bit early, so we had to wait a while, but it was not a problem. Before getting on, Bear and I played rock-paper-scissors to determine who was taking the front row seat, next to the pilot: I don’t think I had ever tied so many games in a row… 6 of them! But in the end… I won! And the flight in the front seat was absolutely cool, both for the magnificent view (even the underside of the cockpit, where I had my feet, was transparent!) and because I was 20 cm away from all the flight controls, which always fascinated me… I had never been on a helicopter before, and it was great… lifting lightly in the air, without shakes… I think the flight was the “Mt. Assiniboine Glacier Helicopter Tour” described on this site; we spaced from panoramic high-altitude flying to a few dozens of metres, or maybe less, right over the glaciers… simply wonderful!

Back to the hotel, for the last evening in Banff we ordered some pizzas, which we ate all together outisde the hotel, played some poker (Mike is a big fan) and spent the evening in a bar nearby, playing foosball (and Mike is an expert of this, too) and trying some karaoke… Actually the bar was quite crowded (and veeeery hot), so everyone had to wait a lot for their turn to sing… Mike and I sang together, “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf… definitely a not-to-be-missed exhibition!

Unfortunately the following morning we left Banff, ready to go back to British Columbia… Vancouver again, for the last dinner together!