We almost did not make the trip. Four days before our scheduled departure to Calgary, my hu*****and came across the unfortunate news on the Calgary flooding, the first in more than 10 years, according to a colleague of mine who's Canadian.
Talk about luck! It also made me think we were never destined to visit Canada. A couple of years ago, we had to cancel our Vancouver trip only a week prior to the scheduled departure date because of my hu*****and's broken leg, and now this...
Fortunately, the road between Calgary and Banff became open on June 26, a day before our trip. So Calgary, here we came!
The road condition was fairly good given how severe the flooding was. It took us about 2 hours from the airport to get to Banff.
The very first thing we saw upon driving into the charming Banff downtown was a deer taking his time crossing the street. It was such a wonderful sight, and it made all the road fatigue instantly disappear.
We stayed just outside Banff downtown in a wonderful two story one-bedroom condo with a loft and hidden in the woods.
The hotel has some kids friendly amenities including an indoor play zone and water slides. Our little boy spotted a poster featuring the play zone in the lobby while I was checking in, and that was the first thing both kids wanted to check out after we unpacked.
The play zone was like a mini Safari Run. Upon the sight of it, the kids were already claiming they "love Canada" :-).
At about 8pm when the play zone closed, we headed out - the plan was to do a little grocery shopping at a nearby Safeway, and then to head downtown for dinner.
It turned out that the Safeway was right downtown, so that was convenient.
The town of Banff could not be more charming. With the mountains as the backdrop, it was a harmonious yet striking blend of nature and nurture.
We settled on a Greek restaurant, Balkan, for dinner.
There were two levels inside the restaurant. Rustic in decor and festival in ambience.
When we walked in, there was a little show going on. Patrons were invited to participate in a Greek dance and learn how to smash plates in a Greek way. We figured smashing plates, in Greek custom, was perhaps a show of happiness and appreciation for a good meal.
The home made pita bread with the trio of dips was heavenly.
My hu*****and was fascinated by how an elk shank would taste, and that was what he ordered, while I went for a lamb shank from its Classic Greek portion of the menu.
I would have to say that the meat was way too much, especially given that I had stuffed myself with all those pita bread. I ended up only finishing the rice and the vegetables on the dish.
By the time we got back, it was deep in the night. Where would tomorrow take us?
- Earth
