Things to do in Calgary:
After a 90-minute drive, we dropped off our rental car at Avis. I found driving on Canadian highways to be a pleasant experience. We selected the downtown Marriott which appears to be in the center of town and convenient to tourist attractions. We took the 300 bus from the airport which dropped us off right in front of our hotel. Calgary has a population of 1,481,00 in its metropolitan area. This makes for the 5th largest city in Canada. It has been described as a clean and livable city which I agree.
Calgary Free City Walking Tour
A good introduction to a city is a free walking tour. There is no charge for the tour. The guide works on tips. We have done this all over the world. You can google for operators in each city. We tried Toonie Tours. Their website looked promising. They offered us a 3-mile/4-hour afternoon tour. Our guide was Jamie. He’s a Calgary native who had a great feel for his hometown.
We met at the foot of the Calgary Tower. Then it was on to the Fairmont Palliser Hotel. This is another one of the great early 20th-century (1914) hotels built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Please refer to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel that was in the previous post. These Canadian Pacific hotels evoke the “Gilded Era”. A lot of the older buildings in the central area are of sandstone construction which makes for an attractive look.
We headed eastward on 8th Avenue (Also known as Stephen Ave.) This downtown portion is a pedestrian street with lots of restaurants, shops, and people. Also, there are many neat buildings. The street led us to the Olympic Plaza which was used for the award ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics. Now it’s a lovely urban park today with comfortable seating and an attractive fountain.
Walking Tour: Telus Building
Always on the lookout for unusual buildings, we came across the Telus Sky building (2019). This Is a 729-foot, 59-story mixed-use tall building in downtown Calgary. The lower floors are office space for Telus Sky and the upper 32 floors would be for residential space. A unique feature would be the northern and southern facades which contain LED light strips which put on a terrific light show each evening. Our hotel room faced the south side of Telus Sky and it was definitely a treat each night to view that light show.
Walking Tour: Library and Core Shopping Center
Continuing our tour, we came upon the library. This building is world-class. Imaginative exterior and interior as well. This is on the east side of City Hall. This has led to a revitalization of the East Side. Plenty of new apartment buildings. The idea is to encourage more people to make downtown Calgary their residence. and It seems to be working.
Finally, we made our way to the Core Shopping Centre. The Core is the retail heart of Calgary with about 160 stores on four levels. It connects to several major office buildings. It spans three major city blocks One of the unique features of the Core is a large indoor park and botanical garden known as the Devonian Gardens. The gardens have over 550 trees, a living wall, fountains, and a koi pond. The gardens are located on the fourth or top level.
The Calgary Tower:
After our tour, we went to the Calgary Tower which opened in 1968. Its height is 626 feet with an observation deck at 517 feet. The observation deck contains a rotating restaurant. A fun feature is a glass floor extension. You go on it and look face down at downtown Calgary. What an exciting feeling. They said that this glass floor could withstand 6000 pounds of pressure. which is definitely reassuring.
Calgary is a lively town. Would not mind a return trip. Now on to Vancouver for the last leg of our Western Canadian trip.
