Calgary - The City
Some shots of the city taken 26th January 2012. The first shots are taken from Edworthy Park to the west of the city
This shot is the condominium jungle where we spent our first few weeks, it was useful to be in the city as we had to visit government buildings for various things (driver license, healthcare registration etc) but after a few weeks we were ready to move to our house.
Kensington Bridge over the Bow River, it had been solid ice for a week but has started to thaw a little this week, the ice is still incredibly thick; the lumps are caused by the moving water pushing the ice sheets together over time.
through Kensington bridge there is a tram bridge crossing the river with a pedestrian walkway beneath
further along the path the pedestrian walkway is clear as are the riverside pathways that follow the Bow River through the city.
there is never a shortage of joggers along the pathways.....I'm more of a walker myself ; )
toward Prince's Island Park now, the new 'Peace Bridge' is taking shape. Calgary is still growing incredibly fast despite the recession and building work of all kinds is being undertaken throughout the city
Crossing the bridge to the park that is created by a split in the Bow River resulting in the island, the calm waters are still frozen solid which suits the locals just fine as we will see shortly
the island has many picnic areas with tables provided, for those who forgot the picnic basket there is the river cafe.
now we see why the locals like to see the river frozen over
the ice is kept snow free by the use of a small cart with a large brush on the front, it is split into sections for skating, hockey and kids
when the ice is 'cut up' a little they simply get a huge fire hose out and make some more fresh smooth ice
the bridge back to the city bounces up and down like its made of rubber and reminds me of that one in London that ended up being closed and strengthened, I reckon this one needs some of that, it moves far too much
down in china-town I passed the ice carvings that had been made for the Chinese new year, still there with little sign of melting....
Sarah works downtown in the older part of the city, the building on the left with a three stepped top, she is up there somewhere with a nice mountain view
the street along in front of Sarahs building is pedestrianised as are a number of others during the daytime, this makes wandering the downtown stores in this older part of the city easy and enjoyable.
it is surprising what you find lurking around the corners of the old downtown area
The tower is a big part of the downtown scenery, perhaps not so impressive by modern standards it was a significant structure in its time and still houses a wonderful rotating restaurant with unbeatable views of the entire city, and a glass walkway for those brave enough
new and old mix quite well in the downtown area, the older buildings bringing character to the area as the Calgary Grain Exchange shows below
the beautiful 'Art Deco' walkway from the Palliser hotel still bears the name of the original owners
not far away there are other reminders of the great Canadian rail road
Everywhere you look there are glass walkways crossing the streets forming the +15 system (15 feet off the ground) which began life in the 1960's and has mushroomed with the city and now covers more than 10 miles meaning on those cold winter days you can stay indoors whilst you shop around the downtown area.
the tram system takes up the entirety of 7th Avenue downtown and provides free transport from 10th street through to city hall, Sarah and I use this great service all the time
the supreme court building beside the 4th street tram stop
these galloping horses are enamelled and hold smaller artworks within their shape, we like these.
there is much much more to Calgary than these photos show, with the exception of the Edworthy Park shots at the start of this page, all of these photos are within a small walking distance around the downtown area. More shots will follow in time, but these give you some flavour of the heart of the city.