Calgary, day 2

After a good night’s sleep we were ready to explore more of this lovely city. Our first stop was the small Chinatown not far from our hotel. As we made our way down 4th Avenue we passed this interesting sculpture, which is just one of the many that dot Calgary. To me it looks like a fish jumping out of the water and then back in. The scuptures that we passed, as we walked around, are all very interesting and add a great deal to the city.

Not much to it. There were a good number of people, apparently going to an event, as many passed us wearing name tags and all headed in the same direction.

I captured a couple of additional photos while in Chinatown, which is only a few blocks in any direction. The first is of a small Moon Gate and the second is a small mural painted on the side of a building and last is a dragon dog standing guard.

From Chinatown we were off to the Inglewood section of the city. We decided to take the bike path along the Bow River. The views of the river and the cityscape were terrific. It was fun watching people rafting and canoeing. There were even a few rough eddies in a couple of spots. What follows is a collection of the photos I took during our walk.

We sat down for a moment to take a break. I captured this shot of JoAnn as we took in the view.

Then we were on our way again in search of old Calgary, at least that was how Inglewood was described to us.

Then, after crossing the 9th Avenue bridge, we found ourselves in Inglewood. There was a music festival going on and the street was blocked off around 11th St. There were vendors of all types set up and the crowd was significant.

By this time, my dogs (I really mean my feet) we’re killing me and we went in search of a seat and a cold beer. We found justice at a place called the Cold Garden. Beer was good and the seat was welcome. I took a couple of shots inside.

This part of the city was interesting but nothing to write home about. Maybe it was the festival that detracted from our visit or perhaps we just weren’t in the right location. In any event, before we knew it we were back on the bridge into the East Village, headed for the new public library. Structurally, the library is really outstanding. I took this photo of the odd ”duck” installed outside by the entrance

and then we headed in to take a look. The lobby is really striking.

From the library we walked past the new municipal building and then past the old city hall. Here is a close up view of it.

Here is another view of the skyline.

As we, once again, walked down Stephen Avenue I captured a couple of shots.

I thought the mural was interesting.

I especially liked this saying, posted on this store front, plate glass window.

Makes one think!

Stephen Avenue has something for everyone and it’s a great place to spend a few hours. Many could be spent at an outdoor cafe such as this.

We returned to the Westin to change for dinner and meet a few of our fellow travelers. Drinks and conversation were in the Keg cocktail lounge and 14 people in all were able to make it. It was a nice way to start a tour. At 7:15 we said adieu and called an Uber to take us to dinner.

We had dinner at a delightful restaurant named Teatro. It’s in an old bank building and the atmosphere is very nice. That, and the food was great. We only had two things, a batter dipped and fried calamari, with fried asparagus, artichoke and jalapeño pepper. It was similar to a Japanese tempura. The portion was sizable so we decided to split an entree of wild mushroom risotto. The risotto was superb.

Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for the start of our Rocky Mountain adventure.