Our son, his wife and two sons emigrated to Calgary last January, so it was with great excitement and interest that my wife and I travelled there to visit them in their new home.
When I say they live in Calgary, they actually live in a north-western suburb, several miles and minutes’ driving from the centre of the town. This is interesting in itself, as the high-rise central area can be seen as you approach from miles away. The road system is good, driving easy and parking not too difficult. We also travelled into the centre on the C-Train, Calgary’s tram system, which is very efficient – and cheap!
The centre of the city is concentrated into a relatively small area, making it accessible on foot. We walked around the main/pedestrian part in around half an hour. It is impressive from the point of view of its high-rise buildings and modern architecture, mixed with some older style constructions which reminded us very much of Boston. We visited the Calgary Tower (once the tallest building in the city until progress overtook it!), from where the layout of the city and the suburbs can clearly be seen.
Calgary is also very green, with parks surrounding the centre. We spent time in Prince’s Island Park which is situated just to the north of the city on the banks of the River Bow, where it is extremely pleasant to take refuge from the traffic yet to still be able to admire the views from the green surroundings of the park. Bow Valley Park, a little further outside the town, is popular with families and offers leisure facilities. Visiting in July, we were fortunate to be able to enjoy these areas in the hot sunshine!
The Calgary suburb where we stayed is almost wholly residential, and interesting to see how such a thriving city is developing, and spreading its wings.We are already looking forward to our future visits, not only to see family, but to Calgary itself.
