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Saturday, November 7, 2009

Calgary

I recently spent several days in the lovely city of Calgary, Alberta. 

Skyline

I was there for an amazing conference, but I did have a few free hours to get out and see the city and some ex-pat Maritimers who live there.  Had a great visit with my old friend Adam (the above photo credit goes to him), and my pals Charlee and Will (below).

Calgary friends

Calgary is a very new city.  St. John's is considered the oldest city in North America.  I would like to take this opportunity to contrast the two - I think you'll agree that they are basically the Yin and Yang of Canadian cities.

  • In Calgary, all the streets are at right angles to one another.  In St. John's, the streets look like something out of a Tim Burton movie.
  • In St. John's, there is a dearth of attractive, eligible men.  In Calgary, the ratio of men to women is approximately 17.5:1.  To all the single ladies:  there are many fish in the sea, but there's nothing wrong with fishing in a stocked pond once in awhile. 
  • In St. John's, there are streets like Monkstown, or Carpasian, or Duckworth.  In Calgary, the streets were named by Donkey Decimal, Dewey Decimal's younger, more boring cousin.
  • In Calgary, you can see for miles around.  The Rockies are off to the west, Edmonton is a faint shadow to the north, and it's so flat you can even see the farmers waving at you from the Saskatchewan border.  In St. John's, you can see fog.
  • In Calgary, no one uses studded tires or a parking brake.  If you don't use those things in St. John's, your car will end up at the bottom of the harbour.
Calgary is just a great spot.  I can really see myself going back to visit some day.  I will now leave you with a glimpse of the most delicious part of my trip.  It was invented in Calgary, and Calgarian bartenders know how to do it right:  the mighty Caesar.

Mighty caesar

This little beauty was a mind-blowing blend of clamato and vodka, spiced with Tabasco and Worchestershire, topped with a hot pickled bean, a pickled asparagus shoot,  a wedge of lime and a dollop of horseradish, rimmed with steak spice...  Yep, definitely going back to visit some day!

2 comments:

Michelle M said...Best Blogger Tips

So I read the M/F ratio as: 17:5:1 and was like, "Hmmm...what's the 1?" Well, 17 or 17.5, either way, sounds good to me! Great post Laura! xo

Will said...Best Blogger Tips

Yes, in Calgary you can watch your dog run away for 3 days, and then write a sad country song about it.

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