Greg and I meet at 7pm for dinner; we wander down the road for a few minutes. I'm feeling like I should have just stayed in bed!
We had a delicious dinner at a steakhouse and cocktail bar; you can hold the cocktails thanks very much! Needless to say it was a very early night!
Monday (6 July) I wake up my alarm. Never fun and even worse on holiday but we are off to the Calgary Stampede today so there is no time for sleep today!
On exiting the hotel for breakfast the wind hits me like a piece of wood over the head. Brrrr it's chilly here! We finally manage to find somewhere that serves something that resembles breakfast. The first place tried to offer us a beer at 10.20am.....umm no not quite.
We meet Sean back at our hotel then wander towards the stadium for the stampede. Calgary is definitely a checked shirt and cowboy hat city - ye ha! Or as the Cowboys say, giddy up. There is lots of activity around downtown (actually I'm assuming that is where we are....) with the Stampede being on. A great atmosphere; would be awesome to be here all week. BUT not good on the liver!!
It's gone the hour of midday, and given everyone else is doing it, it's time for a beer before we head to our seats to watch the afternoon rodeo. I can say the first one goes down slowly, then that all changes.
The three of us end up sitting together as Greg and I have a spare seat next to us. The afternoon kicks off with band then flying cowboys followed by ladies on horses with their countries flags. I spy a Kiwi flag, woo hoo!!
We are kept entertained throughout the afternoon by six of the major rodeo events – saddle bronc, bareback, bull riding, tie-down roping, steer wrestling and ladies barrel racing.
Wow what a show! There are signs all around the stadium saying "the greatest outdoor show on earth" and they are not wrong. A shame our tickets are only for the afternoon - I could have spent hours and hours here watching everything.
We meet up with Ange then wander around the grounds; it's like a carnival with so many rides and show food.....which unfortunately we need eat. I make a wise decision to go with a plain hotdog; the liquid cheese looks absolutely gross!
On entering a "beer" hall the four of us are asked for I.D. - woo hoo! The legal drinking age is 18 but if you look under 30 you are asked. Yes I’ll take this. After getting our beers we head to the mechanic bull area and sit and watch. Great fun!! The boys decide to get up there and try - amazing!
The heavens open just before it gets dark which is a bit of a pain; within seconds we are all packed under the tent like structure and thankfully not wet! Ange and I decide now is a good time to start chatting to “cowboys”. After it stops raining we decide it's time to leave; I have a (long) flight to take tomorrow and it's been a big few days. Greg, Ange and I walk back into town and decide to go for more drinks....as you do.....before heading back to the hotel.
What an awesome day it's been! Such a shame I'm not here for longer.
Tuesday, 7 July, I'm woken just before 7am by some kind of stampede event across the road from the hotel. Not good when I got into bed after 12.30am! More sleep is needed. I was wise this time and did the majority of my packing prior to us going out yesterday.
I manage to drag myself down the road for some breakfast before getting a taxi to the airport. My time in Calgary has been awesome, but far too short! Time now to return to reality……..
What I'll miss the most about Canada (in no order) is the blue sky, day light savings, the friendly people, the clean air, the fresh food. It’s a country I definitely want to return to one day! What I will not miss is the tipping, can’t you just add that into the total bill please like Hong Kong does?!
No comments:
Post a Comment