The dust is starting to settle on another adventure, my passport has been tucked away, within arms reach, and it’s time to reflect and relish the voyage that just happened and catch up on some blog posts.
The first landing point on my trip home to Canada, was Calgary, Alberta; a city where over 120 languages are spoken by residents in the young city that holds over 1.3 million inhabitants (1).
This is a city I used to call home and where I started my first job, learned how to drive, finished my high school diploma and started my love for traveling.
Although it’s ‘busting at the seems vibes’ don’t appeal to my love for smaller, quaint places, it still holds dear friends and my brother, his wife and the cutest nephew!!!
As we stepped off the plane wondering what time zone we landed in we made sure to search for Canadian Bacon right away (trust me this was top of the desired food list!!), and all sorts of memories started to pounce as though I had never left to study abroad, let alone been gone for two years.
I was with my parents and a friend from Scotland (a brave soul coming on a ‘crazy Canuck’ summer holiday!!). First things first, squish the wee nephew, catch up with my brother and his wife over dinner, but soon, sleep coaxed us under the covers and we dreamed of the adventures ahead and looked forward to our short time in Calgary.
We did what anyone who visits Calgary in July would do…. we went STAMPEDING. The Calgary Stampede is a 10 day experience you should try at least once in your life, that is if you can handle all the cowboy get-ups!!
From my recollection, practically the entire city gets into the spirit of things and dresses up for the occasion, you could be picked up in a taxi by a ‘cowboy’ driver or served a soft-serve ice cream from a McDonald's employee sporting a cowboy hat, over the span of the 10 days that the Stampede comes to town!!!
Something really neat about this fair is that in different parts of the city each morning you can find a free Stampede breakfast with pancakes, bacon, sausages, orange juice, maple syrup etc. The city really comes alive and serves together; hosting people from the ends of the earth that make the trek to take advantage of Calgarian hospitality.
The Stampede is known as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.” It is the world’s biggest rodeo, you can see concerts with big name bands in the evening and throughout the day, there are lots of amusement rides you can go on, First Nations exhibits, agricultural shows, BMX shows, you name it, fireworks end each night after the chuckwagons' dust settles behind their hasty wagon rides (1).
It sure was something to see the Stampede through the eyes of a foreigner and getting to take my Scottish friend to her first rodeo was a great introduction to Canada for her and amusing for me to watch her reactions to things familiar to me yet foreign to her.
The broncos bucked, the bulls lashed out irrationally, calves were roped, barrels were raced, and horses were ridden bareback all in the nick of time before the buzzer sounded it’s alarm, marking the end of every competitors hard efforts established throughout the year in the prep for their big events.
Some of them cowboys sure were eye catching with their shinny belt buckles, blue jeans and plaid shirts, but we saved our drool for the mountain boys and left the stampede with our skin a deep shade of red from the summer heat, re-dried sweat dripping down our backs from the scorching sun, dust on our worn feet, photos on our memory sticks and greasy, overpriced midway food in our bellies.
1. https://www.hikebiketravel.com/30-fun-interesting-facts-calgary/
