When I looked up what was Calgary known for I wasn’t expecting the nickname “Cowtown”to come up. It’s quite a cute nickname given that about 1.2 million people live here and we haven’t seen a cow yet. Calgary has been voted the best Canadian city to live in and the fifth best in the world by Business Insider.

It is a lovely city we have really enjoyed our time here and have of course helped the local economy a little. Steve found us a great hotel out at the airport which was really inexpensive and a great place to stay. So each day we’ve been shuttling from our hotel to the airport and then catching the airport shuttle into town..

Now some photos…

Big Daddy is one of 56 pieces of public art that are all around downtown Calgary. I have probably walked past quite a few of these over the last couple of days without registering – I’ll just have to come back again to report on a few more.

Within the CORE shopping mall is a large indoor park and botanical garden called the Devonian Gardens. There are so many different little spots that you can sit and relax, it is really astonishing. The website describes it is an “urban oasis in the heart of Calgary” and I would completely agree with this description yet another unexpected delight in this city. You can book an event here in the one hectare garden or simply sit with your coffee and have your lunch.

As we were walking through the streets of Calgary we came to this beautiful building and imagine my delight it’s the Calgary Public Library.

This building was opened in 2018 and was $245m CAD to build. The building turned one on 14 September, I would have loved a piece of first birthday cake.

The Olympic Plaza was built in 1988 for the Olympic Winter Games and in winter had the only refrigerated outdoor ice surface in town..if you feel a little like skating in your lunch hour.

We have had the most wonderful time on this trip and Calgary was a most beautiful place to finish our holiday.

Au revoir Calgary it’s been grand 💋.

“Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” Ibn Battuta