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Stephen Avenue Mall

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Calgary

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CALGARy & AREA

Calgary TowerDowntown SkylineGlenbow Museum

Calgary Attractions Bar U Ranch

pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/ab/baru Butterfield Acres butterfieldacres.com Calaway Park calawaypark.com Calgary Attractions calgaryattractions.com Calgary Farmers’ Market calgaryfarmersmarket.ca Calgary Stampede calgarystampede.com Calgary Tower calgarytower.com Calgary Zoo calgaryzoo.org Canada Olympic Park canadaolympicpark.ca Downtown Calgary downtowncalgary.com Eau Claire Market eauclairemarket.com Fish Creek Park tpr.alberta.ca/parks/

fishcreek

Fort Calgary Historic Park fortcalgary.com Glenbow Museum glenbow.org Heritage Park Historical Village heritagepark.ca Inglewood Bird Sanctuary calgary.ca/parks/

naturecentre Kananaskis – Calgary’s Mountain Playground The Military Museums themilitarymuseums.ca TELUS World of Science calgaryscience.ca Savour the City Get your bearings with a panoramic

sweep of the city from the observation deck of Calgary’s premier landmark, the Calgary Tower, where you can dare to teeter across its glass floor at 160 m (525 ft). Time it right and you could dine at its newly renovated, ever-revolving, restaurant in the air – Sky 360. Then zip down for an amble along Stephen Avenue Walk, a lovely historic strip of handsome sandstone buildings and high-end restaurants, galleries and shops. Enjoy the dynamic arts and music scene at a variety of stages including the EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts and the Grand Theatre. Taste the city’s cosmopolitan cuisine downtown or at any number of multicultural restaurants in eclectic neighbourhoods. Or, for an in-depth dining experience take a two-hour guided Urban Safari Tour that blends unique restaurants, famed for regional cuisine, with a little architectural soupçon and local insight into the regional food scene as well as the history of the city.

Child Friendly Calgary Look for the bright yellow sun and green streak of grass if you want the official seal of approval by “kid critics,” employed by an organization that rates attractions, hotels and events in Calgary according to children’s needs. Top marks go to the Calgary Zoo, renowned for its spectacular Destination Africa pavilion and the Canada Wilds area as well as its sleepovers, tours, free feedings, demos and underwater viewing hippo pool. Other big hits with families of all ages are Canada Olympic Park (hop on the fastest zipline in North America or try out its new Zorbing attraction where you roll down a hill in a giant plastic bubble); Calaway Park (western Canada’s largest outdoor amusement park);

the Aerospace Museum; the TELUS World of Science;

Calgary Spaceport; Shakers Fun Centre and Butterfield Acres (a hands-on working farm).

Can you Hear the Drums? From the floor of a tipi, listen to an elder whisper tales of ancient ways. You can almost hear the rumble of buffalo hooves barrelling across the dusty prairies as you discover thousands of years of history of First Nations people at Nitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life, a permanent exhibit at Calgary’s Glenbow Museum. And be sure to tour the Glenbow’s innovative gallery, Mavericks:

An Incorrigible History of Alberta where the story of our colourful province is told through the eyes of 48 mavericks. Ever wanted to wear a Northwest Mounted Police uniform or spend time in a turn-of-the-century jail? Step right up to Fort Calgary Calgary pulses with a youthful,

entrepreneurial energy yet it still respects its humble roots – most evident in the 10 day July whoop-up known as the Calgary Stampede. The city is known as the gateway to the Canadian Rockies, less than an hour’s drive away. Amble down one of the longest urban pathways in North America and rub elbows with folks who are cycling, jogging and roller-blading.

you’ll even see people fishing for trout

in the Bow River – on their lunch hour! _{Public Art}

Heritage Park did you know?

In addition to being one of Canada’s largest cities, Calgary is also one of the youngest and fastest-growing. Other nuggets you need to know:

• Americans make up 10 per cent of Calgary’s one million plus population.

• Calgary’s elegant Stephen Avenue Walk became a National Historic District in 2002.

• The city has a healthy culinary scene, boasting of more than 3,700 restaurants.

• Although Native Blackfoot moved through the area of Calgary approximately 2,000 years ago, nobody stayed put until about 300 years ago when the Sarcee and Stoney natives moved down from the North and began warring on this turf.

• White settlers first arrived in Calgary in the late 1700s. In 1875, Fort Calgary was built at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers.

• The name “Calgary”

comes from Calgary Bay, a remote village on the Isle of Mull in Scotland and is said to translate from Gaelic to “garden in the cove.”

• Calgary is committed to green spaces. We have 29 major parks, 40 regional parks and a total of 7,500 hectares of open spaces, including all parks.

• Calgary has the longest continuous bike path in Canada with 635 km (394 mi) of paved paths.

for a chance to relive the Wild West. Another must-see is the $65 million expansion of Heritage Park Historical Village, replete with a spiffy new car museum, steam train rides, an antique midway, an old-fashioned bakery, candy store and school house – all staffed by highly trained interpreters. Then march through another chapter of our history at the also newly expanded, Military Museums – full of vintage tanks, carriers and WWI paraphernalia.

Spine Tingling Fun Want to dazzle your guests or family with an unusual history lesson that might actually make their blood run cold… well, maybe just tepid? Consider a night of ghostly entertainment that dips into the mischief, mayhem and murders of Calgary. All four ghost tours focus on historic neighbourhoods – Downtown Calgary, Inglewood, Kensington and 17 Avenue SW – and are led by a guide in a black cape with a proverbial lantern.

Which is the Biggest Rock of all? Just south of Calgary in the town of Okotoks is the largest glacial

“erratic” in the world, weighing in at 18,000 tons. A Calgary brewery, Big Rock, and Okotoks itself were named for this giant rock dragged from the Jasper area and deposited 10,000 years ago by glacial ice.

The Adventures of “K Country” Take a short drive west of Calgary, through the foothills of the Rockies, to Kananaskis Country. Discover horseback riding, hiking, canoeing, rafting, fishing, bird watching, overnight pack trips, guest lodges, heli tours and a world-class hotel. An Olympic downhill ski hill, miles of cross country ski trails and a 36-hole golf course are all less than an hour west of Calgary.

Jump to It! Spruce Meadows is one of the world’s top equestrian facilities that hosts 15 major horse jumping competitions annually and offers more than

$6 million in prize money.

More of our Western Ways You could be having a Mojito at a sun-kissed rooftop restaurant in Calgary over lunch and be ridin’ a snortin’, buckin’ bronco 30 minutes later. Your western fantasy lies just 15 minutes north of Calgary, near Balzac, where an

arena is open year-round to put wannabe bronco dId yOu kNOW the Caesar cocktail was first created in Calgary in 1969 by bartender Walter Chell? Today, the Caesar is Canada’s No.1 selling cocktail – more than 250 million Caesars are downed every year. you must try one when you’re here.

Take Calgary’s CTrain (a light rail transit system) downtown and you won’t pay a cent. The route along 7 Avenue is a free-fare zone.

Spruce Meadows Brian keating CALGARy zOO “When I’m

away from the clear water of the Bow River plus the easy access to mountains where I love to hike and

backcountry ski. One of my favourite things to do in Calgary is snorkel down the Bow, looking for fish.”

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CALGARy & AREA

Seven Restolounge

Calgary Stampede Midway

43 Official Alberta Vacation Guide

TELUS World of ScienceFruit Stand near Bragg CreekOkotoks Erratic Rock

dId yOu kNOW that you can rove around Stampede Park any old time, not just during July’s 10 day shindig?

Explore the grounds and you’ll discover who the “Big Four” were.

These heroes are constantly mentioned in Calgary for they were the four businessmen who bankrolled Guy Weadick for $100,000 so he could kickstart the Stampede, back in 1912.

The Big Four were: George Lane, A.E.

Cross, A.J. MacLean and Patrick Burns.

riders through their paces. First, is Bull Riding 101 – a classroom-based, behind-the-chutes look at the sport of bull riding. This is where you get to test your skills on the back of a mechanical bull. Get Bucked is the second course, aimed at graduates who have demonstrated enough chutzpah to ride a live bull in a relatively safe, controlled environment. Fantasy Adventure Bull Riding is the world’s first bull riding school that provides a gritty, personal experience into our wild and woolly past.

Other Nearby Nuggets No time to drive the entire Cowboy Trail? Settle for a sample by popping into Bragg Creek, a funky “western” town, just 50 km (30 mi) southwest of Calgary. This quaint hamlet is full of restaurants, boutiques, antique shops and craft galleries. Nearby is Diamond Valley, “The Heart of the Cowboy Trail,” which includes Turner Valley (tour the Turner Valley Gas Plant Historic Site), Black Diamond, Millarville (great farmers’ market on Saturdays in the summer) and Longview (pop into Ian Tyson’s Navajo Mug for a coffee and some country tunes or pick up a chewy wedge of beef jerky made right on the premises of the Longview Jerky Shop). Can’t get enough of our western ways and stunning high ranch country? Just south of Longview is the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, a fantastic swath of land that tells the tale of how massive and powerful “corporate” ranches were, in their day. Once stocked with 3,000 head of cattle driven north from Montana, it was also renowned throughout North America as a leading breeder of Percherons – some of these draft horses run free today on the ranch’s tumble of foothills.

Another area that celebrates Calgary’s western roots is the nearby town of Cochrane. Be sure to scoop up a cone from Mackay’s Ice Cream parlour while you’re there.

All-Star Workouts You might just find yourself working out next to an Olympic athlete at one of North America’s biggest athletic centres, Calgary’s Talisman Centre or Canada Olympic Park (COP) – future home of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. At COP, you’ll discover the legacy left by the XV Winter Olympics with its luge, skeleton and ski jumping facilities where Olympians from around the planet still train. You’ll spot even more elite athletes in the near future as WinSport Canada’s $276 million expansion rolls out, making this Centre of Sport Excellence the new home of Hockey Canada. Other popular athletic facilities include the speed skating

CALGARy & AREA

The Bar u Ranch Visit this national historic site in Longview and discover our rich ranching history. Use a branding iron. Chow down on buffalo burgers.

ultimate Amusement Calgary’s Calaway Park is western Canada’s largest outdoor amusement park, home to 33 rides including the Samba Spin as well as the Dream Machine and Falling Ace.

Mini-golf, live shows, a midway and an RV park/

campground are part of the complex.

Canada Olympic ParkCalgary Stampede MidwayKananaskis River

Chuckwagon Racing, Calgary StampedeWild Pony Race, Calgary StampedePengrowth Saddledome

“Oval” at the University of Calgary and numerous municipal pools and recreation complexes – many of which, like the Calgary Rotary Challenger Park, are multi-use, barrier-free facilities. If you’re more of a spectator, check out the roster of games and concerts held at the Pengrowth Saddledome – home of the NHL Calgary Flames. Or, McMahon Stadium, where the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders play.

Hollywood North Location, location, location – that’s precisely what movie makers seek when they’re preparing to shoot. If you experience déjà vu, say in a place such as Ranchman’s Cookhouse (Calgary’s top honky tonk dance hall), there’s a very good reason.

That’s precisely where the saloon scene in Brokeback Mountain took place. Or, if Heritage Park looks familiar it might be because Brad Pitt shot a scene there featured in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Even little coffee joints such as the Dairy Lane Milk Bar in the

neighbourhood of West Hillhurst have made it big – in this case in the recently shot, made-for-TV movie, Blue Smoke, based on a Nora Roberts novel.

Calgary Stampede The 10-day summer shindig, known as the “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,”

is more than just a midway or a rodeo. The corporate city of more than a million shuts down, while parties rev up. Streets are lined with hay bales. Pinstripes get traded in for Wranglers and shiny belt buckles.

Free pancake breakfasts happen daily. Platters of

“prairie oysters,” get slurped back as people celebrate our woolly past – when life was full of buckin’ broncos, bulls, steers and corner saloons. But the Stampede is also about the “New West” where oil barons and entrepreneurs flourish, just like those Stetson-wearing cowboys once did. This is exactly the time where you can pony up to a bar with rootin’ tootin’ cowboys or two-step till sun-up. While the entire city gets gripped by Stampede fever the epicentre is Stampede Park, where more than 100,000 people converge each day. Here you’ll find cowboys from all over the planet showing off their skills at the world’s richest outdoor rodeo. Plus a staggeringly large midway, agricultural shows, big-act concerts and a nightly grandstand show complete with fireworks.

dId yOu kNOW that Calgary is the sunniest city in Canada, averaging 332.93 days of sunshine each year?

And the downtown core is crisscrossed with elevated, enclosed sidewalks?

They call them Plus 15s as they’re 4.5 m (15 ft) above street level. There are about 15 km (9.3 mi) of them, linking malls to hotels, museums, restaurants and office buildings.

Winds and Wakes Whether it’s summer or winter, winds always howl across Ghost Lake, luring kitesurfers to this spot, just west of Calgary.

hay days

Experience a dry float in a heated hay bath inspired by Alberta’s cowboy country, and then expand your awareness with pulsating light at Calgary’s Sublime Spa.

Calgary Stampede MidwayBull Riding, Calgary StampedeSaddle Bronc, Calgary Stampede

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