Well....guess what? We're back and it gets more amazing every time we visit. Downtown Calgary is a City and we can honestly say, apart from Zakynthos as that was our home for many years, we just hate leaving Calgary. No beaches, no tourist bars, no swimming pools, no Union Jacks or bars advertising "Full English Breakfast" it's a real working city and we love it.
So settle back in a comfy armchair or in bed as you will either be bored to death, fall asleep or be glued to reading this update as it will be very long and lots of piccies.
I am starting this blog update different to all the others with a special shout out first to someone who made our visit this time very special...Dylan
I have always wanted a tattoo but it had to be the right time, the right reason and the tattoo studio had to feel right for us as Sian also wanted some special meaning tattoo's, not just tattoo's for the sake of having a tattoo and HIGHWIRE Tattoo was the place that felt right for us.
We chose an artist in Downtown Calgary because one each of our tattoo's was to do with our wedding in Calgary in 2024 so a tattoo artist in Calgary just made sense to us plus we both wanted a second tattoo.
I looked through many tattoo artists in Downtown Calgary and there are loads of them but HIGHWIRE felt like the perfect place. So, months before we were about to arrive i sent them an email and our ideas for designs as we both knew what we wanted and within 24 hours we had a reply "No Problem" and after that first initial reply they were so helpful, they never ask for a deposit and they set a date for consultation and a tattoo date.
We had our consultation at the studio the day after we landed on the 15th and we were very jet lagged. We were met by Dylan and he was so so helpful and we were in and out within minutes after explaining what we wanted and again "No Problem" and again no deposit, now that's trusting.
In the UK you'd have to pay at least a £60 = $110 CAD deposit as that was what i had to pay for Sian's Foo Fighters tattoo and that was a month in advance of tattoo date.
We had been given a tattoo date of the 25th.
The 25th came around and we headed back to HIGHWIRE tattoo and met with Dylan again and the designs we explained we wanted to him were there for us to see and Dylan had match perfectly our description in his amazing designs.
Dylan tattooed Sian's 2 tattoo's first as Sian had had a few tattoo's before and Dylan has such a calming nature about him that before we knew it Sian's tattoo's were done.
Because Dylan was such a laid back easy going person i had no worries or doubts in having my first tattoo's and again before i knew it my tattoo's were done and all through it Dylan was so calming, so much so i was more relaxed than before i went in.
And for all my world wide blog readers here are Dylan's amazing designs after just being freshly inked.
These are Sian's designs made reality by Dylan
The first one is on the side our Sian's body and Sian said it's the best tattoo she's ever had. It's a Maple leaf within a Prince's Coronet as a symbol of Canada and Prince's Island where we got married with the date we got married.
I wanted a simple design that captures a place, a time and the best moment of my life. The place and date are obvious and the "C" logo is for Calgary and is also the logo for Calgary Flames hockey team which we love watching and that is on the top of my right arm
And my second tattoo is on the top of my left arm which is also a memory that stays with me. Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in London and a copy of Taylors hawk tattoo. Then the date of my first Foo Fighters concert with Sian and the Foo's "FF" logo with a carved into skin effect, this concert was also 2 days before we flew out to Calgary for the Stampede.
We couldn't have asked for better designs or a better artist than Dylan.
Now for the cost.......$525.....Do you know how much that is for all that design work, all that time taken and perfect experience.........just £285...i mean...that's mind blowing....4 large perfectly designed tattoo's for only £285 and that was with the tax added. I had to leave Dylan a tip as that felt so little an amount for so much precise perfect work.
To Dylan, we're back in 2027 for the Stampede so keep a 1pm slot open for us as we both want another tattoo each, i got my idea for a design already. Thank you and your studio so so much, it was an amazing experience.
And now on to the blabbering crap of my stream of consciousness writing 😂
Sian started off our 4th Calgary Vacation with a book cover for this update
It looks awesome but just one thing is wrong....Sian was the star of this vacation and she deserves to be front and centre with Squidly not me but it's still an amazing book cover so thank you for that.
We wake on the 13th March and it's Canada Day, not the real Canada Day as that's July 1st but it's our Canada Day. With bags in tow it's off to Barker's for the traditional travel breakfast.
Sian with Porridge and fruit, me with granola and Greek yoghurt.
I won't waste to much writing on the day before we fly but lets just say good job we reserved seats on the train to Paddington, glad we booked tickets on Heathrow Express and great to relax in a hotel before we fly out the next day. We know how to start a vacation.
Can you tell we're excited?
Day 1 ~ 14th March ~ Calgary here we come!
We have a great flight time from Heathrow of 3pm so we leave our room at 10.30am, check our bags in at 11am and sit in the coffee and chill. Now then, because we had free flights with Air Canada, well, not free, they cost us £150 for 2 return flights BUT that was only with 2 cabin bags and 2 personal bags, no hold luggage, that was extra at the cost of £60 per bag of 23kg if we wanted to add it. Being as we wanted to take larger winter clothing and an empty bag to bring back lots of goodies we had a suitcase to check in. We went to the check in desk and put the suitcase through to pay the £60, then we were asked did we want our cabin bags to go through for free, so of course we said yes. As the 3 bags went through i stood there with my bank card waiting to pay for the suitcase and was told "There you go all done". I didn't have to pay, what a great start. We skip off happy, YAY!
Boarding was on time and smooth and we have booked seats with extra legroom in first row of economy. Our little legs need all the room they can get 😆 and we're off.
Due to the buzz of going back to Calgary we don't sleep, there is no chance of that.
As we're coming in to Calgary we saw a sight that was identical to our trip in 2020....SNOW that ain't clouds!
When our bag came round the belt we could see it was ripped. I checked what to do and was told to take it to Air Canada's baggage department. We found out where it was and off we went.
We showed the ripped bag to the Air Canada assistant.
The assistant said "We don't have any duffle bags, is a suitcase ok" we say yeah that's fine. Out from the back he brings a brand new Air Canada suitcase with a price tag of...wait for it....420$ that's £225. Can you imagine that happening in the UK. No chance, it would be "Fill in this form" "Wait 14 days" "Come collect your bag" and it will be the cheapest naff bag they could get.
I had pre~booked taxi's for arrival and departure and we were whisked away to our apartment...lets hope it looks like it's pictures......
and it does.
Second Bedroom
and below our balcony, our local pub St James on corner at top of pic and Starbucks on opposite corner at side of pic, what more could you ask for.
It's been the last day of the 6 Nations Championship but we're hours behind the UK and we arrive 7pm Canada, 1am UK and the Ireland game was at 10am in Calgary. Let's go to St James Irish pub , our local, we need a drink and it's most probably died down by now.
NOPE!
We have just the 2 in there as it's been a long day and we know the dreaded jet lag will be kicking in at some point.
Nigh. Nigh Calgary. Oh....hang on......we've pinged wide awake at 3.30am....here we go.
Day 2
It's tattoo consultation day but you've already heard about that so it's off to Jamo's where we had our wedding party and Sian always kicks my ass at shuffleboard.
NOOOOOoooooooooo! They taken the shuffle board away and replaced it with a pool table, WHYYYYYYYYY? Ah well, beers and dill pickle salted chicken wings it has to be then.
The wings are the best, dry, crispy and zinging with dill pickle salt.
A few beers later and Jet lag is kicking in and by now it's evening time. We need to get a grip of this jet lag as it took us 4 days the last 3 visits.
Lets have a sneaky one in Garage Games & Sports bar before we head home and see if they have a shuffleboard.
No, no shuffleboard but they do have a lime and sea salt lager which tastes really really good and it's in cute glasses. Beer made by Four Dogs Brewing company.
Ugggghhhhhhh! 3.30am again. We'll watch the pretty lights from bed.
Day 3
I think we need to get some shopping in as we were starving and no snacks in and waking at stupid o'clock in the morning your body thinks it's food time. Hang on, the pubs open, let's just have a quick breakfast pint to start the day off. Great idea.
Cheers!
Let's do this now we've had some liquid fuel.
All Canadian supermarkets make our UK supermarkets look like Poundlands.
Shopping done with just a few treats and we're booked in to Calgary Tower for an evening meal which we know is going to be good.
Table booked for pm and we'll have the table for 2 hours so we'll see the sunset and the city light up in the darkness.
We make our way up to the top of the tower and are shown to a booth that looks directly out of the window over the city, it's a great place to have a meal.
Pre~meal cocktails, don't mind if we do!
Lets get some starters, Ahi Tuna and Calamari, tastes so goooood!
We'll that didn't touch the sides, lets get our mains out here.
Oh look...there's the Saddledome, see you soon.
Roasted half a duck for Sian and Bbq Alberta chicken for me.
We're stuffed but i think we have room for a night cap.
Look at all the pretty lights and the Saddledome all lit up.
Thank you for an amazing night and for being Mrs. P.
Day 4 ~ St Patricks Day
This is going to be a good day. We have been the only people allowed to reserve a table at Jamo's as the manager told be via email they are full all day and night with walk ins so we feel very honoured.
For St Patricks day i had bought Sian a Calgary Flames original St Patricks Day vintage game Jersey of the player TJ Brodie who played for Calgary Flames from 2010 till 2020 and also played for Canada in 2013 World Championship along with this jersey Sian added a Murphy's Stout beanie, she looked so good.
We do our usual shots and a few more beers while we watch the band.
Heard this song before somewhere!
And they played one of my fav's, Shaboozey ~ "A bar song(Tipsy)"
Then we had the Irish dancing.
Nice bit of entertainment, the Irish band were good, the dancers were amazing and the Atomic Guinness was going down a treat, oh and a few baby Guinness shots to top it all off.
Sian with the younger dancers of the group.
Time to move on and head to a bar closer to home as can feel the effect of Atomic Guinness kicking in, we decide on Four Dogs Brewing Company. As we enter this pub we find that almost everyone has their dog with them as this is a bar for dog owners, what a great idea, we love it. Sian see's a Dachsund and takes it a treat to snaffle down while i order the drinks.
The bar is set up well and also has allot of bar and doggie merch for sale and there beer pump stand is a dog house and the beers are named after regular dogs to the bar..
I had and "Elvis" stout named after a black Labrador and Sian had a St Patricks cocktail.
Day 5
Even with a good ol' drinking session yesterday we're still up early and bright as a button. I think we now have the art of drinking down to a tee. Don't mix your drinks, drink water before bed, wake up fine. We decide to take a walk over to Prince's Island to revisit our wedding venue and to have a walk around the island as the day is sunny and bright.
Sian's traditional pic on the way to Prince's Island.
As we're walking along the day is becoming quite warm and it's not even 11 o'clock by this point, we weren't expecting this at all, sunny yes but not warm.
As we come off Prince's Island they have now developed a beach area at the side of Bow River which is great idea as in the summer it does get very hot as we found out so this in the middle of a city is perfect.
We carry on along the river bank and in to the Chinese District and we find a huge Red Panda chair, we like Red Pandas.
It's very expensive but very good, it even numbed Sian's tongue. Dentists take note, use this on your patients.
After a few in The Unicorn we head back to St. James corner for a sneaky one.
We decide were not done yet and Calgary Flames are playing in an hour so we try a bar we've always walked past that has discounted drinks when Flames are playing and what a find, it became another fav of ours....Bottle Screw Bill's or as it's known BSB.
Day 6
How did we get home? i can remember us having a great time watching the hockey, a few beers and.....oh yeah....the shots....that's why i can't remember the walk home.
Never mind, a good night and day had by all and feel fine once again. Off to the Zoo we go.
Our third visit to the Zoo in Calgary but you can't beat a zoo and the animals and it's a lovely warm day again.
Lot's of animals
And Sian's fav the Penguins
It takes us 3 hours to walk around the zoo and it was a great day, warm, lots of animals out and about BUT very disappointed.....our Red Pandas have been moved out for a new enclosure to be built, no fair!
Even though it's warm it was only a couple of days ago we landed in to snow and blizzards and the ice is still thick on Bow River.
Time to head back in to the centre Downtown Calgary as it's now late afternoon and we need a drinky and something to eat so let's go get some Frickles from Social Bar.
Hmmmm, pretty bog standard presentation, it looks like the pan they were cooked in, wasn't like that the last time.
But the taste does not disappoint....they are amazing.
Still early evening as we leave Social so lets have a sneaky one in a bar across the road from apartment. In fact we 5 have bars across the road from apartment, Proof, which is a upper class wine bar (Not for us i'm afraid), Four Dogs, a doggie bar, St James Irish Corner Bar, Home & Away, music was shit so we never went in and Leopolds, a bar with a jukebox. We opt for Leopolds as we haven't been in there yet.
Not a bad little bar, beer was most expensive we've had since being here, jukebox is good, we love a jukebox in a pub and it's quite comfortable BUT it's just full of shit that all looks a bit grubby.
Jukeboxes are great but the new ones that link to an app you use 1 credit to add a song on pay 2 credits to add a song and skip to the front. So we put songs on but someone in the bar after our first song added more songs and skipped them all to the front so by the time we had finished our pints the rest of our songs hadn't played, Boooooooooo! Ah well.
Now i bet your thinking at this point "They're six days in and all they've done is eat and drink themselves clever" yes, clever, most people say "Drink themselves stupid" but were already daft before we start drinking so we drink ourselves clever. Not true, we've sorted our tattoos, found new drinking holes, found new drinks and been to the zoo but tomorrow the vacation really starts AT THE SADDLEDOME!
Day 7
What's all this about we've woken up to. You can't see the tower, oh dear.
Up and out early for a coffee at Waves Coffee House, very nice little place, comfy chairs and chilled music. We got a long day ahead of us.
As we make our way over to the Stampede area we get a first glimpse at Calgary Flames new arena being built in time for Season 2027~28. It's going to be a huge place but it won't have the same iconic saddle roof feature like the Saddledome, such a shame that.
The Saddle dome is much nicer but it is outdated now.
And in to the Stampede area we go.
The last time we were here you could just about see 2 feet in front of you due the masses of people here for the Stampede ~ The Greatest Show on Earth. Today there is just us wandering around remembering the great times we had here in 2022 when i proposed to my beautiful Sian in front of a stand full with thousands of people and fireworks, in 2024 when we got married and was here for Canada Day. You only have to stand here and all the excitement of those visits just come flooding back. Stampede 2027 maybe?
We walk out of Stampede Area and over to Lindsay Park which is behind our apartment building.
SQUIZZLES!
It's another warm day and time to head back to get ready for our first Calgary Flames game....first lets have a drinky on the way back.
Well we are going to watch the Flames so i'll have a Flames beer.
Sian saying cheers to our apartment block, that's how far we have to walk after a beer, that's deadly 😁
IT'S HOCKEY NIGHT!
Excitement builds as we walk towards the Saddledome and we're just so looking forward to our first NHL game since March 2020. Tonight it's against the current Stanley Cup Champions, Florida Panthers.
We get checked in through security and it's like going back home, everything is a as clear as the first game we walked in to in 2020, the atmosphere, the bar, even the smell. That may sound strange but ice hockey venues have a certain smell which is a mix of beer, fried foods and cold air. It didn't seem like it had been 6 years ago to almost the same date that we were in this bar.
We love this place!
Sian loves a man in uniform, even better with a cowboy hat. Sian doesn't get this excited when i put my milkman uniform on, ah well, as long as Sian's happy 😂
The Sports Network game commentators, ice hockey equivalent to Gary Lineker and just sat there with the public, that's nuts and no one bothering them.
What great seats and at the snippet cost of just £40 each for an NHL game, think about, Cardiff Devils ticket is about £27~30 for a good seat, so £40 for a much higher calibre of game is a bargain and some of these players were in the Canadian and American Olympic teams.
Hang on is that......
What the......
It's Mrs.P. in the top left hand side of the jumbo vision above middle ice.....Sian's famous.
IT'S GAME TIME!
And the flames win! 4~1 We go away happy fans and Sian's jersey was once again the star of the day, very popular with the fans and manager Ben at the Saddledome and the women loved Sian's nails.
Tomorrow more hockey, this time Calgary Hitmen who play in the WHL (Western Hockey League) that is a junior hockey development league for younger players who may later get picked in the drafts for the NHL.
Day 8
Calgary Hitmen Day
Wow, what a complete 180 change in weather.
Out for breakfast this morning but just a quick short walk to Egg Club. This is a small shop that makes sandwiches with eggy brioche bread, never had anything like it before and they tasted amazing. Sian had a meat lovers with bacon, sausage patty and cheese with the egg club sauce and i had a lobster filled one. So F**king good!
Full up and ready for the day ahead we decide to walk off our breakfast through the snow and take a quick selfie along the way.
It's so bloody cold i had to go and buy a scarf after this picture.
To cold for beers at the moment so lets get back to apartment, chill out and then head off to the Hitmen game.
Off to the hockey house once more , a few beers first.
For Hitmen games they only have the lower tier open but we are now watching future NHL players, well, some will be. In fact we saw Calgary Flames latest signing Calgary Hitmen's captain Axel Hurtig play in this game and he got signed to the Flames NHL team the day we left Calgary.
So close to the game but you miss all the action along the closest boards.
Hitmen win 8~5. Good standard of hockey being as all under 20, just as good as a Devils game.
The night is still young so lets head off to BSB for a sneaky beer and SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS!
Day 9
What a change once again in the day. This is so mind blowing. Not a trace of the show from the day before in Downtown.
Off for our daily walk and morning coffee and it's another chilly day. I just can't get my head around these temps. One day it's sunny 20deg, the next it's sunny -2deg, the next it's blizzards -14deg and the next day it's sunny and -12deg. My little brain hurts.
We walk over to Prince's island and all around it.
Three games in a row and tonight it's Flames once again against the Tampa Bay Lightning who won the Stanely Cup in 2020 and 2021
We start off in our usual bar The Hockey House.
Cheers!
Close game but we win 4~3 in over time. We must be their lucky mascots. We leave as happy fans!
Oops, we fell in to BSB again. So here's a fact we found out on this night. To save time i ordered 8 shots of Fireball with our beers but were told we could order 4 shots and then another 4 shots later, the maximum BSB would serve in one go to a customer is 2 shots. What we forget is that over here the shots were all doubles. I think that's a great rule BUT it didn't stop us having the 8 shots i originally ordered and then we worked out why we can't remember the walks home. Instead of us thinking we've had 4 25ml shots each we've in fact been having 8 25ml shots each, as the shot glasses are 50ml and we still wake up fine but just can't remember how we got home or how we ordered food.
Cheers!Hic!
Day 10
Today is a very special day...It's MR.PRETZEL DAY and a afternoon happy hour bar crawl of bars we haven't visited on the second main bar avenue, 8th Avenue.
Folks, until you've had a Mr.Pretzel freshly made sea salt basic pretzel you don't know what a pretzel is. We have them every time we're in Calgary and Birmingham and they are the best.
Original Joes.
Drink 1
Only us in the bar, bars nothing much to look at or take pictures of, staff seemed bored and beers were ok, music was Meh!, nothing special 2/5, we went we saw, we doubt we'd go again.
The James Joyce Irish Pub
Drink 2
The decor
The set up was good, the music as it should be in an Irish bar was all Irish music, the bar person was a bit moody considering only 8 people in, beers were good Irish made beers. Bet St. Patricks day was manic in here 3.5/5, just felt a bit lacking in real character even with all the Irish memorabilia.
Bank & Baron.
Drink 3
Getting a little merry.
.jfif)
Oooh, what's in here?
We liked it in here, maybe 10 people in here, staff were polite, beers were good, best music in a the bars so far and felt very comfortable in here. 4/5 and is has made it on to our fav list.
Murrieta's Bar
Drink 4, how many fingers am i holding up? First time we've ever had heated warm olives and they were very good indeed.
This was now the best bar of the pub crawl. Very chilled out, comfortable, great beers, think i had a banana beer or a pineapple beer, can't remember at this point but i know we enjoyed them. Music was something for everyone but Taylor Swift came on so it loses 1/2 a mark. final score 4.5/5 and on to our favs but unfortunately it's the bars last year in this venue as the owner of the building is putting up the rent and the owner of the bar won't pay it so he's moving out to a venue next door.
The Unicorn????
Hang on, we already have this bar in our favs. Oh i see, we're going in to try a new shot. That sounds good to me.
Drink ......what number is it?.....oh yeah ....5
All beered out we go for cocktails today in here and the new shots......Jose Cuervo Devils Reserve
As the shot was poured you could smell jalapeno Chilli coming out from the glass, i mean it was really strong smell. We were thinking this is going to blow our lids off. Here we go!
Very merry by 7pm and now starving, I WANT DRAWERS OF PIZZA!
YAY!
Boozed and fed and early to bed for tomorrow is tattoo day......OH GOD...TATTOO DAY AFTER A PUB CRAWL!
Day 11
You've already read about tattoo day which was a great day indeed.
Frickles, beer and shots, why the hell not!
And lets finish it off with a cocktail nightcap at the apartment.
Day 12
BANFF!
We get up early to go and have our daily walk and some breakfast at a foody place called Meat & Bread which is exactly as it states a place that puts meat in bread.
It's freezing -12deg , it's blizzard snow and we're on a coach in 4 hours time with a 2 hour journey to Banff, are we going to get there?
Lets just have our breakfast and hope for the best.
Just watching the world go by as we wait for our sandwiches.
Breakfast eaten and now 3 hours until our coach leaves at 2pm but our view from apartment isn't looking good for the coach. It's a white out!
Guess what.......we're on the coach!
HELLO BANFF! A vacation within our vacation.
We're staying in the Red Carpet Inn which is in a great location, the room is great but the location of the room isn't what i requested and was a bit noisy what with being above the entrance and all the snowploughs around through the night and early morning.
We arrive about 5pm and it's a bit grey and starting to get dark but that's ok as tomorrow is the full on day, tonight is just drinkies and a wander around Banff.
Cheers!
Day 13
LET'S DO THIS!
We get up, have a coffee in Starbucks and head off to get the bus to the Banff Gondola. As the bus climbs up the base of the mountain all around is the Canadian Rockies and if you think that view is stunning wait until your at the top of the mountain via the Gondola.
Jebus....that's high!
And off we go!
We were speechless. The views were the most spectacular thing we've ever seen and here's a few other piccies while we were up there.
That it such a camp Jazz Hands style pose, uuugggghhhh!
I look like a shit Bond villain. "I've been expecting you Mr.....what's your name....oh yes Bond that's it"
Supposedly in the night times when your up here you can hear the mountains.....hmmmm, i think it's just the wind i can hear.
You can also sit out here in the dome or by the fire with a lovely hot chocolate.
Yes Mrs.P. we were all the way up there.
Time is against us at this point and we need to get back down in to Banff, to Banff train station for the free shuttle bus to go up another mountain to go tubing. As we make our way to the train station the snow clouds start to come over so it was a good job we went to Gondola first as later that day you couldn't see the mountain tops and visibility up there would have been zero.
We made it! We're at the railway station. The station gives you thoughts of those long industrial trains and hoping on to a carriage and riding the rails.
Shuttle bus arrives and off we go up the side of another tall mountain along windy roads with steep drops over the edge of the road on bus that looks like it's seen better days. Pray for us.
We made it safe and sound to Norquay Tubing slope. We did think about snowboarding but in all honesty the ski slopes are full of students and "Rah Rah , well done Henry, well done Lillibeth, your such good children, you put your shoes on the correct feet, your very clever 20 year olds" you know the type, the type and that would just spoil our day having to listen to those types.
And here's the slope.
Right. lets get these tubes and get up there.
And we're at the top of the run.
And down we go. Now.....before you watch this video i have to warn you i sound like an old lady that's been shown a vegetable that looks like a willy. Uuuuggghhhh, i hate being filmed. Anyway here you go.
And up we go again.....
Now from Sian's phone but still the same stupid noises from me, please stop these videos, uggghhh!
After two runs together i did 2 by myself and Sian did 4 by herself, i got bored of waiting in the queue to go back up so went to the coffee lodge to wait for Sian. It's the most fun i've ever had with a piece of rubber 😉.
We had been on the mountain for a couple of hours and now needed to get back and get ready for our meal at The Grizzly House. On the way back down we were hoping to see a Moose or a Bear but no, all we saw were some Rocky Mountain Goats in the middle of the road.
In, shower and out, we're starving.
There was a queue of people waiting to go in but i had already booked a table as it was phone bookings only. Good job as they were turning everyone away. As we enter i notice the business was established in 1967 and was based around Hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure and self indulgence.
Very odd place as it was so dark inside with the minimal amount of lights just bright enough to see your way around. In fact it was that dark i could just about see Sian sat across from me, i kid you not.
Another weird thing was on every table is a telephone and on the back of the place mat is a map of the phones and the numbers of those phones and you can ring another table anywhere in the restaurant, really weird and a bit creepy. Sian actually called our table from the female toilet.
We order our drinks then order our food. Sian had the Lobster and filet mignon hot rock and i ordered the exotic fondue. At this point i became very overwhelmed with what was being ordered and what i was being told, i didn't have a clue what the hell was going on, i could just about see Sian which didn't help as i always look to Sian when i start to stress but Sian had it all under control, thank god as i was starting to stress out. The food came and i was back down to earth and calm.
We started with side salads, Snails in a mushroom sauce with toasted bread and a cheese fondue which was very good, rich, creamy and not to much white wine unlike the one we had in Vevey, Switzerland.
I can only apologies for the lighting in the next pics and vids but i wanted to be respectful of the diners around us and not use a light or flash but i did my best.
The snails were amazing
The cheese fondue was so good.
And now for the mains of the night.
The frogs leg looked so funny.
All i could think of was a frog somewhere with back wheels on it's body.
On the hot rock is Lobster at the top then Frog's leg, Rattlesnake and Alligator
All tasted amazing but the texture of Frog leg is hard to describe but i'll tell you now, if anyone tells you it's just like chicken they've never eaten frogs leg, it's nothing like chicken.
Next it's time to put all the other meats on. The hot rock comes with garlic butter to cook the meats in.
Sound and the smell was soooooo good. Our clothes stunk of freshly cooked meat, please don't wash clothes 😃
We were full to bursting but still had desert to go, fresh fruit with a silky smooth chocolate fondue, stop this madness.
Very stuffed and with just a short walk home we make a move and waddle very slowly towards our hotel.
OOoo, pretty lights.
We need our bed and sleep, that's if our full bellies will allow us to sleep.
Day 14
We are awake, we are still full and we need a coffee. We head off towards our coach pick up point and take a few last minute piccies along the way.
Banff was a really amazing place for it's scenery and surrounded by mountains. Never seen anywhere like it and a memory that will last forever BUT the town itself isn't anything special. People aren't as polite which seemed weird as it's a tourist hotspot unlike Downtown Calgary which is a business/industrial city.
We had the worst service in a bar chain called The Canadian Brewhouse. We ordered beers and the waitress got the drink order wrong, it was just 2 beers, 1 mug of beer, 1 pint of beer and we got 2 pints of beer, we let that slide. Then we ordered wings for starters and 2 poutines. Sian's poutine came first which was just barely warm and we sat waiting 5 mins for my poutine or the wings and neither came out, so i called the waitress and cancelled the order and sent Sian's back. We paid for the drinks and left the waitress a tip. We drank up. Just as we were finishing our drinks the waitress who served us badly and got a tip stood at the bar just across from our table and was slagging us off to another waitress, WHAT THE F**K! I stayed calm as i wasn't going to let anything spoil our time in Banff. We also had bad service in St. James Irish bar in Banff, we ordered a Wild Rose Raspberry beer and i had a Coor's. Sian's main tipple in Calgary is Wild Rose Raspberry beer but what we got looked nothing like it, smelt nothing like it and tasted nothing like it. We sent it back and then we got the right drink. We got the bill and was charged for 3 beers when we had only had 2 and sent 1 back due to the bar mans mistake. Called the waitress over got that sorted but again, bad service when only serving 2 beers. Got help those 2 waitresses with a bigger order say like 3 drinks 😂.
Would we go back, yes but only for the tubing, gondola and surroundings, you can keep the town.
2 hour coach journey back and just a quiet night in tonight because tomorrow is a night Sian and i are very excited about.
Day 14
Today it's a walk around the Stampede area, around the Saddledome and visit the Sam Centre which is a venue dedicated to the Calgary Stampede with lots to see and do. Also the reason for this day out is because by the time we come back in 2028 all this area would have changed, the Stampede area is having new venues built on it, the Saddledome will no longer be here and the whole area of the Stampede has lots of changes going on. Then later on our exciting night.
First a coffee at the River cafe on Prince's Island. Lovely little place. It's right next to where we got married.
Then on to The Sam Centre. There was so much going on in here i didn't know what to take pictures of so i've only added a few of in there as there was so much history about the Calgary Stampede. We also had a great chat with a Stampede regular, volunteer and local legend Fred. He was such a nice guy and put up with and answered all our questions. Many thanks Fred.
From here it's across the road to the Saddledome for some pics by the iconic arena. We hope they incorporate this tower with the logos on in to the new arena....if not we want the goalie mask for our garden.
And then just a stroll around the Stampede area before we head back to get ready for our reservation at "Hitmans Bar".
So let me explain. In the very early years of Sky TV when you had a thing called a "Squariel" and BSkyB i used to watch a bit of WWF wrestling, in those days it was WWF not WWE. I wasn't a huge fan, if it was on it was on, i didn't make time especially for it BUT the wrestlers i remember the most were of course Hulk Hogan, Undertaker but there was another Bret "The Hitman" Hart who is from Calgary. His whole family were wrestlers and were called "The Hart Foundation" and he started his early years wrestling in the UK on the ITV sports programme "The World of Sport". Sian had watched a documentary with me about Vince McMahon the CEO of the WWE and Bret was on that documentary talking about when he got screwed over for the World title by McMahon.
Bret was a founding owner of the Calgary Hitmen hockey team hence the name "The Hitmen". and now he has opened a bar across the way from the Saddledome in the "Cowboy Casino" which has been open since 2023.
Tonight Flames play Vancouver Canucks so i've booked us a table in the Hitmans Bar to watch the game. As you walk in your met by a huge display of Bret.
We are shown to our table and we've been given a booth with a great view of all the bar and it's TV's. Some Tv's have the hockey on, Some have WWF classic matches on and the others all have Bret's Classic match up's on.
Beers here!
We can't stop looking around, there is so much to see, wrestling memorabilia everywhere but behind us is just a treasure trove of all of Bret's authentic original outfits, trophies and belts.
We settle in to watch the flames game but the music's still playing. The music is mainly rock so we're very happy but we want to watch the game with the commentary and the game has now been on for 5 mins and no sign of the music being turned off. We decide to wait until the end of the first period and if the music is still on we'll go to BSB and watch it.
The first period is is over and still no commentary. We get some shot's, down our beer and make our way to BSB BUT before we leave we need to buy some stuff.
Sian already has a Hitmen tshirt which she is wearing but Sian spotted something on the shelf of the bar...a pink Hitman beanie hat and guess what....she gets the last one left. I go for a can of Hitman Beer to take out so i can keep the can.
Here is Sian sporting the Hitman range, Tshirt, Can and Beanie.
On the way out i take a few more pics.
It's a shame the commentary wasn't on as that is why i booked us in to the bar so we could watch the game and we were enjoying it in there but never mind, we've been, we've seen, we'll be back for a longer stay next time.
We get to BSB just in time for the start of the second period. We order beer after beer, shot after shot and Flames win 7~3. We're definitely their good luck charm, we need to stay in Calgary. At this point we can't remember leaving BSB, we can't remember getting home, i can't remembering ordering Popeye's and going down to collect it, we can remember eating said Popeye's and can then remember flopping on our bed. So a good night had by all it seems.
Day 15
We wake up not feeling to bad but forgot the water before going to bed so a little more rough than normal.
Our last full day, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
We have a slow morning making the most of it and i buy us tickets to the Calgary Wranglers hockey game this afternoon. It's a Next Gen Fan game to attract younger fans to the game so i think it was free children tickets of a certain age with every adult ticket bought. This is my idea of hell on earth, an arena full of excited, bored, screaming, crying kids. Why have i bought these tickets. Well.....i wanted us to have seen all the Calgary hockey teams and this is the last game we can get to see. Time to take deep long breaths. The Wranglers play in the AHL (American Hockey League) which is the primary development league for the NHL.
Great seats once again, shame about the brats uuuggghhhhh!
It was a great day for the kids, lots of free games and face painting and colouring around the arena, free tshirts and posters and most the kids got really involved in the game many of them were shouting "fight, fight, fight, fight" so that's good to hear.
We head home and wave goodbye to the Saddledome, we've loved every minute we've spent in there and it will be sad to see you gone, thanks for the amazing memories in 2020 and now 2026.
We have a little bit of chill out at home before we head out for our last meal and it can be no other than Comery Block. It's just the best.
And on to the food, what the hell let's just go for it and we can box up any we leave. So we did.
Let me introduce you to the food.
Sian's Beef and Cheddar sandwich
My sliced brisket sandwich
Smoked pork belly
Burnt brisket ends
Warm Corn breads with honey butter
Grits, never had them before so wanted to try them.
and coleslaw to cut through all the richness in the rest of the food.
In our sandwiches 2 thick slabs of meat and not joking about an inch thick the both of them.
This was the best way to finish off our night and our vacation....stuffed with awesome food.
As we were walking home at first we thought it was light rain but as we get closer to a street light it looks like we're in a globe with silver fine sparkles in it, it's freezing rain and both of us had never seen anything like it before, it was mesmerizing.
We get in to our apartment and hear the news "Incoming snow storm", We may not be flying tomorrow, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Day 16
SSSSHHHHIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT! WE'RE FLYING! HOW THE BLOODY BOLLOCKS DID ALL THAT SNOW STOP? MEH!
We numb this painful news in the Executive Lounge at the airport with lots of rum for Sian and lots of Stampede Whiskey for me.
And before we know it 16 days are over and we're on our way back to shitty UK and horrible Cardiff.
Got us booked in to our usual Heathrow Hotel when we land as trying to eeeek out the last of our days off and we'll have serious jet lag so a coach or train is a no go straight off the flight.
As soon as we've collected our bags and out to the bus stops my anxiety kicks in, Rude people pushing to front of queue, assholes on facetime or watching tiktok shit without headphones and sound on, middle aged guys calling other middle aged guys "BRO", women all looking the same with fish like looks and cemented on make up, everything is getting my back up and i hate it. Sian can see this and once again keeps me calm even though i know Sian is feeling the same.
We dump our bags in exhausted and i offer to go to the shop to buy any food i can find as the Just Eat delivery driver hasn't turned up for the food we ordered so we cancelled it after an hour, this is 5pm in the evening not late at night.
We've been in the UK only 6 hours and it's just all going wrong and horrible. What a dump.
I find a shop close by , get some snack food and head back. We eat the food and go to bed, lets hope tomorrow is better.
Day 17
Tired from jet lag and already tired of the UK we head to Paddington on the Heathrow Express. We got time to kill so we pop in to the pub at Paddington station for a beer to numb the journey.
Only in a UK pub would you find them trying to make toast sound fancy as they're charging £6 for it, IT'S BLOODY TOAST!
And now typical bloody British transport, a 10 carriage train has been cut to a carriage train from London to Swansea and it's rammed but i reserved our seats so i don't care who's in our seats when we get on they're out and we do just that. Kids screeching, old ladies talking on speaker phone, people watching videos without headphones, business men making important calls, AAaaggggghhhhhh! ALL JUST SHUT THE F**K UP! Both i and Sian get our headphones out and block them all out right up until we get in to Cardiff..
We get in, throw the bags down and Sian orders a surprise meal to be delivered....guess what....the delivery driver is lost and can't find our house. GOOD GOD! I know our house is only years old but it's on google maps. How can you not find an address in this day and age.
Time to sum up our amazing vacation.
We had 16 days in Calgary and it still wasn't enough but we hit all our targets we set out to do.
We wanted to see 2 Flames games, a Hitmen Game and a Wranglers game, CHECK!
We wanted to visit Banff and go on the gondola and tubing, CHECK!
We wanted to eat at the Grizzly House, top of the Calgary Tower, Comery, Popeye's, A Pizza Hut drawer, Meat & Bread, Mr. Pretzel and have our frickles, CHECK!
We wanted to go back to the Zoo, CHECK!
We wanted be in a real proper St. Patricks Day celebration, CHECK!
We wanted to visit Hitmans Bar, CHECK!
We did it all and missed nothing out.
Highlight of the vacation the stunning scenery of Banff, tubing and our Flames games
The low of the vacation nothing at all apart from 2 women on the Air Canada customer service desk on the way back to the UK. They were awful and thanks to them there is now an investigation in to their behaviour and we got 15% off our next flights so that's between £250 ~ £500, WOOHOO, WE WIN!
What we take away from this vacation is Calgary is the friendliest place we've ever been to. My anxiety was zero. We saw so many drug addicts on the streets spaced out and smoking crack/meth pipes out in the open and that didn't raise a heartbeat in us. We saw 3 homeless alcoholics sat in the fire exit doorway of a pub and as we got closer to them the one said "What a great day for a walk, it's beautiful. You both have a nice day now" and that was it, no begging for money, no abuse just genuinely friendly. Bars are bars, eateries are eateries in Calgary, what do i mean by that, i'll explain. We never saw a kid in a bar, we only saw kids in eateries which is the way it should be not like in the UK where kids are allowed everywhere being let to do whatever they want. Now your asking what's the difference between a bar and an eatery, ok, so, Bar sells alcohol but you can also get food, a eatery sells food but you can also get alcohol. We never saw anyone on their phone in a public place like a bar, a eatery, a shop etc on facetime, tiktok or anything with sound playing out loud, sorry just one woman in Starbucks watching a video without headphones but that's 1 person in 16 days and a few just taking calls but with their phone to their ear.
We love the way the days are so extreme from one to the next.
We still believe we would prefer to live in Calgary and work 6 days a week 8 hours a day than be in the UK working 4 days a week. We are being realistic, Calgary isn't a resort with beaches and pools, Calgary isn't really a tourist city like London, New York, Vegas, Rome etc, it's a proper working city with an ice hockey team, the only tourist attraction in Calgary is the Stampede and that's only for 10 days of the year, so we see the real city without the tourists.
We were out almost every minute, of every hour, of every day, no time was wasted. Our average steps a day were 15,000 which is around 7 1/2 miles, that's just an average , i think one day we almost beat our record of 12~14 miles
There is so much i could say for us about Calgary that this list would just go on and on.
So.............
We've started to sort out our immigration papers and visited the immigration office while we were there but before all that happens....guess what.....SEE YOU AT THE STAMPEDE IN 2027! Yep we had a very short talk of about Ooooo 30 seconds and both decide it's a goer, we're going back. I've already booked our accommodation which might change a few times before June 2027 as more apartments become available i search out better deals, you have to check every single day which is what i do.
Do you know how many hours i have spent on this blog update just waffling on.......23 hours all together....23 hours. Between adjusting pictures with cropping, brightness and contrast, trimming videos as they can't be over a certain file size and then editing all this blabbering crap text it takes forever but it's worth it as a diary for myself and Sian to look back over, for my family to know i'm still alive and for my friends and followers all over the world because if you weren't still reading this rubbish i wouldn't be writing it, so it's a huge thank you to you out there in blog land.
Oh wait a minute there's more.
We took an extra empty hold bag over with us to fill up with goodies for ourselves.
We now have shares in the Calgary Flames and the Hitmen we bought so much merch.
We also stocked up on our fav Canadian food and drink.
I finally got my Stampede Whiskey, YAAHOO!
Oops, sorry we started the crisps, i don't know how long we'll hold out with them.
Boss the Bear to go along with Marvin the Moose in the car who we've had since 2020.
And my empty cans all the way from Calgary, how sad is that?
So what do we do now we're back in this shithole of a country?
You guessed it!
SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!
DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!
DRINK! SHOT! DRINK SHOT!
Oops!
OK, everybody can wake up now, the updates over and i'll give you a couple of weeks to recover.
So until the next update......
Serve All, Love All, Peace All, Kevlar, Mrs.P. and Squidly Out!
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