Wednesday June 8, 2022

Banff

We woke up at 7:00 but thank goodness we were able to go back to sleep until 9:00.  We enjoyed a leisurely morning and a snack (we brought our own dried fruit and nuts).  At about noon we wandered out to find breakfast/lunch and explore the grounds.

The view from our room.

We are staying in the Gatehouse, which is just across the road from the main hotel.  This building used to be employee quarters, but when the Olympics came in 1988, they built new condos for the employees and turned this building into suites, which increased the hotel capacity by 1/3.  In our wanderings we met an employee who explained all of this to us.  Everyone here is so friendly and eager to help.

Our room is on the bottom floor, the three windows on the far right.

After walking through the main hotel and clearing up a couple of things at the front desk we went to the café for lunch.  This is where they grow their herbs and greens.

We then walked into town about 2 kms to get our rental car.  Along the way Brad started talking to a woman (because he thought she was me when she came up behind him, but I had stopped to read something), and it turns out she is a nurse who is from the Calgary area, but is in town for training.  She is part-time so is going to pick up shifts out here as well.  We had a nice chat with her as we walked in the rain.

Picked up our Kia Sorrento with no problems and drove back to the hotel.  We then walked down to check out the restaurant by the golf course and have a drink, but it is closed today, so we walked to Bow Falls further down the hill.  You can really feel the cold breeze come off the water, which is putting out a huge volume with the melt.

Back to the hotel to finally start posting my blog!

A few shots of the gorgeous hotel from this morning.

We went out to the Rundle Bar for a fancy drink before dinner.  We thought we’d just grab a sandwich in the café after that, but they were closed by the time we got there.  We wandered aimlessly outside - we really didn't want a fancy meal but we also didn't feel like driving into town.  Luckily Brad spotted the tiny grocery store!  Got sandwiches and raw veggies for dinner, and a fruit cup and yogurt for breakfast tomorrow.  It was all very fresh and tasty.

After dinner I continued with the blog until bedtime.  I have been pretty much keeping up with my writing in Word – it helps that I don’t need Wi-Fi for that, so I can work on it on the train (oh yeah, there’s no Wi-Fi on the trains).  Sorting through and adding pictures to the blog is what takes the most time.  I have to apologise for the inconsistencies in font size and centring.  I have given up trying to fix it, it drives me nuts to see it but I cannot figure out how to make it right.