BLUE SKY CITY ,CALGARY -CANADA JOURNEY

From Toronto we left for Calgary, where we joined a travel group visiting the Canadian Rockies.

We were starting the tour from Calgary, Alberta, which was the closest city to the Canadian Rockies east of Banff. Our Rockies trip would end in Vancouver, British Columbia's largest city. It lies on Canada's West Coast, 515 miles west of Banff.

The Canadian Rocky Mountains, part of the larger North American Rocky Mountain Range, are a major scenic mountain range featuring jagged peaks, bright blue lakes, and massive ice fields. 

They sit along the border of Alberta and British Columbia, stretching for approximately 900 miles, and are nearly 180 million years old, having been formed by powerful tectonic forces.  

The highest peak in the Canadian Rockies is Mount Robson, standing at 12,972 feet. Other notable peaks include Mount Columbia and Mount Assiniboine. 

The Canadian Rockies are home to several spectacular national parks, including Banff National Park, Canada's oldest national park (established in 1885), and Jasper National Park, Canada's largest Rocky Mountain national park. 

Other parks include Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park. Glaciers and lakes, ancient ice fields, waterfalls, and beautiful blue lakes are added attractions.

The Canadian Rockies are home to Elk, Moose, Bighorn sheep, and mountain goats, black bears, grizzly bears, Wolves, Cougars, bald eagles, and golden eagles; we were hopeful of seeing at least some of them during our trip.

The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 for their exceptional natural beauty, mountain landscapes, glaciers, lakes, caves, and rich biodiversity.

The vivid turquoise colour of many lakes comes from rock flour, fine glacial silt suspended in the water, and it also reflects sunlight. 

The Canadian Rockies attract millions of visitors from around the world and have been featured in numerous films, documentaries, and television productions because of their spectacular scenery. 

The mountains offer more than 1,000 km of hiking trails across the national parks, catering from beginners to experienced trekkers. 

The charm of the Canadian Rockies makes them one of the world's premier destinations for nature lovers, photographers, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Calgary is the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta, the fifth largest metropolitan area in Canada and is at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the Southwest portion of Alberta.

Located 3428 feet above sea level, Calgary receives more than 330 days of sunshine each year, making it one of Canada's sunniest major cities. Its name, "Calgary", comes from a place on the Isle of Mull in Scotland.

Calgary is famous for its unique blend of Western heritage, modern urban life, and particularly its proximity to the Canadian Rockies.

After checking into our hotel, we walked down to Calgary's only pedestrian mall, Stephen Avenue, which provides a year-round pedestrian experience featuring shopping, restaurants, and entertainment venues. 

We had gone at lunchtime, and so we could see many office-going people having their food over shared lunches at the wayside restaurants.

The Avenue is home to 5,000 to 10,000 people per hour during peak times, featuring live performances, buskers, music, festivals, and a wealth of artists and culture. 

The area boasts nine major shopping centers/department stores like the Core Shopping Centre, Banker’s Hall, Fashion Central, Scotia Centre, and Bay Department Store; some of Calgary's finest restaurants, pubs, cafés, and bars; as well as an eclectic mix of boutiques and galleries.

Stephen Avenue Walk is managed from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm by the Calgary Downtown Association on behalf of the City of Calgary.

After a delicious lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, we hired a car to go around the city of Calgary.  

We went initially to the Calgary Tower, the city's most recognisable landmark. Standing over 190 metres tall, it provides panoramic views of downtown Calgary, the Bow River, and, on clear days, the distant Rocky Mountains. 

Next, we went towards the famous Peace Bridge across the Bow River. Designed by renowned Spanish architect Santiago, this striking red pedestrian bridge has become one of Calgary's architectural icons. The surrounding river pathways and parks offer beautiful photo opportunities.

A short uphill drive took us to Crescent Heights, one of the best viewpoints in Calgary. From here, the downtown skyline appeared framed by the Bow River.

We drove through Calgary's oldest neighborhood, Inglewood, whose streets are filled with charming heritage buildings, boutique shops, art galleries, antique stores, and local cafés.

We passed by Studio Bell, an architecturally stunning building dedicated to Canada's musical heritage. Even from outside, it had a unique design. 

We drove around the famous Stampede Park, home of the world-renowned Calgary Stampede. Known as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth," the venue hosts rodeos, concerts, exhibitions, and numerous events throughout the year.

The Calgary Stampede is the city's most famous event, held every July. It attracts over a million visitors and features world-class rodeo competitions, chuckwagon races, agricultural exhibitions, live concerts and parades and cultural events. It has earned Calgary the nickname "Cowtown." 

Calgary proudly celebrates its ranching traditions. Visitors often see cowboy hats and boots during Stampede season, a lot of ranches surrounding the city, Western-themed festivals, country music and rodeo culture. 

Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, leaving a lasting legacy of world-class sporting facilities. The city remains a hub for winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, and bobsleighing. 

Calgary consistently ranks among the world's most livable

 cities due to its clean streets, extensive park system, strong economy, high quality of life and welcoming atmosphere.

In the evening, we spent some time in Outdoor World, the signature Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store, one of the city's most popular attractions for outdoor enthusiasts. This massive wilderness-themed store is approximately 70,000 square feet and is designed to showcase Alberta's outdoor heritage.

It had museum-quality wildlife displays featuring bears, elk, moose, wolves, and other North American animals.

We found large aquariums filled with native fish species. rustic décor with waterfalls, murals, log cabins, and mountain-themed interiors, extensive collections of fishing, camping, hiking, boating, hunting, and outdoor equipment. It was entirely a different experience, as the store looked more like a museum than a commercial place.

The next day, our Rocky Mountain tour began, and we met our tour mates in the lobby. We checked out, placed our luggage in the coach, and then went for a delightful breakfast at the Railway Café, located beside the Gasoline Alley Museum in Heritage Park Historical Village. The café's warm, vintage atmosphere, freshly brewed coffee, and delicious breakfast made for the perfect start to our day.

After breakfast, we stepped into the adjoining Gasoline Alley Museum, home to one of Canada's finest collections of antique automobiles, historic gasoline pumps, and fascinating automotive memorabilia. 

Walking through the museum felt like taking a journey through the evolution of transportation, where every beautifully restored vehicle told a story from a bygone era. It was an engaging and nostalgic experience that appealed to visitors of all ages, particularly the kids. Mr Ron Carey was the benefactor of the museum, as he generously donated his extensive collection to the museum.

Heritage Park Historical Village is Canada’s largest living history museum. A registered charity, it is located on the banks of the beautiful Glenmore Reservoir. Sitting on 127 acres of pristine parkland, Heritage Park connects its guests with the history of the Canadian West.

With more than 200 exhibits and attractions spread over 127 acres of lush parkland, Heritage Park Historical Village is the perfect balance between historical fact, adventure, discovery, and fun. 

The Park has an antique steam train; one can set sail aboard Calgary's only paddlewheel ship, visit the farm animals at the ranch, learn about Blackfoot culture in the First Nations area, engage with Western Canada’s energy past, present and future at Prospect Ridge, explore a bustling young prairie town and discover one of the world’s largest public collections of antique vehicles at Gasoline Alley Museum.

The exhibits span Western Canadian history from the 1860s to the 1950s. Many of the buildings are historical and were transported to the park for display. Others are re-creations of actual buildings. Most of the structures are furnished and decorated with genuine artifacts. Staff dress in historic costumes, and antique automobiles and horse-drawn vehicles service the site. The park opened on July 1, 1964.

We came to know that many of the exhibit spaces are used year-round for special events like weddings, corporate meetings, company barbecues, and fundraisers.

Due to constraints of our time, we didn’t tour the Park fully, but started our pleasant journey to Banff.

OUR TRIP INTO NATURE’S POWER – NIAGARA FALLS - CANADA JOURNEY

At last, we reached the much-awaited Niagara Falls. Our coach driver stopped at the Clifton Hill Parking Lot and informed us that we had 4 hours at the Falls and had to be back by the scheduled time. He gave us the priority tickets to Journey Behind Falls and the Niagara cruise.

Niagara Falls consists of three waterfalls on the border between Ontario, Canada, and New York, USA. The Niagara River is a connecting channel between the two Great Lakes, Erie and Ontario.

The Canadian side is renowned for its sweeping, unobstructed, head-on views of all three waterfalls: the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and the massive Horseshoe Falls.

The larger and taller Horseshoe Falls is on the Canadian side. It stands about 187 feet, while the American Falls varies between 69 and 98 feet in drop because of giant boulders at its base. Horseshoe Falls is about 2,592 feet wide, while the American Falls is 1,050 feet wide.

Niagara Falls formed 12,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, and melting glaciers carved the Great Lakes and forced water over the Niagara Escarpment.

The native people lived near the river for hunting and trade before European contact, and French explorer Father Louis Hannepin wrote the first detailed record of the falls in 1678.

Niagara Falls became a major tourism and honeymoon hub in the early 1800s and developed into a pioneer site for large-scale hydroelectric power when the first large-scale electrical plant was opened in 1895. 

The Niagara River is an important bird area due to its impact on Bonaparte’s gulls, ring-billed gulls, and herring gulls. The river and waterfalls appeal to the birds due to their position on migratory routes, foraging potential, and the unlikelihood to freeze compared to other bodies of water.

The Niagara Falls is not the tallest waterfall in the world, but it is impressive due to the amount of water flowing over it and its combination of height and volume.

More than 6 million cubic feet of water go over the crest line of the falls every minute during peak daytime tourist hours.

Niagara Falls has moved back seven miles in 12,500 years and may be the fastest-moving waterfall in the world.

The startling green colour of the Niagara River is a visible tribute to the erosive power of water. An estimated 60 tons of dissolved minerals are swept over Niagara Falls every minute. The colour comes from the dissolved salts and “rock flour", very finely ground rock.

The waters of the Niagara River are used by a combined Canadian/United States population of more than 1,000,000 people for a wide range of purposes, such as drinking water; boating, swimming, bird-watching, and fishing; and industrial cooling water supply. It is a receiver of municipal and industrial effluents, predominantly for hydropower generation.

From the parking lot, we walked along the paved Niagara River Parkway pedestrian path to visit the Journey Behind the Falls at the Table Rock Centre

Originally called "The Scenic Tunnels," the attraction was officially rebranded as "Journey behind the Falls" in 1994 to better describe the immersive experience. 

As we had already booked tickets, we skipped the lines, presented our tickets, and got a complimentary, biodegradable souvenir rain poncho to keep us dry from the heavy water spray.

Then we stood in line for the elevator, which lowered us by 125 feet down directly through the solid bedrock. Instantly, we could feel the dampness and cool air all around us.

The original bare-rock tunnels were damp and prone to small rock falls. In 1944, the tunnels were completely lined with thick structural concrete, and electric lighting was installed throughout the shafts.

We stepped out into The Cave Portals, the 130-year-old and 151-foot tunnel system, and followed the paths to the Cataract Portal, which was located about a third of the way behind the crashing water, and the Great Falls Portal, positioned further down the tunnel. 

We had to look through viewing windows cut straight out of the rock face behind the falls. It was overwhelming to directly stand behind the roaring falls. Shafts of cool air were blowing continually, along with water spray. Tourists had thrown multiple coins into the pool of water near the portals.

We then walked to the end of the tunnel network to access the outdoor, multi-level observation deck located right at the churning base of Horseshoe Falls.

From the observation desk, we could feel the full impact of the Horseshoe Falls and were spellbound by the sheer enormity of the water gushing down.

We were drenched by the water falling on us whenever the playful wind decided to send the water our way. From the desk, we could clearly see the American Falls and the boats cruising to the falls. Suddenly, as if nature were granting us a special favour, there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

The huge volume of water rushing from the falls is crushed into the narrow Great Gorge, creating the Whirlpool Rapids that stretch for 1.6 kilometres. The water surface here drops 50 feet, and the rushing waters can reach speeds to 30 feet per second.

Our next experience was a boat ride to the falls from the Canadian side, courtesy of Niagara City Cruises (formerly known as Hornblower Cruises).

We went from the main plaza down into the gorge and presented our printed digital ticket voucher at the Main Plaza entry gates. We followed the designated accessible pathways to travel down the massive cliff-side rock face to the lower landing and the boarding zones below. 

The boat trip would be for 20 minutes. Right before we walked out onto the boarding docks, the staff handed us a signature red, recyclable mist poncho. We put it on immediately and wrapped our phones securely under the plastic layer.

We then stepped onto the large multi-deck catamaran vessel, which had a capacity of 700 people. Luckily, we could find a spot along the railings of the lower deck for panoramic photo angles. 

Gradually, the boat filled up and started to cruise right past the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls where we could get a close upward view of the massive boulder piles at their base and water crashing over them, before steering directly into the roaring, high-wind mist at the churning base of the massive Canadian Horseshoe Falls. 

We could also see the tourists enjoying the Cave of the Wind on the US side and the tunnels and their openings on the Canadian side.

Experiencing the Niagara City Cruises boat ride was an intense, multi-sensory adventure. We were totally at the mercy of the falls.

As usual, my apprehensive inner voice was sternly inquiring if any accident had occurred on these cruises; I tried vehemently to hush it!

As the boat approached the Horseshoe Falls, we could clearly hear a deep, deafening rumble that was like a vibration in the chest. 

The wind was so powerful that sudden, heavy gusts almost blew us over. As we reached the falls, we got very wet, despite wearing the poncho. It was as if we were standing in a heavy, high-speed rainstorm. 

The highlight of the trip was entering the deep curve of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls and finding ourselves surrounded on three sides by a massive, 170-foot-tall wall of churning, emerald-green water. 

At the closest point, the mist became so thick that it created a temporary "whiteout" effect, and we were looking into a dense cloud of water vapour. 

It was the ultimate moment of joy, shock, and jubilation that enveloped and rendered us speechless, and the roar of the falls didn’t allow our voices to be heard.

Presently, there are two 700-passenger double-stack catamaran tour boats named Niagara Wonder and Niagara Thunder.

Every evening, the falls are lit up in vibrant colors. During peak seasons and holidays, the city also hosts spectacular nightly fireworks displays over the water. Niagara Falls receives over 20 million visitors annually, with summer as the peak period. It is both a daytime and evening attraction. 

The only recorded freeze-up of the river and falls was caused by an ice jam on March 29, 1848. No water fell for as much as 40 hours, water wheels stopped, and mills and factories shut down.

In 1912, American Falls was completely frozen, but the other two falls were still flowing. In 1885, 1902, 1906, 1911, 1932, 1936, 2014, 2017 and 2019, there was partial freezing of the falls.

We emerged from the boat thoroughly soaked, but our hearts were full of joy and happiness, disposed of our ponchos and spent some time at the Niagara Parkway.

This scenic, pedestrian-friendly boulevard stretches along the Niagara River, offering stunning, unobstructed views of both the American and Horseshoe Falls.

Looking at the rapidly flowing Falls water, I recalled that hundreds of people have gone over Niagara Falls, either intentionally or accidentally. The first recorded person to survive going over the falls was school teacher Annie Edson Taylor, who in 1901 completed the stunt inside an oak barrel. In the following 125 years, thousands of people have been swept over the falls, but only sixteen people have reportedly survived the feat.

All instances of people having survived the trip over the falls have been over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Following the death of one daredevil in 1951, stunting at Niagara Falls has been illegal and subject to fines of up to $25,000 US dollars and arrest.

The falls are beautiful year-round, although the peak tourist season runs from May through October when all boat tours and walkways are fully open.

The cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and Niagara Falls, New York, United States, are connected by two international bridges. The Rainbow Bridge, just downriver from the falls, affords the closest view of the falls and is open to non-commercial vehicle traffic and pedestrians.

One can easily walk or drive between both sides of the fall via the Rainbow Bridge if one carries a valid passport.

The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge lies 1.6 kilometres north of the Rainbow Bridge and is the oldest bridge over the Niagara River. It is restricted exclusively to pre-approved NEXUS cardholders and Amtrak trains.

We later went to the highly commercialized and bustling, tourist district on Clifton Hill with casinos, hotels, and restaurants. Known as the "Street of Fun," this vibrant strip features attractions like the Niagara Sky Wheel, haunted houses, arcades, and wax museums. We didn’t linger there but went back to the parking area and waited for our coach, which arrived on time. 

Our last stop for the day was the Skylon Tower. We went to the tower and went up, 520 feet in an exterior glass elevator to an observation deck, where we could see panoramic views of the falls and the surrounding region, even as far as Toronto. 

Helicopter tours of the falls from both the US and Canada have been offered since the early 1960s, and despite many fatal crashes, they are popular. The Canadian side is served by operators like Niagara Helicopters and the US side by Rainbow Air, both of which provide daily aerial tours, weather permitting.

Finally, after a tiring but thrilling day, we returned to our hotel in Toronto.