Vancouver Trip - The Start

Driving in Canada is generally such a nice experience, that we decided to drive the 600+ miles from Okotoks to Vancouver.

The journey time is around 12 hours so we thought it best to split the journey and picked Salmon Arm from the map as an approximately halfway point.

We were all starving by the time we arrived and by pure luck, we found a lovely restaurant which was just what was needed after a long drive. Table 24 is situated in the building that was Salmon Arm's first courthouse, built in 1929. Apparently, a portion of the kitchen, located in the basement, was used as an old jail cell.  We had to take this photo from their webstie, as, unusually for us, we didn't take a photo! - http://www.table24.ca/index.php

The food was out of this world, it was freshly prepared, and the steak was so tender, they didn’t even give you a steak knife!

After our meal, we decided to take a drive down to the harbour, which was really pretty.  Although there was a storm coming in, it was still warm, so we decided to take a stroll down the pier.

We saw lot of birds and on the way back we we spent a little while waching these Osprey, who seemed to have two chicks in their nest.

 

It was so calm and peaceful, it was hard to believe a storm was on its way.

We stood at the end of the pier listening to the thunder and watching the lightning in the distance.

 

We also saw this beaver, but it was getting quite dark at this point.

We just made it back to the car and back to the hotel before the heavens opened and we were treated to the most spectacular rain shower.

The next morning we took another stoll down the pier in the sunshine before we started on the second half of our journey.

J&E

Waterton Lakes National Park

We keep seeing photos from friends of ours who visit Waterton National Park.  We have been meaning to go ourselves for some time. Well, the other day, the sun was shining and it seemed the ideal day for a drive to see this little gem in the Rockies for ourselves.

Before we go any further, we saw a bear, we didn't manage to get a photo, but we saw a BEAR!  ONly our second ever bear!

Waterton is a sweet place.  The mountains seem to crash together with the foothills right infront of them, which makes for quite beautiful scenery.

 

The first thing we came across was the very appropriately named, Driftwood Beach.

Our first glimpse of the famous Prince of Wales Hotel atop the hill in the distance.

Outside the hotel were quite a number of Big Horn sheep.

Then, as we were driving down towards the high street, we saw this house with loads of deer outside, and not the plastic ones either!

This one was so sweet, lounging out, with face pointing up towards the sun!

We are not saying it is windy here much, but just look at the angle of all the trees.

And we came across some more deer.

And a woodpecker.

But we saw a bear too, honest!

J&E

Alberta's Legislature Building

On the way back from Jasper, we stopped off in Edmonton and decided to have a good look around.  On previous visits, we had only ever got as far as the shopping mall and hadn't really given our capital city a chance. 

This time we had a look around the old shopping district and some other areas of the city, which were all very nice.

We also took the time to look around Alberta's Legislature Building.  It was a wet day, but great to see.  We could imagine it would be stunning in the Summer with the grounds full of flowers and fountains.

Construction began in 1907 and it was officially opened in 1919.  The building is made of granite and sandstone.

Before going inside, we had a walk around the grounds.  There are lots of different statues, symbolising and celebrating people and events in history.

The first one we came across was this broken cup, which is dedicated to those who perished in the Holocaust.

 

The Pillar of Strength is a monument dedicated to Police and Peace officers of Alberta who have died in the line of duty.

The oldest one we could find on there was John Nash, who died in 1840.

 

On the last Sunday of Septeber each year, the fallen are remembered here.

Lord Strathcona, was a successful businessman and one of the directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway.  He took part in the ceremony to drive in the last spike to complete Canada's first transcontinental railway

in 1885.

Linda and Andrew standing by the Centennial Flame.  This eternal flame was erected to commemorate 100 years of the Canadian Confederation. 

Ukrainian Centennial Pioneer Monument - This was added to the grounds to commemorate 100 years of Ukrainian settlement in Alberta. 

Just before a downpour of rain, we made our way inside for the free guided tour.  The hallway was very impressive and made with 2,000 tons of marble.

We were first shown the statue of the 4th daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta.  The Province was named after her, as was Lake Louise.  She was the wife of the Marquis of Lorne.

The Great Marble Staircase leads to the Assembly Chamber.

The Assembly Chamber.

There is a lovely stained glass roof in the chamber.  This was one of the first buildings in Alberta with electricity.  The architect went slightly overboard.  In this ceiling alone (if you expand the picture you can see) there are around 600 lightbulbs.  Unfortunately not a lot of thought went into how to change them in such a high ceiling and it is a several week job, every few years, to change them all out!

In the dome, there are a number of palm trees.  As palm trees are not native to Alberta, nobody really knows where these came from!

One of the most fascinating stories for us was that of the Mace, which is the symbol of the Legislative Assembly’s authority to make laws.

Parliament cannot sit without a Mace, and in 1906 the First Legislature had to get one in a hurry. No time for gold, silver, and jewels; so Alberta's first Mace was fashioned in a few weeks', from plumbing pipe, shaving mug, cup handles and scraps of wood, a bit of red velvet and then painted gold.  They ended up using it for the next 50 years!  Even to this day - it looked pretty good!

In 1956 a new Mace was made, which reflects Alberta’s history and culture:  The crown features a hand-carved Beaver, engravings of Wild Roses and sheaves of Wheat, and a ring of precious stones that spell "ALBERTA": (Amethyst, Lazulite, Bloodstone, Emerald, Ruby, Topaz and Agate).

The Mace at the front is the new one, the one at the back is the old one.

They do not leave the fountain running the whole time, but they did switch it on for us to see and hear!  The fountain causes a very odd sound effect in a particular spot in the building - but we'll leave that for you to discover should you ever choose to visit!

We also learned about Alberta's Coat of Arms, topped by the George Cross atop a depiction of the natural resources and varied beauty of Alberta's landscape: the Rocky Mountains, a big blue sky, the foothills, the grass prairies, and the cultivated wheat fields.

Would we go back to Edmonton on the back of this visit?  Absolutely, yes!

J&E