Cowboys, Cattle and Calgary

Calgary – an oil city on the middle of Canada with not much going on! I`ve heard that said often about the city but, having now been there, there is a lot more to Calgary than you might think.

Calgary is in Alberta and is a Cosmopolitan city that does owe its growth to the  oil industry but is also famously known as ” Cowtown” which is best shown by the Calgary Stampede Rodeo and Festival which takes place each year in July, in fact this week . When I visited Calgary in April this year, at the end of my Rocky Mountaineer adventure, we visited the stadium where it all happens. The Stampede creates a huge part atmosphere in the city with almost everyone donning cowboy gear, having pancake breakfasts, parties & barbecues.

There is much more to Calgary than the Stampede though. To start with its a modern city with lots of good shops, bars and restaurants. Hotels are good too and we stayed in the International Hotel & Suites which was lovely with the biggest room I`ve ever seen complete with a 10 seat dining table! It is also quite unique as it has a network of raised, covered walkways connecting shops, restaurants and hotels throughout the city.

The Calgary Tower is right in the city centre giving amazing views over the city from the top. It was in here that we were all ” White Hatted ” a long standing tradition on Calgary to show Western hospitality. It was started in the 1950s when Mayor Dom Mackay started the tradition for visiting dignitaries and celebrities. I`m not sure we fitted either of those description but we all took our oath and received a traditional white hat each.

The White Hat Oath

 “I, (speaker inserts his or her name), havin’ visited the only genuine Western city in Canada, namely Calgary, and havin’ been duly treated to exceptional amounts of heart-warmin’, hand-shakin’, tongue-loosenin’, back-slappin’, neighbor-lovin’ Western spirit, do solemnly promise to spread this here brand of hospitality to all folks and critters who cross my trail hereafter. On the count of three, we will all raise our hats and give a loud ‘Yahoo!'” 

One of the best bits of our visit was to the Heritage Park Historical Village. It is literally a journey through Calgary`s history and we made our way round on a horse drawn cart. You could spend all day, or even a couple of days, there and round it off with a superb meal at one of the park`s award winning restaurants.

So if you are planning a trip to Canada, especially if it is Rocky Mountaineer give Calgary a try as there is so much more to do than just pass through the airport and travel onwards.