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Calgary deserves a second glanceThe Calgary Tower and Saddledome dominate the skyline.There’s more than cowboys and prime beefBy Harry ShattuckHouston ChronicleCALGARY — With a modern airport and a picture-perfect setting on the high plains of Alberta, Calgary has long been recognized as the ideal gateway to the Canadian Rockies, whose snowcapped peaks dominate the western horizon.Millions of visitors have passed through, en route to captivating Banff and Lake Louise, the historical coal-mining village of Canmore and the 4,150-square-kilometre Kananaskis Country, where the 1988 Winter Olympics ski runs took place.What many travellers are only now beginning to fully appreciate is that this youngest and sunniest of Canada’s major cities — and its second largest in area — merits several days’ exploration, too.And not just at Stampede time.The Calgary Stampede — scheduled July 5-14 this year — has gained international acclaim as the greatest outdoor show on Earth. Its tradition dates to 1912.But other attractions are as diverse as an authentic replica of a 1910 Alberta town; a thrill-a-seeond bobsled simulator; mountain goats and bighorn sheep in their natural habitat; and an elephant named Kamala that paints with her trunk.Whether seen from the observation deck of Calgary Tower or along downtown streets, Calgary also impresses as a clean, safe city despite a population explosion from 91,000 a half-century ago to 750,000 today (with a median age of 30).Modern rail and bus transit eases access to the suburbs. Enclosed walkways connect most downtown hotels and attractions. And 210 kilometres of well-groomed bicycle paths link all areas of the city.Myriad festivals, theatrical productions, musical concerts and sports events are scheduled year-round. Thirty-seven golf courses are scattered about the area. And Calgary is recognized as the hot-air balloon capital of Canada.Dining options focus not only on renowned Alberta beef but also on almost every imaginable ethnic cuisine.Among the prime attractions:■ Calgary Stampede — For 10 days each summer, people here cast aside their business attire, don boots, jeans and bolo ties, and relive the wonders of the Wild West. More than one million people attend the Stampede each year, almost 10 per cent arriving from the United States and another five per cent from overseas.A gala parade (July 5 this year) initiates activities, Rodeo events, featuring the world's top cowboys, take place during afternoons. And the evening focus is on entertainment and ehuckwag-on competition, a major production here with nine races each night,Stampede staples also include an Indian village with costumed dancing and cultural exhibits, a carnival midway and one of western Canada’s premier art shows. The events take place either on the Stampede grounds or at the adjacent Saddledome, both near downtown. But the StampedeCalgary has it all, including an elephant that paints with its trunkatmosphere pervades the city. Among many traditions are pancake breakfasts served at no charge on downtown street corners and at shopping malls.Call (800) 661-1260 for more information or to purchase tickets.■ Calgary Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Prehistoric Park. Visitors proceed from the Rocky Mountains to a tropical paradise, then step back in time to the Mesozoic Era to explore Western Canada of 65 to 125 million years ago — all within one 32-hectare complex. The Calgary Zoo is home to 1,000 animals from all over the world. It is celebrated for its Canadian Wilds, where clay, gunite, rebar and alpine plants are used to create a familiar mountain-like habitat for Dali and bighorn sheep, grizzly bear, deer and other animals that live in this area.The zoo’s No. 1 star is Kamala the elephant.Naturalists have long been aware that elephants in the wild use sticks or rocks to scratch patterns in the dust. Some believe this is an expression of mood. Kamala, born 21 years ago in Sri Lanka and moved here as an orphan a year later, has progressed from rubbing watercol-ors over a piece of paper on the ground with her trunk to using custom-made brushes, carefully selecting her colours and depositing used brushes neatly in a bowl. Kamala has been featured on a 60 Minutes television segment, and prints of her work are sold at the zoo’s gift shop to raise funds for the zoological society's environmental research.The Botanical Gardens feature 2 1/2 hectares of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and a 1,900-square-metre conservatory that includes tropical waterfalls and a rain-forest garden,Life-size dinosaur models tower above the Prehistoric Park where authentic geological formations include mountain uplift, volcano, swampland and inland sea,■ Glenbow Museum. Glenbow, the largest museum in Western Canada and the nation’s largest non-government museum, offers insight into both Canadian and international history.The museum is located at 130 Ninth Avenue SE near the Calgary Tower.■ Heritage Park. Step aboard a sternwheeler paddle boat, a horse-drawn wagon, a steam locomotive or a vintage electric streetcar.Help a Canadian Mountie catch a thief. Wash laundry on a board inside a kids-only hands-on house. Explore Gasoline Alley, North America’s largest collection of gasoline memorabilia and pumps. Then pause for a cold root beer in a turn-of-the-century saloon. Heritage Park, Canada’s largest historical village, contains more than 150 exhibits that reflect life in this area before 1915.
Newspaper Details
Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA
Sat, May 25, 1996
Page 44
Full Page
Clipped by
Greenlipsticklesbian L.
NA, 10 Apr 2025
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