May 28: Inner Garden

After the various upsets of the past two days, I decided to have a relaxing final day in Calgary. I got up at a respectable hour (9:00am), updated the blog, then went downtown on a hot day.

My first port of call was somewhere on 7th Ave SW. Calgary has two tram systems which run through the centre and off into far-flung suburbs. I rode one of them a few blocks, but went a bit far. Walking back, I found the venue, at the CORE Shopping Centre. Go up to the fourth floor and there are the Devonian Gardens.

This is an indoor semi-tropical garden that takes up half the floor, with over 50 types of plants and two koi fish ponds.

The other half of the fourth floor is a food court, where I had lunch.

To The Hunt

I still wanted to find the Hunt House, so I decided to try coming from the other direction. I took a tram to just east of the house. From there, I crossed onto St George Island, site of a park and the Calgary Zoo.

Crossing a second bridge (and grateful for my sunscreen and hat), I was confronted by more roadworks to manoeuvre around.

I was now in the suburb of Inglewood, just east of the central city. It’s full of older buildings with a quieter charm than the flashy buildings across the Elbow River.

Had a look through a few shops. One was a “vintage” clothing shop with quite a selection. Another was Recordland, with such large piles of records and CDs that I soon felt overwhelmed and had to leave.

Nearby was an ice-cream shop, and this was the perfect day for a triple scoop. The shop in question also sold a selection of sweets. While the server filled my cone, I asked him about the giant gummy bear the size of a football sitting in their sweets selection. He said it had been bought when the shop was expanding into confectionery but had never so.

Further down the road, after checking around, was the Hunt House.

This is Calgary’s oldest building, constructed in 1876 near the intersection of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. It was originally a residence building when trading posts were first established. Its original log-cabin design has been preserved, along with that of its companion, The Metis Cabin.

Across the road is Fair’s Fair, a large second-hand bookshop with books on every subject. I spent a good half-hour wandering through. If you’re a book-lover in Calgary, this is the place to go.

Loose End

I crossed the Elbow and took the long way back into the city to avoid the roadworks. I considered going up the Calgary Tower, but after the CN Tower EdgeWalk, I figured it’d be an anticlimax.

Back at the hostel, I prepared for leaving tomorrow. Then I took a last walk around the neighbourhood. That part of Calgary is mostly suburb and industrial park, and not much was open there at that hour.

Before the sun set too far, I headed back to bed.