We took advantage of being on the Gold Floor to go and get some breakfast in the Penthouse Lounge. Back in the room we were once again in World Cup Football mode and watched the gripping game between Brazil and Chile. Chile should so have won that match, they really deserved it! Sadly they lost on the last penalty. A great disappointment as we should have loved to see them go through. We took a wander outside and visited the Calgary Tower which is 2 minutes alon...

We were ready and waiting for our coach to Calgary in good time. Once aboard we were soon outside Banff National Park and after passing the small town of Canmore it was not long before the mountains were less high. Very soon they were just rolling foothills and by the time we reached Calgary there was not a mountain to be seen. The whole area is very flat and sprawling. We passed the Olympic Park and saw the place where our own Eddie the Eagle had his moment of f...

We set off to explore this large and imposing castle hotel which seems to be a city in itself. Past the castle pantry in which all the food is very much do-it-yourself and involves great skill with the microwave, we moved on through the lobby where the lady with the harp was in full swing. We decided to find all the restaurants (no mean feat in itself) and look at all the menus to help us to decide what to eat later. Unfortunately both of the venues we liked the ...

We took a yellow taxi up to the Banff sightseeing gondola on Sulphur Mountain. There were quite a few clouds but we still had some good views of our hotel and the golf course. We followed the long wooden walkway all the way to the Cosmic Ray station and saw the site of an early weather station built in 1903. There were many very tame striped ground squirrels and we guess some naughty people must have been feeding them. We looked out over the mountains and endless...

We might have like to stay here longer and explore the beautiful scenery, but we had to tear ourselves away from the beautiful view from our window and set off on our travels once again. This time our driver was Max, a very pleasant young Argentinian guy who is a very experienced mountain and park guide as well as provider of challenging outdoor activities and experiences. Our first stop was at Moraine Lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks. Not really a genuine Mo...