Hey Everyone,
this is gonna be a long one, so strap in. If you have to go pee, i suggest you do so now :D
I left off christmas morning so im gonna start with that, however i will write this post in 3 parts.
It was really amazing, but we didn't get to see too much of Jasper, because we only arrived at about 5 pm. It was a long drive there from red deer. Our hotel was built to have a kind of lodge feeling with a lot of wood and a fireplace, it was quite nice.
The following day we got back on the road down to Banff. On the way there we saw a awesome waterfall that was frozen solid. There were even people climbing it.
To get there there was only a narrow path through the snow. My mom missed the path with one foot and fell into the soft snow and couldn't get back up. So naturally my father laughed first, called me, took a photo and then helped her up :D
After that we saw some elks on the side of the road.
A bit later we came to the Columbia Ice-fields, a huge glacier just between Jasper and Banff. My parents told me that it had receded since they last saw it 25 years ago.
On top of a sign there sat a raven who just croaked and wouldn't move, no matter how close we came.
Before we went to Banff, we had to see Lake Louise. It was completely frozen and in front of a hotel there was an ice sculpture contest with some amazing sculptures.
On the the ice of the lake was an ice castle and an ice skating rink around it.
Banff itself was quite touristy, but not as much as my parents remembered.
In Banff we went to a coffee shop, but didn't stay there otherwise, it would've been way too expensive. So we drove over to Canmore and a bit further to Dead mans flats, where we got a room in a motel. For dinner we drove back into Canmore and ate in a lovely restaurant that was inside a wooden lodge house. Right around the corner of our motel in dead mans flats was the hotel that my parents could've helped built 25 years ago, but decided against it.
On the next day we drove down to Lethbridge to meet up with Willard. We met him at a Casino and from there on took his car first to Evelyns grave and then to the farm my father stayed at back in '77.
The farms belongs to someone else now, but my father still recognized a lot.
On Thursday we drove up to Drumheller to visit the Dinosaur museum and to meet Jes. The museum was really nice, they had a lot of bones there (naturally) but sadly no alive ones like in Jurassic park :D
After the museum we went to see the hoodoos, rock formations that weren't swept away by the river that once flowed through Drumheller.
At around 4 we went to Jes' house which is really big, it's bigger than her moms and her aunts houses combined.
That evening we met up with Willard, Monica, Doug and Mackenzie for wings at The Station in Strathmore. It was a nice get-together and the wings were awesome :)
Friday we drove into Calgary. First we went up the Calgary Tower, which i'd already seen in the beginning of my journey. From there we went to see the Devonian gardens, they are located on a malls 4th floor. You can get something to eat at the food court and then eat it in the gardens :)
Later we met up with Willard to drive to Rockyford, where we had Chinese with the family. On the way there Willard let me drive his truck, because i told him, that i always wanted to drive a big truck :)
The Chinese dinner was amazing, we had a lot of fun. It was our last evening in Calgary, so it was a kind of goodbye dinner.
After dinner we said our goodbyes to everyone and drove back to Willards.
Our flight over to Vancouver was on the next day. But it was in the afternoon so when we arrived in Vancouver it was already getting dark and it was raining a lot. We had to upgrade our rental car to a Jeep Patriot, so it would fit all our luggage and then drove to our first hotel. It wasn't very good or cosy, but the room was plenty big. So we decided over dinner to get a new hotel for the following days.
Sunday we went for a walk in Stanleypark. It was really foggy so we couldn't see much of the seawall, but we could see the totem poles.
We decided to walk around a bit more and then circle back trough the park. On the way through we came to beaver lake, where you really could see signs of beavers. Like dams and fallen trees with teeth-marks.
Along the lake-shore where people holding there hands out with some bird-food on it and little birds flew on their hands picked out something and flew off. So we spent maybe half an hour there doing the same thing :D
It was a weird sensation having a bird fly onto your hand.
A bit further down the way we saw this:
That evening we met up with Christina and her husband for dinner at the Cactus Club Cafe at English Bay. We talked so much, that we almost forgot to order all together. It was a really nice evening. Our second hotel was a lot nicer than the first one and even a bit cheaper.
On Monday we walked to a museum of art in the city, which wasn't very good if you ask me or my dad :D
After that we decided to drive to Burnaby, where i showed my parents Metrotown. It's a big shopping mall, but not at all as big as in Edmonton. My mother loved the Chapters there and got some nice presents.
After i showed them everything there, we drove down to BCIT and i showed them around campus a bit. I couldn't show them everything, because we parked in a pay-lot without paying :D
The next day we went to up Whistler. We stopped in Squamish to take some photos.
We arrived in Whistler pretty late, but we still got to do the peak 2 peak gondola tour. It was really amazing :).
After that i went tubing at the Coca Cola tubing-park, that was awesome :D I went down a couple of times and one time i made a video.
On the way back we had dinner at Wendy's, which wasn't as my parents remembered it. It now is just a fast food place, but they said it was a diner once.
Wednesday we visited the museum of anthropology at UBC. They had a lot of native art from history and present. It was quite nice, but by then i was fed up with museums for a while. From there we drove to Burnaby again to pick up my stuff that i left with my roommate. I could show my parents where i lived over the semester, including my room :). After we brought my stuff to the hotel, we drove to Gastown and walked through there. We ate something at the Steamworks brewery, where i ate a couple of times before. They even brewed their own Kölsch there, which is a German beer from Cologne.
The next day we went to the market on Granville Island and walked around there and finally drank a beer at the Granville Island brewery.
On Thursday we drove up to the Capilano Suspension bridge. It was raining pretty hard, but that's what you have to expect in the rain-forest :D The bridge was quite spectacular, but they also had some small bridges suspended in the trees, so you could walk from tree to tree without ever touching the ground.
That was our last day in Vancouver :(. Really really early the next day we drove to the airport, because my parents flight left at around 8am, but mine wouldn't leave until 2pm. So i sat in a restaurant at the airport, until i could drop off my baggage. On the flight i had the same spot i had before, directly at the emergency exit with a lot of legroom. When i arrived in Frankfurt i had to buy a train-ticket to get to Düsseldorf. But i was already 4 hours asleep back home, when my parents finally arrived. They had a lot of bad luck, with missing pilots, sick crews and late planes, so it took them a lot longer.
Now i'm back home and just finished this post, after almost 3 weeks back :D
So that was my Canada experience, i hope you all enjoyed my tales of glory and happiness :D
Over and out :)
Update: With great sadness that i have to say that Willard passed away on the 26th of February. I lived with him for quite a while and got to know him really well. I miss him very much. My deepest condolences to the whole family, my thoughts are with you.
this is gonna be a long one, so strap in. If you have to go pee, i suggest you do so now :D
I left off christmas morning so im gonna start with that, however i will write this post in 3 parts.
After Christmas
Jes and I stayed behind when Pam, Barry and Dolly went to Disneyland on the second day of christmas.
Jes had to work after Christmas, so i spend the mornings either reading or driving around in Pams truck, which was quite fun actually.
Since there was so much snow, i really had to use the 4x4 option on the farm roads and some of the smaller streets downtown.
On silvester Jes and i went to her fathers house for dinner. They had King crab and rosemary potatoes. It was my first time eating king crab and i liked it a lot :)
After dinner i went to mackenzies and Jes went to Calgary to celebrate. Mack hat some friends over and we played beer pong. We had quite a bit of fun, judging by my headache the next morning, maybe a bit too much :D Anyway, the next day Jes and i had to clean up the house, because Pam and Barry would return that evening and the dogs left quite a mess. Took us all of two hours to clean everything, we even polished the floor :) After another two days Willard picked me up to go back to his place.
The day before i left to Hawaii i was packing my suitcase, when i noticed that i couldn't find my passport. I turned over everything, even contacted my roommate in Vancouver......
.....Until i found the secret pouch in my backpack, where i'd put it originally. Tricked by my own secret pouch, unbelievable :D. But i found it and got safely to the airport and on the plane.
Jes had to work after Christmas, so i spend the mornings either reading or driving around in Pams truck, which was quite fun actually.
Since there was so much snow, i really had to use the 4x4 option on the farm roads and some of the smaller streets downtown.
On silvester Jes and i went to her fathers house for dinner. They had King crab and rosemary potatoes. It was my first time eating king crab and i liked it a lot :)
After dinner i went to mackenzies and Jes went to Calgary to celebrate. Mack hat some friends over and we played beer pong. We had quite a bit of fun, judging by my headache the next morning, maybe a bit too much :D Anyway, the next day Jes and i had to clean up the house, because Pam and Barry would return that evening and the dogs left quite a mess. Took us all of two hours to clean everything, we even polished the floor :) After another two days Willard picked me up to go back to his place.
The day before i left to Hawaii i was packing my suitcase, when i noticed that i couldn't find my passport. I turned over everything, even contacted my roommate in Vancouver......
.....Until i found the secret pouch in my backpack, where i'd put it originally. Tricked by my own secret pouch, unbelievable :D. But i found it and got safely to the airport and on the plane.
Hawaii
I had to take 3 different planes to Hawaii, two of which were prop planes. It was like riding a roller coaster :D From the airport i took a taxi to the hostel. Since i arrived after closing hours, they left my roomkey in an envelope at the reception.
The next day i met a group of Germans with a rental car and we decided to rent some surfboards and go surfing. I went up on the board, but i didn't manage to stand up. The board immediately turned wobbly when i put my feet on it. We stayed on the beach for the sunset and had some beers, even if that's not exactly legal :D
After that we went back to hostel, where we had a BBQ.
On the next day 2 of the group had to take the plane over to Honolulu but at the same time 2 new Germans, Alex and Pauline, arrived, who promptly rented a car as well. Together with them and the remaining German from the first group, Max, i went to see the Twin Falls. On the way walking there, we had to cross a small creek, so i pulled off my shoes and started to walk through. I slipped on a rock and to balance myself had to put my hand in the water.....
.....the hand that was carrying the shoes :D
I went to go swimming under the waterfall, it was a lot stronger than i imagined, but still awesome :D
Following that we drove around and searched for a good spot for snorkeling. Once we found one, we had to scale down a rubble hill, scary dangerous if you ask me. When we reached it, we saw amazing corals and fishes. It was so cool, seeing blue and green corals, fishes I've only ever seen on TV or in aquariums. We stayed for about 2 hours and then looked for a way back, which turned out to be way easier, than the way to the spot. We had parked the car on a beach pretty close by, where we stayed until sundown. It was amazing :), in the ocean before the beach there were whales jumping out of the water and blowing water in the air.
The beach lay under some trees, one of which had crocheting in all colors all around. I guess it was some form of tombstone, because it had written "in loving memory of tawny" on it.
The next day we wanted to go surfing again. We rented surfboards, but then noticed that the rental car could only carry two at a time. So we had to make two trips to the beach, where we wanted to surf. I stayed at the beach to watch over the boards. Then it started to rain and the wind picked up.
So i asked a couple ,who came out of the water at that moment, how the surfing conditions were. They told me that we as beginners would not come back out of the water if we went in. But they told me that there is a good surfing spot for beginners near Lahaina. But once we went there, a guy in the surfshop told us, that there might be sharks now, because of the rain. So we didn't get to go surfing a second time, but that was just as well, since i didn't get the hang of it anyway :D
On the last day, we went snorkeling again, but this time at some hotel beaches, specifically a place called Turtle Town. And low and behold, i saw a turtle, it swam right beside me for a couple of minutes. It looked at me and then went down into its cave :) It was amazing :D my first ever turtle and so close.
After that we went to another hotel beach. It was really nice but we didn't see too much when we tried snorkeling there, the water was not clear enough.
Alex and Pauline brought me to the airport the next day, but because we went to the beach before that, we were a bit late. So i almost didn't get to drop off my luggage, but it all worked out in the end. That will be the last time that i will only be an hour early to a flight :D
The next day i met a group of Germans with a rental car and we decided to rent some surfboards and go surfing. I went up on the board, but i didn't manage to stand up. The board immediately turned wobbly when i put my feet on it. We stayed on the beach for the sunset and had some beers, even if that's not exactly legal :D
After that we went back to hostel, where we had a BBQ.
On the next day 2 of the group had to take the plane over to Honolulu but at the same time 2 new Germans, Alex and Pauline, arrived, who promptly rented a car as well. Together with them and the remaining German from the first group, Max, i went to see the Twin Falls. On the way walking there, we had to cross a small creek, so i pulled off my shoes and started to walk through. I slipped on a rock and to balance myself had to put my hand in the water.....
.....the hand that was carrying the shoes :D
I went to go swimming under the waterfall, it was a lot stronger than i imagined, but still awesome :D
Following that we drove around and searched for a good spot for snorkeling. Once we found one, we had to scale down a rubble hill, scary dangerous if you ask me. When we reached it, we saw amazing corals and fishes. It was so cool, seeing blue and green corals, fishes I've only ever seen on TV or in aquariums. We stayed for about 2 hours and then looked for a way back, which turned out to be way easier, than the way to the spot. We had parked the car on a beach pretty close by, where we stayed until sundown. It was amazing :), in the ocean before the beach there were whales jumping out of the water and blowing water in the air.
The beach lay under some trees, one of which had crocheting in all colors all around. I guess it was some form of tombstone, because it had written "in loving memory of tawny" on it.
The next day we wanted to go surfing again. We rented surfboards, but then noticed that the rental car could only carry two at a time. So we had to make two trips to the beach, where we wanted to surf. I stayed at the beach to watch over the boards. Then it started to rain and the wind picked up.
So i asked a couple ,who came out of the water at that moment, how the surfing conditions were. They told me that we as beginners would not come back out of the water if we went in. But they told me that there is a good surfing spot for beginners near Lahaina. But once we went there, a guy in the surfshop told us, that there might be sharks now, because of the rain. So we didn't get to go surfing a second time, but that was just as well, since i didn't get the hang of it anyway :D
On the last day, we went snorkeling again, but this time at some hotel beaches, specifically a place called Turtle Town. And low and behold, i saw a turtle, it swam right beside me for a couple of minutes. It looked at me and then went down into its cave :) It was amazing :D my first ever turtle and so close.
After that we went to another hotel beach. It was really nice but we didn't see too much when we tried snorkeling there, the water was not clear enough.
Alex and Pauline brought me to the airport the next day, but because we went to the beach before that, we were a bit late. So i almost didn't get to drop off my luggage, but it all worked out in the end. That will be the last time that i will only be an hour early to a flight :D
Canada with Mom and Dad
When i arrived at the calgary airport, my dad and willard picked me up. I only had on shorts and a tshirt, so you can imagine, it was quite cold :D My father and i rented a car there. They didn't have any mid class cars left so we got a full class for the same price. We could choose from a few different ones, but as soon as he said "Charger" i shouted "THAT ONE" :D So we got a Dodge Charger as a rental car for the time in Alberta.
After we met at Willards and stayed for the night, we drove up to red deer the next day to meet Michele and Ken. At Micheles we had dinner together and on the following day, Michele took us to the Edmonton mall. That one was freaking huge, as an European you really can't imagine something like this :D First thing we noticed was, that the mall had street names inside, maybe so you don't get lost or something. In the middle there was a seal show going on in a really big pool and a couple of meters further there was a huge pirate ship.
On one side, they had a water-park complete with slide and a wave-pool. You could even zip-line over it :D
It was the size of a normal city swimming hall, but in a mall.
But that wasn't all, oh no! They went totally crazy with that one and built a freaking amusement park into it! With two intertwining roller coasters and a bunch of other stuff.
Again i can't stress this enough, this was all in one mall! Crazy Canadians and their space :D
We spent a good day in that mall and were all pretty groggy after that. On the next day we went up to Jasper in the Jasper national park.On one side, they had a water-park complete with slide and a wave-pool. You could even zip-line over it :D
It was the size of a normal city swimming hall, but in a mall.
But that wasn't all, oh no! They went totally crazy with that one and built a freaking amusement park into it! With two intertwining roller coasters and a bunch of other stuff.
Again i can't stress this enough, this was all in one mall! Crazy Canadians and their space :D
It was really amazing, but we didn't get to see too much of Jasper, because we only arrived at about 5 pm. It was a long drive there from red deer. Our hotel was built to have a kind of lodge feeling with a lot of wood and a fireplace, it was quite nice.
The following day we got back on the road down to Banff. On the way there we saw a awesome waterfall that was frozen solid. There were even people climbing it.
To get there there was only a narrow path through the snow. My mom missed the path with one foot and fell into the soft snow and couldn't get back up. So naturally my father laughed first, called me, took a photo and then helped her up :D
After that we saw some elks on the side of the road.
A bit later we came to the Columbia Ice-fields, a huge glacier just between Jasper and Banff. My parents told me that it had receded since they last saw it 25 years ago.
On top of a sign there sat a raven who just croaked and wouldn't move, no matter how close we came.
Before we went to Banff, we had to see Lake Louise. It was completely frozen and in front of a hotel there was an ice sculpture contest with some amazing sculptures.
On the the ice of the lake was an ice castle and an ice skating rink around it.
Banff itself was quite touristy, but not as much as my parents remembered.
In Banff we went to a coffee shop, but didn't stay there otherwise, it would've been way too expensive. So we drove over to Canmore and a bit further to Dead mans flats, where we got a room in a motel. For dinner we drove back into Canmore and ate in a lovely restaurant that was inside a wooden lodge house. Right around the corner of our motel in dead mans flats was the hotel that my parents could've helped built 25 years ago, but decided against it.
On the next day we drove down to Lethbridge to meet up with Willard. We met him at a Casino and from there on took his car first to Evelyns grave and then to the farm my father stayed at back in '77.
The farms belongs to someone else now, but my father still recognized a lot.
On Thursday we drove up to Drumheller to visit the Dinosaur museum and to meet Jes. The museum was really nice, they had a lot of bones there (naturally) but sadly no alive ones like in Jurassic park :D
After the museum we went to see the hoodoos, rock formations that weren't swept away by the river that once flowed through Drumheller.
At around 4 we went to Jes' house which is really big, it's bigger than her moms and her aunts houses combined.
Friday we drove into Calgary. First we went up the Calgary Tower, which i'd already seen in the beginning of my journey. From there we went to see the Devonian gardens, they are located on a malls 4th floor. You can get something to eat at the food court and then eat it in the gardens :)
Later we met up with Willard to drive to Rockyford, where we had Chinese with the family. On the way there Willard let me drive his truck, because i told him, that i always wanted to drive a big truck :)
The Chinese dinner was amazing, we had a lot of fun. It was our last evening in Calgary, so it was a kind of goodbye dinner.
After dinner we said our goodbyes to everyone and drove back to Willards.
Our flight over to Vancouver was on the next day. But it was in the afternoon so when we arrived in Vancouver it was already getting dark and it was raining a lot. We had to upgrade our rental car to a Jeep Patriot, so it would fit all our luggage and then drove to our first hotel. It wasn't very good or cosy, but the room was plenty big. So we decided over dinner to get a new hotel for the following days.
Sunday we went for a walk in Stanleypark. It was really foggy so we couldn't see much of the seawall, but we could see the totem poles.
We decided to walk around a bit more and then circle back trough the park. On the way through we came to beaver lake, where you really could see signs of beavers. Like dams and fallen trees with teeth-marks.
Along the lake-shore where people holding there hands out with some bird-food on it and little birds flew on their hands picked out something and flew off. So we spent maybe half an hour there doing the same thing :D
It was a weird sensation having a bird fly onto your hand.
A bit further down the way we saw this:
That evening we met up with Christina and her husband for dinner at the Cactus Club Cafe at English Bay. We talked so much, that we almost forgot to order all together. It was a really nice evening. Our second hotel was a lot nicer than the first one and even a bit cheaper.
On Monday we walked to a museum of art in the city, which wasn't very good if you ask me or my dad :D
After that we decided to drive to Burnaby, where i showed my parents Metrotown. It's a big shopping mall, but not at all as big as in Edmonton. My mother loved the Chapters there and got some nice presents.
After i showed them everything there, we drove down to BCIT and i showed them around campus a bit. I couldn't show them everything, because we parked in a pay-lot without paying :D
The next day we went to up Whistler. We stopped in Squamish to take some photos.
We arrived in Whistler pretty late, but we still got to do the peak 2 peak gondola tour. It was really amazing :).
After that i went tubing at the Coca Cola tubing-park, that was awesome :D I went down a couple of times and one time i made a video.
On the way back we had dinner at Wendy's, which wasn't as my parents remembered it. It now is just a fast food place, but they said it was a diner once.
Wednesday we visited the museum of anthropology at UBC. They had a lot of native art from history and present. It was quite nice, but by then i was fed up with museums for a while. From there we drove to Burnaby again to pick up my stuff that i left with my roommate. I could show my parents where i lived over the semester, including my room :). After we brought my stuff to the hotel, we drove to Gastown and walked through there. We ate something at the Steamworks brewery, where i ate a couple of times before. They even brewed their own Kölsch there, which is a German beer from Cologne.
The next day we went to the market on Granville Island and walked around there and finally drank a beer at the Granville Island brewery.
On Thursday we drove up to the Capilano Suspension bridge. It was raining pretty hard, but that's what you have to expect in the rain-forest :D The bridge was quite spectacular, but they also had some small bridges suspended in the trees, so you could walk from tree to tree without ever touching the ground.
That was our last day in Vancouver :(. Really really early the next day we drove to the airport, because my parents flight left at around 8am, but mine wouldn't leave until 2pm. So i sat in a restaurant at the airport, until i could drop off my baggage. On the flight i had the same spot i had before, directly at the emergency exit with a lot of legroom. When i arrived in Frankfurt i had to buy a train-ticket to get to Düsseldorf. But i was already 4 hours asleep back home, when my parents finally arrived. They had a lot of bad luck, with missing pilots, sick crews and late planes, so it took them a lot longer.
Now i'm back home and just finished this post, after almost 3 weeks back :D
So that was my Canada experience, i hope you all enjoyed my tales of glory and happiness :D
Over and out :)
Update: With great sadness that i have to say that Willard passed away on the 26th of February. I lived with him for quite a while and got to know him really well. I miss him very much. My deepest condolences to the whole family, my thoughts are with you.
Den deutschen Text werde ich in Bälde nachliefern.
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