Weekend in Banff & our new Abode

I've been offline for a few days due to moving to our new apartment, but it has been all go.  The weekend before last, Stuart and I decided to get out of the city and head to Banff. We had taken a day trip up there when we were here last summer, but it was nice to see it in the snow.

cheeky old deer!

When we arrived we took a walk through town and it was not long before we encountered our first glimpse of wildlife which was a deer making it's way across the icy river, It was a bit of a distance away, but i got the camera out and managed to get a few photos... we then followed the river around and realised that a zoom lense was not required, as the same deer had reached the bank that we were walking along. We were quite impressed to be so close up to the animal (and lets be honest Stuart was a little scared as it had quite big antlers!) quietly I took another couple of shots as it nibbled the grass, then it looked up at us quizzically and then just wandered right by us!! turns out they are practically tame and don't pay much attention to people!

We had a friend who was also in town that night so went to the ubiquitous irish bar that you find in every town in every country in the world to meet him for a drink and some grub.

Summit of Sulpher Mountain

catching some rays

On Saturday we took the Gondola to the summit of Sulpher mountain. Again Stuart was a bit aprehensive, not being the greatest with heights, but he did well and I tried not to shake the car too much! We were met with spectacular views from the summit which is over 8000 ft above sea level, many photos later we decided against the trek down the mountain and took the Gondola back again.

We had planned on trying out our new ice skates that we got from a second hand sporting goods shop for an absolute bargin, but after speaking to a few folks we found that it wasn't just quite cold enough yet for outdoor skating on the lakes (ice would be too thin) and the only alternative would be indoor skating, which didn't seem as much fun... so we took a wander around the town and a woodland walk around the banff springs hotel, which is where I think Stuart should be booking for our next visit!  http://www.fairmont.com/banff-springs

Onto Sunday and we decided to do some proper mountain climbing, this time we tackled one of the smallest peaks in the area Tunnel Mountain  a still impressive 5551 ft above sea level, sounds like quite a hike, but when you are starting from 4541 ft, you realise it's just a wee jaunt! Got the lungs going all the same!

We then returned to Calgary via Canmore and prepared to say goodbye to our first Calgary home and hello to our new apartment. We are now staying further south of downtown on the top floor of a fairly new apartment complex, as it's the 21st floor the views are stunning when you have a clear day, otherwise my head really is in the clouds.  It's great just watching the world go by. Unfortunately  the furniture we are having shipped from Scotland will not be arriving until early or mid January, so until then we are just having to make do with what we have which thanks to a visit to a well known Swedish outlet is a sofa bed and some lamps!! but it's ours and it won't be long until we have our own things around us again... however we are thinking of postponing Christmas until then!

view at night

and by day