The Mountains Are Calling [Part 1]

I was debating on where to go traveling to in January for a long time. Should I head further East and explore places like Newfoundland and Nova Scotia? Should I head West and try to catch a glimpse of the Rockies? What should I do and what would the weather be like? Secretly, I really wanted to go West. I don´t know why but I find mountains incredibly fascinating. Maybe it´s because I was born in the black forest or maybe it´s because I used to live in the Uluguru Mountains in Africa. Anyway, I just love them! Nevertheless, I was taking into account all the possibilities. People would tell me that it gets incredibly cold in BC and Alberta, especially in January and February. Blocked roads, avalanches and extreme temperature drops are very common. Also, I didn´t realise how big this country was. It takes four and a half hours to fly from Toronto to Calgary or a 4 days drive in the car. Therefore, this was a tough decision to make. One day, I came across a poster saying: “If it´s both terrifying and amazing, then you should definitely pursue it.” That´s when I made my final decision – no matter the weather or the distance, I was going to head West!

When I told my mum about my plans she made a very terrifying, yet amazing decision herself. She would come all the way from Germany and join me! I must admit, although I was thrilled to bits, I never thought that my mum would do this. But she was serious! She got her passport renewed and booked the flights. I was a little worried after having spent the last few weeks with temperatures as low as -35°C. I mean, I could hardly stand the weather in Montréal. How was I supposed to survive in the Rocky Mountains, especially with mum coming? By this time, I was used to the Canadian Winter conditions whereas she wasn´t. What was I thinking? If there is one thing I learned in Canada it´s that you can´t change the weather. People just get on with it. So, that is exactly what I was going to do! After all, there was a slight possibility that the weather might improve.

My mum arrived the day after my return from Montréal. I took the bus to the airport and waited for her plane to land. It was funny waiting in the arrivals hall. Not only was it really interesting watching all the different people, but I wasn´t used to waiting. Normally, I am the one travelling! After what felt like an eternity my mum finally walked through the doors. I brought a huge Canadian flag to welcome her which I was now waving madly. It was so nice to see my mum again after 5 months!

My mission for the next day: introducing my mum to Canada (and Toronto) and making her love it as much as I do. I guess, I overdid it a little… We started the day off with orange juice and freshly toasted bagels at Timy´s. After that we went for a long walk across town. We walked up Yonge St past all the theatres and past Dundas Square with huge billboards flashing above our heads. We made our way to Union Station, walked past the Fairmont Hotel and towards the harbor front. It was beautiful weather! The sun was shining and there wasn´t a single cloud in the sky. The Ontario Lake was still partly frozen but you could already hear the ice cracking. After we walked all the way from the Harbour front Centre to the ferry ports we were gasping for a cup of coffee. Therefore, I took mum to the closest “Second Cup” I could find. The “Second Cup” is my favourite coffeeshop chain in Canada. Their coffees and teas are not only the best, they also have really nice snacks like healthy salads, smoothies, muffins and sandwiches. Don´t get me wrong, I love Timy´s, too. The “Second Cup” is more of a “sit-down-and-have-lunch-together-place” whereas Tim Hortons is more of a “coffee-and-timbits-takeaway-place”. As it was still very early and mummy wasn´t complaining about her jetlag yet, I decided to show her Kensington Markets. There are plenty of little shops and restaurants to explore, after all. We took the subway to Spadina and walked through Chinatown on our way. We had a thorough wander around Kensington. At one point, mummy got really tired. I reckon it was the time difference that finally hit her. Maybe I overdid it a little. I mean we literally went all over town and poor mummy only just arrived.

Unfortunately, this week´s itinerary didn´t leave much time to recover. Our flight to Calgary was leaving early the next morning. Originally, we wanted to take the train to the airport. For some reason the trains were cancelled so we had to get an Uber. Obviously, it took much longer in the car than the train would have taken. We arrived at the airport just in time. By the time we got settled in our designated seats I was totally exhausted. I can barely remember the take-off but I must have fallen asleep immediately after. I woke up at some point and the landscape beneath me looked ever so interesting. There were canyons and huge ice covered lakes and of course the prairies which were covered in snow. Every now and then there was a road running straight across the landscape with no bends or curves. It took us a bit longer than four hours to arrive at our destination. I got really excited when I glimpsed the tops of the Rocky Mountains. There they were! We picked up a rental car at the airport. Because I am a member of the Canadian hostel society we got a really good deal on a four-wheel SUV including insurances and a sat-nav. You would think that driving in Canada should be fairly easy considering the wide and mostly straight roads. Nevertheless, it can be quite challenging for someone who isn´t used to the Canadian fashion of driving. Although cars drive on the right side of the road (same as in Germany) there are certain rules one needs getting used to. For instance, it´s perfectly fine to take a right-turn at a red traffic light as long as there are no other cars coming. Also, traffic lights are located after a junction or a crossroad. Therefore, you have to stop at the crossroad and you shouldn´t drive all the way up to the traffic lights. It can be a little tricky to find the stop line, especially with snow covering the roads. Thankfully, there are signs everywhere indicating things like: “STOP HERE!” or something like that. I got the hang of it pretty quickly though. The drive into Calgary was really nice. The sun was shining, there was only country music on the radio and we were cruising along in a brand new car. What more do you want?

After we spent one night in Calgary we hit the road again. This time we took the Trans-Canada Highway 1 heading West, all the way to Banff. It takes approximately 2 hours from Calgary to Banff. Nevertheless, this was the most scenic drive I have ever been on. It was a mild day with temperatures just below zero, bright blue skies and sunshine that tickled in the nose. We drove past the flat prairies just outside Calgary. The view was stunning! You could see for miles and miles and the tiny little hills on the horizon grew bigger and bigger. Soon the roads went slightly uphill and rounded the first mountain. There were millions of trees running up the hill, looking like little black triangles on a white blanket of snow. The sun was peeking through the mountains, making one side of the mountains glow in a warm yellow light while casting long shadows on the other side. It was simply breathtaking. I didn´t mind the speed limit with this pretty landscape to admire, at all. While I drove on, all the while exclaiming the odd “oh” and “ah”, we passed pretty lakes and places with funny names. “Dead Man´s Flats” and “Bear Hill Road” were some of them. In general, Canadians seem to love weird names. We usually drink beer called “Moosehead” although I hope there are no moose involved in the process of brewing this beer. People with a sweet tooth love “Beaver Tails” which are fried pastries topped with a choice of sweets. Also, there is a place in Saskatchewan called Moose Jaw. There are many explanations for why this town is called Moose Jaw. The most convincing one is that the name originates from a similar sounding word of the First Nations. Although these names might seem a little weird they´re also quite cute, don´t you think?