Lake Louise 4
Feb 20 (Wed) – 21 (Thu)
This day, we tried cross-country skiing for the first time.
We were going to rent skis for a half day as we were going to use them for maybe 2 hours. I thought a half day can be a few hours in the morning or a few hours in the afternoon, but the half day price only started after 12:30. It was still before noon and we didn’t want to pay for a full day. When we asked if we could start earlier they said no problem. Thanks a lot!
There are some courses we can take to learn how to cross-country ski, but the course time was fixed and required a reservation, and it was quite expensive, so we just went by ourselves. It should be OK because we would do it just like walking on the very flat frozen lake. We wouldn’t fall down and we didn’t. The skis were thinner than normal skis and our heals can be lifted from them. Different, but we got used to it soon after. It was a nice walk around the lake.
Look! Some people were ice-climbing! So scary!!
It was a nice experience.
In the afternoon, we had afternoon tea at the Lakeview Lounge @ the hotel !
We shared one.
The same chain hotel in Victoria, BC, has a nice afternoon tea too, but they require the guest to have a set once they sit at the table (I had never heard of such a policy before). So I thought there was a chance this place had the same policy, so I asked. Phew, they don’t require that.
This afternoon tea comes with a glass of champagne. I’m pregnant. I actually don’t need such a thing. Can you reduce the price and you can take it away… My hubby drank it. Please enjoy.
It was really good! The fruits were nice. The unique variety of tea was nice too.
Afternoon teas in Hong Kong might have a better deal for the cost, but this place has the great view of the lake. So I shouldn’t compare.
After this, we went to Banff again. It takes about 1 hour. The sky and mountains were beautiful and we enjoyed the drive very much.
The other day it was so packed and this day wasn’t.
I didn’t photoshop the picture, but the sky below looks strange… the lens filter?
Caribou Street. Nice!
At night, we went to Miki, a Japanese restaurant. I knew this restaurant from reading my friend’s blog. The food looked great.
It’s inside a hotel.
This is my order: Chirashi Don. You can’t see the scallops, squid and octopus. It was really good.
This restaurant offers a good deal for a buffet for only $30. My husband was confident that he could eat a lot, so he ordered a lot and ate them all. I would have had the same if I was hungrier… Please open up a chain in Edmonton. We will go often! They make the food after ordering. It might take some time especially if it’s crowded. On this day and at this time, it wasn’t. We were lucky.
Miki Japanese Restaurant (403) 762-0600 600 Banff Ave, Banff
It was about – 5 c degree during the day, but when we went back to the hotel, it was -17! So cold!!
Next day…
The morning we were checking out, I had a Japanese breakfast set. Yes, there is such a thing at this hotel. With Natto (fermented soybeans)! Amazing! I love it and I eat it at least a few times a month at home. It’s so healthy and delicious with rice.
It was a perfect breakfast, even though the rice felt like it was microwaved. The fact that we can eat this in the middle of the Canadian Rockies amazes me! Thank you very much.
We bought some lunch at the Deli again and hit the road. It’s about 5 hours to Edmonton.
Looked like Edmonton had a snow storm. The trees were all white.
There was a day that I could have only 3 hours sleep, but the last night I had a good long sleep. Is it because I had a lot of Gari (sweetened ginger that often comes with sushi). So that was good.
Finally my husband got a cold from me. I’m very sorry about that. I respect how strong he is, thinking of the fact that he hadn’t gotten cold by this time.
The Lake Louise is very popular and a lot of Japanese couples come for their honeymoons. It’s a romantic nice place. We really enjoyed it. We made nice memories for the last time (?) only by ourselves before having a BB.
Lake Louise 3
Feb 19 (Tue)
A storm of people left the hotel and now it’s nice and quiet.
This day again we had nice slow breakfast and went hiking on the hill.
On the right side of the hotel (north east of the hotel), there is a path to walk up to other small lakes. Someone at the hotel told us we wouldn’t need snow-shoes to go up there, so we went hiking with regular trekking shoes. It was very cold, especially my face was freezing. I covered the half of my face with my scarf. When we were walking up the hill, somehow I didn’t cough. I wonder why. My nose was still runny though.
Mirror Lake was also frozen and covered by snow. But it is the lake.
Some birds came to see us , looking for food. We threw away some pieces of apple, and they ate them. Sorry no more food.
Unfortunately we didn’t see any other animals, but it was a great exercise. Only a few people walking and we enjoyed the crisp air and silence of nature.
This is the same Mirror Lake when we visited in summer, 2006.
It was about 2 p.m. when we came back to the hotel. We had lunch again at Chateau Deli.
For dinner, we went to Poppy Brasserie again.
We weren’t too hungry, so we just had 3 appetizers between us.
Chardonnay Wine & Tomato Seafood Chowder
Wild Mushroom & Gruyere Tartlets
Organic Red Quinoa & Zucchini Medallions
Do you know quinoa?
I think this was my first time. I was moved by how delicious it is. We asked the waitress about it and she said it was kind of grain or sprouts. It’s a super food!
The presentations are also very nice and we were impressed by these. Better than main dishes. Thank you for the good food.
Yes, we thought we only had appetizers as we weren’t too hungry… but…
We went to Deli again to get some desserts! It’s open 24h and that’s good! But that’s bad in a way. ^^
These were great. The cream puff had custard and whipped cream with vanilla in it. Oh, satisfactions!!
Lake Louise 2
Feb 18th (Mon)
Lakeview Lounge doesn’t open for breakfast normally but this day it was very crowded as it was “Family Day” (a holiday), the last day of the long weekend. So it was open to serve and satisfy the amount of guests. We were able to get a table here luckily! A buffet breakfast with beautiful scenery! Perfect!
The other side of the hotel looking down from Chateau Lake Louise.
Ice sculptures in front of the hotel.
A refreshing morning.
Went for a walk on the frozen Lake Louise.
He attempted to shake off the snow from the tree, but he failed…
A water fall also got frozen. Nicely turquoise.
The snow looks delicious, doesn’t it?
We went back to the hotel and had lunch at the Chateau Deli. They have great sandwiches, in my opinion. The bread had flavour with herbs. I became a fan here since when we came here last year. At that time, a veggie sandwich came with grilled bell peppers, but this time it had none of that and had some asparagus instead. The ingredients might change seasonally. The soup is also asparagus. Anyway, they were delicious!
After that, my hubby went for a skate. As I’m pregnant, I was sitting warm at a fire place.
Dinner at Poppy Brasserie inside the hotel.
This cocktail is called Lake Louise. It’s a vodka base with Midori (the green flavor and color). He said it wasn’t too bad, but not too great.
Seafood pizza (Temple Pizza) and Spinach Salad.
He has a bottle of wine as well in the room…
Outside was cold but inside was nice and warm. Enjoying Lake Louise.
I enjoyed the day again even though I still had coughs and morning sickness.
Lake Louise 1
Feb 17th (Sun)
After having breakfast at our hotel, we left Calgary for Lake Louise / Banff. It was a long weekend and everywhere was crowded!
We drove through a nice wintery landscape and entered the Rocky Mountains. If you are only passing through, no cost, but if you are staying for sightseeing, you need to pay the National Park entrance fee.
A group of between two and seven people traveling in a single vehicle pays C$19.60 for a day’s pass. We planned to stay for 4 nights, so it will cost about $100. Quite expensive…
Then the receptionist told us that it’s $136.40 for an annual park pass which is valid in 27 of Canada’s national parks. So we decided to get an annual pass. This year we will have a BB, but my parents are planning to visit us to Canada (their first time traveling abroad!). So we can use it at that time as well. More details and fees.
If you don’t want to pay for this entrance fee, there is a way to do it. You can stay at Canmore, which is out of the national park, but it’s only 10 minutes away from Banff. It’s a smaller town, but it has a lot to offer for leisure and nice restaurants. We did so last year, and we had a good time in Canmore. My diary on Canmore 1 and Canmore 2 (sorry only in Japanese).
On the way to Lake Louise, we dropped by at Banff for lunch and browsing. But it was really cold and snowing. It was difficult to get out of the mall once inside. Banff has a lot of nice Canadian souvenir shops that we don’t have in Edmonton. So I did some souvenir shopping.
It’s Wolf Street. There are other animal name streets here. It’s fun.
When we were leaving Banff, the sun was coming out… yes, it’s mountain weather. It changes very quickly.
Arrived in Lake Louise.
We had 4 nights at Chateau Lake Louise. Probably the last trip before having our BB. We got some discount because we are Alberta residents. You should check if you live in Alberta!
It’s a very nice hotel, so we enjoyed it a lot. The frozen lake was right in front of us. Very different scenery and leisure from summer time.
This is the landscape from our window. They are all skating rinks. The front left is for games, the front right is for fun and the small ones behind are for pond hockey tournaments.
The mountain in the middle, which is covered by cloud and snow, is the Victoria glacier. It’s getting smaller every year because of global warming.
Valentine’s treats that my hubby had ordered in advance! Nice surprise. Thank you, David!!
An excitable lady here.
A great coffee machine! Decaf was of course there.
Night time:
It was a long weekend and the hotel and restaurants were packed! We had dinner at a bar & restaurant inside the hotel.
I was only coughing before, but by this time, my nose started to run… I have to take care of myself really…
Glenbow, Metropolitan Grill & Wa’s Japanese in Calgary
Feb 16
Glenbow (a museum) on Stephen Street sounded interesting for a visit, as one of the features was an exhibition of the street photographer, Fred Herzog.
Fred Herzog was a Canadian immigrant from Germany. He took a lot of nice Vancouver street photos in colour.
The generation of our parents would love and miss those days by looking at these photos.
We can appreciate the neon on Vancouver’s streets – it was really cool and bright.
By the way, it sounds like he referred to the “so-called holocaust” in an interview with the Globe and Mail and it became controversial…
Stephen St in Calgary:
Glenbow:
University of Calgary:
Where is everybody? Indoors? It’s a Saturday morning, but no people hanging around?
When we entered a mall, we found some.
A metal horse. This was here when we were here 6 years ago:
My hubby joining in the conversation:
Late lunch at the Metropolitan Grill:
Calamari was good and the salad with real chunks of smoked salmon was really good!
Metropolitan Grill (403) 263-5432 Stephen Avenue, 317 7 Ave SW #150 Calgary, AB
Walked down the 4 St, peeking in shops.
Central Memorial Park:
A weird crow tower in front of Shelf Life Books:
We took a rest at our hotel and then went for dinner @ Wa’s Japanese.
I was actually looking forward to having ramen, but at this moment, I wanted to have udon. They’ve got a variety on the menu and the service was good. We’d love to come back again.
Wa's Japanese (403) 277-2077 1721 Centre St N Calgary, ABTagged with: Fred Herzog, Glenbow, Metropolitan Grill, Wa's Japanese
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