Travel Archives : Third Culture Kid 🇨🇭🇫🇷🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦/🇯🇲🇷🇺

Parks #10: Sue Higgins Park

Posted on May 14, 2022May 14, 2022 by Third Culture Kid

Date visited: October 7, 2021

Location: SE Calgary

Best Time of Year To Visit: Any time, especially for dogs!

Arriving at the Park:

I particularly wanted to mention how we got to Sue Higgins Park. We were walking along Blackfoot Trail. The intersection between Blackfoot Trail and Deerfoot Trail is near the park, and it was a trip down memory lane. When we arrived in Calgary, we took Uber from the airport and drove through this intersection. I mean, rolling prairie with a city view? What’s not to like?

Rolling Prairie 1
Rolling Prairie 2
Rolling Prairie 3
Prairie/City/Deerfoot Trail

A Note About the Trails:

If you see any street feature that ends in “trail” in Calgary, you can pretty much guarantee it’s going to be either a main road or a freeway. The freeway trails are the intersection between the suburbs and the city and you can use them to connect to freeways that lead to other parts of Canada.

Deerfoot Trail is the butt of everyone’s jokes!

I have found many more jokes like that on Reddit and social media!

Although, there are common warnings about safety on Deerfoot. Revisiting this intersection between Blackfoot and Deerfoot affirmed to me that it’s challenging to drive in this area. I still haven’t driven in Calgary yet, but I’m going to get my bearings in the city first before I attempt the trails!

Another thing I wanted to mention is the trails are an indicator that Calgary is an oil and gas town. Oil and gas industries deliberately put transportation infrastructure in areas where do most of their work. It’s good quality infrastructure, but with population growth, it doesn’t seem to have kept up with the times. I have heard so much about accidents on the trails and complaints of traffic that reminded me a lot of California. The same thought pops into my head about both places, which is, “Isn’t it time for an update here?” I am wondering with the shift to working from home more often if changes will happen.

Anyway, back to Sue Higgins Park!

THE Park to Take Your Dog!:

Dogs react to their living areas in a certain way. You cannot get Calgary dogs out of the water! They LOVE the rivers! Plus, they have a certain spring in their step if they have been in the water. If it weren’t for the wet coat, you would know a Calgary dog has just been in the river. In general, Calgary is a dog-friendly city. Cities are just as stressful for dogs as they are for people and it’s nice to see dogs more relaxed in the city.

There are on-leash and off-leash areas in this park. I couldn’t believe how the off-leash areas had more than enough space for large dogs to run.

Off-leash area
Dog enjoying off-leash area
On-leash
On-leash
On-leash

River Fun!:

The Bow River is right next to the park. Nothing indicates that better than a dog that just came out of the river with that look on its face.

It’s nice to have a bridge over the river, but there are these trails in the park where it’s easy to take your dog down to the river.

Bridge
Dogs and hoomans by the River

Challenges:

Keep an eye out for wild animals, especially if you have a dog! There are signs up reminding you to exercise caution. After all, we are guests on wild animals’ territory.

If you miss any of my future posts on my challenge or want to reread my past posts, you can go to my page Calgary Parks Challenge. You can also find more photos from the parks on my Instagram page here.

See you at the next park in my challenge!

Park #9: Reader Rock Garden

Posted on May 5, 2022May 3, 2022 by Third Culture Kid

Date visited: September 5, 2021

Location: SE Calgary (at least this one is clear!)

Best Time of Year To Visit: Any time there is greenery out, otherwise you just get rocks, bare deciduous trees, snow and ice. I don’t recommend going when the Calgary Stampede is on though. You won’t get any peace and quiet if you do.

What does Reader Rock Garden have to do with the Calgary Stampede? It’s right across the street from Stampede Park.

History:

This garden has an interesting history. If you can’t read the photo below, here’s a synopsis of it. William Reader was an English professional gardener and landscaper who turned Calgary into a green space. He experimented with 4000 different plant and flower species and designed gardens for important clients, such as the Prince of Wales. He also founded the Calgary Horticultural Society and the Calgary Vacant Lots Garden Club. The garden was left to deteriorate after his death, but then it was restored. All I can say is I’m sure glad it was restored!

We didn’t go into William Reader’s house. We figured with COVID-19 it was safer not to do so. Plus, there was an event going on. Still, we got some lovely photos of the garden outside his house. I would love to see this garden when it’s blooming in the spring, but early autumn is still a lovely time to see this garden.

More From the Rock Garden:

This is where things get steep and slippery. There are advisories to wear proper footwear and go in small groups. Dogs are not permitted either. Trust me, that’s good for everyone. Even though things had been pretty dry for a while, it was still good to be attentive where I stepped. I was impressed my Mum was able to manage with her cane, but I’m glad we did this park early enough in our challenge so she could see it too.

Who else likes rock gardens that have little waterfalls and rock pools? Me too!

Little Waterfall
Rock Pool

I don’t know why I love seeing flowers growing among rocks. There’s something beautiful and special about it. Maybe it’s because rocks tend not to be associated with green living things. Then, when I do see green, living things next to rocks, it’s special!

Red Berries
Snap Dragons!
Plants Among Rocks
Flower Bushes

It was a lovely, cool walk with great shade from the trees. Even though Reader Rock Garden is at the intersection of two main roads, you don’t hear the traffic too much. I still wouldn’t go visit it when the Calgary Stampede is on. I went near Stampede Park when the Stampede was on last year and there is a lot of noise! Garbage is a problem during the Stampede too. I don’t want to know if Reader Rock Garden gets trashed then.

Stampede Park:

I got some great views of Stampede Park from Reader Rock Garden. It’s a great way to view some of Calgary’s other iconic features as well.

Stampede Park Entrance
Calgary Tower
The massive flag by Stampede Park

There’s a reason why I got so many pictures of the Saddledome. It’s going to be torn down someday! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I find it shocking because it’s a major part of Calgary’s iconic skyline. Any city can have skyscrapers or towers, even if they have a different look. When my Dad visited, he called Calgary Tower the Space Needle. I haven’t seen the Space Needle, but my point about towers still stands. Not all cities have a stadium that looks like a horse’s saddle! I hope the new stadium has a similar look, but right now, I don’t know if it will.

Usually, I am all for city skylines changing. Soon after I arrived in London, the Gherkin was born. The Shard and its hype happened before I left. Both of those were cool additions to the London skyline, even if some other feelings were going on.

I feel particularly hurt that the Saddledome is going to be gone someday. Sometimes, I feel that way when I’m new to a city and something iconic disappears. I feel like saying, “I just got here! Let me enjoy it!”

Don’t tear down the Saddledome!
Please?
Pretty Please?

Anyway, sorry for going off on a tangent about unique city skylines.

One Last Feature:

The Union Cemetery is right next to Reader Rock Garden. A diverse group of people are buried there: Protestants, Catholics, Jews and Chinese. I have gone past the Chinese section, but haven’t walked around it. The cemetery includes war veterans from the two World Wars and the Boer War. I think that one needs a special invitation to go to that part. I noticed they do a ceremony on Remembrance Day as well. This is the one hill in Calgary I haven’t seen people go sledding on in the winter, but that’s okay. There are plenty of other good sledding spaces.

Challenges:

It’s not the most accessible park there is. It’s all on a hill. Make sure you also go on a dry day or the rocks get slippery. At least the garden in front of Reader’s house is pretty flat.

See you at the next park in my challenge!

Park #8: Eau Claire Plaza

Posted on April 22, 2022April 23, 2022 by Third Culture Kid

Date visited: August 21, 2021, September 24, 2021

Location: Downtown Calgary

Best Time of Year To Visit: Any time there’s foliage.

Eau Claire Plaza was right next to Prince’s Island Park. By default, we knocked off two parks at once when we went to Prince’s Island Park. Even so, I knew I HAD to see Eau Claire Plaza again when the foliage started turning. I was sure that I would be missing out if I didn’t and I was right! The photos here are mainly from my visit on September 24 instead of August 21.

I’m only going to say this once. For those of you who don’t know my name, yes, it’s Claire and yes, you can make “Oh Claire” jokes in the comments! Bring it on!

Claire in Eau Claire. Okay, this is SUPER cheesy!

Autumn Porn:

I went nuts with my camera because the trees were GORGEOUS!

Trees with a city background:

There was a garden there which was still looking beautiful. I wonder how it will look in spring?

The park continues onto a river walk, which I didn’t take this time, but it’s good to leave some things for later!

Some Nice Buildings at Eau Claire:

Eau Claire is a nice place to shop and it’s got some nice buildings that make you feel stuck in time. It’s right next to Chinatown too.

Additionally, Happy Earth Day! I thought this was a good post to choose for Earth Day!

Challenges:

I would say that it’s good to know when the Plaza gets busy, and be careful of cyclists. The Peace Bridge makes for some heavy foot and bike traffic.

See you at the next park in my challenge!

Park #7: Prince’s Island Park

Posted on March 12, 2022April 24, 2022 by Third Culture Kid

Date visited: August 21, 2021

Location: Downtown Calgary

Best Time of Year To Visit: This was a good time to go because everything was in bloom, but I do think it’s a good choice for winter or any time the Bow River isn’t high.

Wow! This post is LOOOOONG overdue! This park was kind of selected randomly. Originally, we planned to take a walk through the centre of Calgary on this walkway called the Plus 15. I will do a post on that in the future. It didn’t work out, but we were near Eau Claire, so we decided to check out the area, including Prince’s Island Park (say that three times really fast!). I will say more about Eau Claire later. There were so many trees that I knew I had to go back when the leaves started changing. Plus, there is a park there called Eau Claire Plaza, so that’s another post.

Bridges in the Area:

Peace Bridge:

This was my first time crossing Calgary’s iconic Peace Bridge! I have seen many photos of it, and this cool video a cyclist did with a GoPro Max. So after 10 months living in Calgary, I was DYING to go on the Peace Bridge for myself! I love how there are pedestrian lanes and cycle lanes on it. By the way, don’t look up for too long. You’ll start to think you’re high! Another name for the Peace Bridge is the Finger Trap Bridge because it looks like a finger trap.

Jaipur Bridge:

I thought at first this was a new bridge because of all the construction, but no. It’s being rebuilt because the last one had some structural problems. It’s due to be completed soon, but who knows if I will still see it in its full glory before I move.

Jaipur is one of Calgary’s sister cities and I think it’s quite a touching thing to build a bridge in honour of sister city relations and commemorate what the cities did for each other. You can read more about rebuilding the Jaipur Bridge and the history between Calgary and Jaipur as sister cities here.

Onto Prince’s Island Park:

You would think by now I could pronounce it correctly, but no. I recently went to Eau Claire and I saw a street construction sign that spelled it, Princess Island Park. Glad I’m not the only one who has problems with it!

The air felt particularly fresh with this park since it’s on the river. Summer is clearly the best time to see it in full bloom! I love the balance of city views and river views! It’s a great place for kids and events. There was a stage there, which I figured was used for concerts before the pandemic.

The Sculpture Garden:

Just when I thought this couldn’t get any better, there was a sculpture garden! The first four photos here are pictures made out of marbles. I find that works beautifully with the feather, the fishtail and the dragonfly wings because those are naturally iridescent. I’m not entirely sure if the marbles work for the flower though. I sent the photo of the trilobite to my Dad. He’s so into fossils!

I had descriptions of the other sculptures, but I lost them! So, if you want to know what the other sculptures are, I say, go see them!

Challenges:

Prince’s Island Park is hard to pronounce correctly! Haha! Okay, I’ll stop joking around.

The bridges getting to Prince’s Island were a little weird. I can’t wait until the Jaipur Bridge is complete. Additionally, my Mum found it difficult to navigate the more hilly parts of the park with her mobility issues.

If you end up there at a busy time, save the visit for later. It was semi-busy but manageable. Also, beware of homeless people hanging out there. They are a more common sight than at the other parks I have been to (so far).

Additionally, I had to use the public washroom at the park. This was the first one I had used since 2019. Let’s just say it wasn’t the most hygienic place. I recommend not forgetting your hand sanitizer.

See you at the next park in my challenge!

Best Photos of 2021

Posted on December 21, 2021February 27, 2022 by Third Culture Kid

This is my last post of the year, and I wanted to showcase the best photos of 2021!

January:

winter in calgary — Rosehips and Hoarfrost

From this post: Third Month Theme: Rest, Reflect and Observe New Things

February:

From this post: Fourth Month Theme: Okay, It’s Cold! Wake Me Up in Spring!

March:

From this post: Fifth Month Theme: Spring? What? Confusion All Around!

April:

From this post: Sixth Month Theme: Slow Spring and Time for Health

May:

Painting of A Canada Goose that I see frequently — I took this photo in May but used it for a post in June

From this post: My Most Canadian Story (So Far)

June:

I started my Parks Challenge this month!

From this post: Park #1: Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

July:

From these posts: Park #3: Sandy Beach Park

Park #4: South Glenmore Park

August:

From this post: Park #5: Bowmont Park

September:

From this post: Preparing for Winter 2021

October:

From this post: Medical Emergencies While Abroad Part I: My Story

November:

From this post: Not included in any posts

December:

To summarize, there have been unusually cold temps this month and I experienced my first blizzard in Calgary!

Frozen Elbow December 15th — Status of Frozen Elbow River on December 6th

From this post: Not included in any posts because this just happened!

What do you think of my selection?

Finally:

I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season. Get your booster as soon as possible! I got mine because my pharmacy had spares at the end of the day that they were literally giving away. This new Omicron variant isn’t easy, but we have to do what we must for this pandemic to end someday.

Here’s what I have planned for my posts next year. I am behind on posts I wanted to do about the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 and the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation because of my Mum’s emergency in October. Additionally, I have suspended my Parks Challenge until further notice, but I do have some posts to write on that. Look out for more guest and collab posts as well as more stuff about expat and TCK life! Here’s to more adventure in 2022 that does not include COVID-19!

Happy Holidays and enjoy the Winter Solstice!

Arriving at the Park:

A Note About the Trails:

THE Park to Take Your Dog!:

River Fun!:

Challenges:

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History:

More From the Rock Garden:

Stampede Park:

One Last Feature:

Challenges:

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Autumn Porn:

Some Nice Buildings at Eau Claire:

Challenges:

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Bridges in the Area:

Peace Bridge:

Jaipur Bridge:

Onto Prince’s Island Park:

The Sculpture Garden:

Challenges:

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January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Finally:

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