Canada

I've not been at the bench much lately cos last month I've traveled to Alberta, Canada to visit my dear friend Gerry. And it was all and way more than I could have imagined! 

I took over 1.300 photo's. To give y'all an impression of this inspiring trip I naturally had to cut that number down a bit. ;) So here we go;

First of all Alberta is known for it's oil. So lots of donkey pomps :) The capital and biggest city around is Edmonton and it was lovely to discover its past & present and that of its surrounding area.

Straight away something amazing happened... You have to know one of the things that has been on my bucket list for half my life was to see the Northern lights or Aurora Borealis. So going to Canada I'd enrolled this website called Aurora Watch, to get notifications when solar activity gets so great, chances to see the aurora in the area go beyond 70%. And guess what?!

Second evening I got a mail! So spend that night gobsmacked... Lying outdoors on my back, mesmerized by colored curtains of light hanging from the sky. Getting brighter and then dimming. And all that time, moving and dancing like waves washing ashore. It was so surreal, amazing... so much better then I'd ever could imagine!

I've tried to take photo's but at one point I just stopped. It took away from the experience that lasted till 3 am? Then it slowly died out... What an extraordinary spectacle. We saw it again, a week later, above lake Louise, where we spend the night as we toured the Rockies. 

And those were just as breathtaking...

White tail dear casually grazing alongside a cliff

Humbling scenery and wherever you looked... so pretty

Forgive me for saying, but everything seemed so big. And then I'm not just talking bout the mountains :)

But seriously... we stayed at fantastic places, encountered nothing but kindness & hospitality and again, the vista's and nature was just out of this world...

I mean, check the size of that couple walking down the road...

(remember, I come from The Netherlands, a country that's as flat as a pancake :))

There was still some snow but the first lakes and rivers were starting to defrost, showing their famous blue-green turquoise color.

The places scattered in the Rockies are sparse. Yet, some of the ones that are there, have hotels from the days when travel was done with grandeur and in style. These are scenes from Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Luckily for us, living today, they cherish their past & legacy.  It gave us the joy to experience the scenery they're set in as comfortable as generations gone by have done. 

But the best and most astonishing of all was nature itself...

In all the little detail,

And as a whole.

It was hard to select pictures; this is just the tip. There were museums, climbing mountains, architecturally interesting buildings, hot springs, good food... and the list goes on... It was a memorable trip. But it was made extraordinary by all the kind and caring people I got to meet. I wish there was some way of showing my gratitude for all the warm welcomes I was greeted with over and over again. Thank you all!