slash fundas: Canadian Rockies: Day 5 (Banff)

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Canadian Rockies: Day 5 (Banff)

Canadian Rockies is known for its lakes, amongst other nature beauties. But the most eye-catching of all lakes are the glacial lakes where water comes from the glaciers. These lakes reflect either dark greenish or blueish hues. Our first lake stop today, after we had lunch at a pitstop, was the Two Jack lake.

Two Jack lake

Since we reached there around 3ish in the afternoon, we didn't see the bright colours that this lake is supposed to reflect. But it was still beautiful. Then, we went past Lake Minnewanka, which I thought was prettier than the Two Jack lake, but that's debatable. On a side note, towards the end of our trip, Robyn our tour guide, took a poll on people's favourite lakes. And the verdict was quite split up.

a food truck (more like a bus than a truck) in Canmore

Lunch stop was at Canmore; another beautiful town in the area. Canmore is just a few miles before Banff. Just the sort of weather where you'd like to outside in one of the many Al Fresco restaurants with some lunch or snacks or even a cup of tea. We reached Banff; our destination for the day and where we'll spend two nights. Banff is a pretty town, quite touristy at first. The main street of Banff (Banff avenue; our hotel was right on it) reminded me of the Fisherman's Wharf; filled largely with souvenir shops and restaurants and lots of people, shopping and eating. But it is a much, much sober version of the Fisherman's Wharf. After checking in, freshening up and nice hot cup of tea in the room, my friend and I head out to explore Banff. There are several walking trails and we chose to walk on the one that took us at the edge of Banff avenue, over the bridge across the Bow river to Cascade gardens, then through the forest trails meandering in a forest cover, bordering the river, right up to the Bow falls. The spot of Bow Falls was like a mini beach that served as a good picnic spot for many.

Banff avenue, as seen from Cascade gardens

For dinner, we chose a nice Greek restaurant on Banff avenue. The place seemed to be popular because there was a waiting list and we had to wait for about 15 mins for our table. It was Greek night; the patron told us. We bet they would be saying this to all their guests, everyday. But it was quite fun. There was a belly dancer who danced away to glory, entertaining all of us with her moves and music, and nudged all of us to join the frivolity. The host, then, came in and asked if any of us are celebrating anything that night. Somebody was celebrating his birthday with his family and the birthday boy got to dance with the bellydancer. Soon, he asked for volunteers to learn the greek dance and many volunteers came forth and they all danced all around the restaurants. We were taught greek dance in seven easy steps. The grand finale: well, ofcourse, to break plates. In perfect greek tradition. This got all the kids in the restaurant excited; all of them came on the floor and got to break plates to glory. Fun night it was. And the food was good. My first-ever Greek cuisine.