Banff | Rockie Mountains

I have traveled across Canada in many unconventional ways and reasons. Today I will share my adventure with an iconic Canadian park. In August 2016, we had an appointment in Calgary, and so we took that chance to go to one of the loveliest places in Canada: Banff.

On the Way

We left GP on Thursday and spent most of the day driving across the province. The Alberta prairies are beautiful something of a western movie, cows, wheat fields and more.
Larter that afternoon we arrived at Red Deer, a city north of Calgary, to visit some friends that had moved there years ago. It was great seeing them again, and Red Deer is really pretty. It is really important to note that it is between Calgary and Edmonton, which does come in handy. We spent the night there, the next morning we said goodbye and we were on our way to Calgary.
We went to our appointment then spent the day 'shopping' in Calgary. I have to say that Calgary is HUGE. We got lost, could not find our location but we enjoyed the 'family' time. That night in the hotel one of the things that I dread happening happened. I was in the pool swimming, enjoying myself, when I get out and became suddenly aware that I got water inside my ears and could barely hear. That happened quite late at night so all the pharmacies were closed and we couldn't go out and buy anything. 
That was not a good night, I barely slept because (me being me) I was imagining my future as a deaf person, which as a person of hard of hearing might be a true fear. Either way, the next morning before we left for Banff my parents got something that, thankfully, helped.

Banff

Since it was a Saturday in August, the road to Banff National Park was quite long. But when we got in we saw what we were looking for. The mountains looked gorgeous and beautiful. We found a parking spot quite far away and had a walk around the city and saw the quaint beauty of the town.
We spent the day walking the trails, going into the shops and just looking at the Rockies. There was a castle-like building that had some very beautiful gardens. About mid-afternoon, we met with some friends from Edmonton and went up to Banff Upper Hot Springs.  It was a new experience as I have never been to a hot spring before. The rules in the pool said to stay in the water for 20 minutes then get out and take a cold shower, it is a way to prevent people from getting a heat stroke (?), as the waters are 37-40℃.  And I have to say my muscles and body felt so much better afterward. Both my parents said that their bodies, and joints didn't hurt and that they felt 20 years old. 

This picture does not belong to me.

After that refreshing experience, it was about 5 in the afternoon and so walked along the river (?), water, edge and enjoyed the aqua water as shown in the second picture. We marveled at the beauty of nature. We actually did not leave Banff until almost 10 at night. It was quite an experience.

I totally recommend going to Banff (in summer it's stunning) it has nature, history and maybe you'll meet someone from another nation like we did. 
What are some of your travel adventures? Have you been to Banff? 

A bientôt.

*Note: These pictures (unless noted) belong to me and cannot be copied without my permission.