On October 2nd, we left for Calgary Canada to complete the journey that in June was aborted mid-way. As usual in our travels one of the exciting parts was the folks we interacted with. We had wide ranging conversations about weather, work, politics, food, parents, siblings, art, biking, hiking, photography, camera work, art, Canadian health care, Canada Air (a joke), VIA Rail & on & on. We did see some critters but no conversations ensued.
I am leading with this photo taken on Granville Island, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. It is a perfect example of the diversity we encountered. Western Canada definitely had more Asians: Chinese, Japanese, Koreans ,Filipinos, Malaysians…than Eastern Canada. And the temporary student workers were more from Australia. And by far & away more Australian tourists here than in Eastern Canada.
In Banff, we saw the first of many Common Magpies. They seem to be attracted to trash.
A family outing on a chilly but beautiful Saturday.
Stellar's Jay seen in Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, Alberta. We saw a few of them during our trip.
Gareth, our excellent, well-spoken & knowledgeable Radventures guide from Tasmania, Australia. We became well-acquainted in our full day of touring.
Emerald Lake straddling the Alberta-B.C. border in Yoho National Park.
The only large wildlife we saw other than a live female elk, from behind. A shop in Banff.
“The Strip” (Banff Ave.) in Banff was crowded with folks of every type on a Sunday afternoon. I was sitting & sipping a caffè macchiato at Evelyn’s Coffee Bar. Such good people watching.
On a gorgeous, sunny Sunday afternoon the local park in Banff had locals & tourists wandering about. These are local Bulgarians just finishing a dance festival.
We were awaiting our #1 ROAM bus. She & her husband were from Saskatoon…the largest city in the Canadian province of Sakatchewan. (just east of Alberta, where we were). They have a condo in Las Vegas but aren’t going to the States while things are what they are now. Her sister in Kansas City, Kansas is a pro-Trumper & they can’t talk. The conversation was getting interesting with so many more questions to ask when their bus arrived. So many Canadians & other foreigners we met are not going to visit the USA now because of Trump.
Small wildlife at the top of Sulphur Mountain above Banff.
We a shared gondola down from Sulfur Mountain with a couple from South Korea. Their English was negligible & our Korean non-existent.
Photos of these bears were everywhere.
Nomi with Taiwanese Amy, our wonderful server for two meals at the Good Folk Restaurant in Otter Hotel Banff. Her parents had encouraged her to see the world but not to fall in love with an Australian guy as that would be so far away. She has a Ukrainian boyfriend.
Our receptionist, Amy from Nigeria at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. She also loved the paintings behind her but never really got to admire them. She was delighted to inform us that we had an upgrade. Madison, our Travel Designer at Discover Holidays Inc. had told the Fairmont of our June aborted VIA railway trip. What an upgrade it was! Our doorbell had a doorbell. Speak to Nomi for the complete story.
We were having cocktails at the Lakeview Restaurant in the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. The couple next to us were having a very pricey meal. While eating, overlooking one of the most beautiful views in the world, they were watching a video on their phone.
Statue of Swiss Mountain Guide, Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta.
“In 1899 Canadian Pacific Railway brought in the first Swiss mountain guides to the Canadian Rockies. This statue was erected in 1999 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of that event.”
Busloads of tourists descended on Lake Louise each day to take a look & take photos.
In proper gear, Bill Sinai at Lake Louise in about 1927 or so.
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
Better concentrate on the windows & not the view.
The only bear we spotted. Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
The only mountain goat we spotted. Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
Elise from Toronto. Walliser Stube, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise.
Dave Baker, our guide & driver from Banff to Jasper with SunDog Transportation and Tour Co. Dave in a former career was a cameraman. I got to sit in the “Shot gun” seat next to him. Here he’s describing a geographic phenomenon. Dave’s explanations were always clear & concise. An avid outdoorsman, he was in love with where he lived & that appreciation was evident in his discussions with us about the history & geography of the area we traveled through & into Jasper. Dave’s sense of humor made it most enjoyable.
Lucky for us, the only other passenger was Linda, from Melbourne, Australia. Dave was relaxed, answered our questions & was able to stop in several extra spots along the way. He didn’t have to wait for 30 people to exit & re -enter the bus.
Irish Eoghan (Owen) our driver guide of the Columbia Icefield’s massive Ice Explorer truck that drove us to a walk on the Athabasca Glacier.
Appropriate attire on the Ice Explorer truck with the Athabasca Glacier seen through the windshield. Brrrr.
Some local kids in Jasper. One guy gave me his phone & asked me to take a photo. Dave then jokingly drove off with me holding the guy’s phone. Dave said that the new sign allows tourists to know where they are.
A elk’s rear end at the entrance to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.
Jasper Train station 8:00 AM getting ready to board the Rocky Mountaineer.
Jasper Train station 8:07 AM getting ready to board the Rocky Mountaineer. They were well organized in greeting us & assisting us to our places in the correct GoldLeaf rail car.
This month’s Condé Nast Traveler notes that
…the Rocky Mountaineer bookings increased by over 61% in 2026…”
Adam, from Australia, one of our two On-Board Hosts in the GoldLeaf glass-dome coach.
Our neighbors George & Kim from Pennsylvania.
The Australian woman in front of me had the brilliant idea of placing her coat over the a/c vent when it got too chilly.
Folks busied themselves with games, puzzles & reading while the scenery passed them by, Some had seen it previously if they were traveling round-trip.
They kitchen workers prepared & served breakfast & lunch for two separate seatings.
He didn’t but most often workers waved as we went by.
Norman, our driver to our lodgings in Kamloops, & back. He was a wonderfully delightful raconteur. He retired into driving a bus & loved it having dabbled in real estate & other ventures in the past.
It took a team to get us oldsters on & off the bus at different hotels. But once again, the folks were efficient & sweet.
Keep that hand in! They didn’t bore these tunnels any more than they had to…
Miguel Santos from Vancouver; Director, Product Management at Rocky Mountaineer. He was sitting with us up in our sky-dome car & was quite friendly & approachable to all.
The GoldLeaf Service on the Rocky Mountaineer provided a viewing platform. I spent a lot of time on it.
Charles & Eileen from the U.K.
“Eagle Alley refers to the spectacular winter migration of over 35,000 bald eagles through the lower Fraser Valley in British Columbia.” It was just about to start. We saw one bald eagle; atop the tree lower left & then several in flight.
Mary had been given a Willie Geist Sunday TODAY show mug as a present. She asked me to take a photo of it with her friends to submit to Sunday TODAY. Mary thought that I was a professional photographer; nice compliment.
As we approached Vancouver, the terrain became, as the signs say in New England, “thickly settled.”
This calf was nursing standing up.
This calf had to work hard for food as momma was lying down on the job.
Train yard well before the Vancouver, B.C. Pacific Central Train Station. We were stopped but his freight car was moving.
But I didn’t think that they needed “in-person action.”
This one did with what I perceived as not too much effort.
Note the concrete blocks that we saw all over Canada. They are like huge Legos.
Our train wasn’t moving & I was on the viewing platform so we could talk. Note how happy he is with his job. I made him smile. He got on the freight car again…
… & I realized there had been no locomotive. He was operating the car with controls at his waist.
Bronwyn, our other On-Board Host. She & Adam had requested to host together for this last run of the season. They worked together seamlessly & with good humor. Canadian Bronwyn was off to operate a ski lift & Adam to teach snow boarding in the train’s off-season.
One of many samples to be tried at The Granville Island Public Market. At Roman’s Kaisereck Deli, she was delighted to give me this delicious mini perogi sample. I later returned to this stand for an all beef sausage with sauerkraut & a beer.
The Granville Island Public Market. No samples here although there were plenty of others, enough to make a meal.
The Granville Island Public Market.
Note how the strawberries are displayed. We saw that throughout the The Granville Island Public Market.
The Granville Island Broom Company Inc. She’s been making brooms here with her sister for 15 years. The duster broom that we purchased couldn’t be shipped home because it is now subjected to a 50% tariff in the USA. It fit in a suitcase. Phew!
On Granville Island “Upstart & Crow is a not-for-profit literary arts studio and bookstore that champions writers, readers and stories, and the role they play in shaping our lives.”
Above Nomi’s head was a shelf of banned books.
Granville Island.
Granville Island.
Joshua Minsky singing a Leonard Cohen song. He also performed a number of French songs. I bought his most recent CD La bohème.
Joshua’s from Brooklyn with family from Romania & Poland.
Back in 1976, he even lived for a year at Haight & Masonic in San Francisco.
Another person who liked his job, on the aquabus ferry. Our tiny ferry was too full to pick up some passengers at one dock. He called in to request a ferry to come & pick them up. Aaah, Canada.
Swabbing the deck. Keeping that boat ship-shape at The False Creek Yacht Club, “The Star of False Creek,” Vancouver, B.C.
I had asked David how he earned his concierge lapel badges. He & Sabine were most helpful in helping us plan our times in Vancouver.
How Roy Rogers got Trigger into the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is another story.
Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant, Vancouver.
Tourists waiting around the Gastown Vancouver’s steam clock. One of the few remaining steam clocks “Incorporating a steam engine and electric motors, the clock displays the time on four faces and announces the quarter hours with a whistle chime that plays the Westminster Quarters. The clock produces a puff of steam from its top on the hour.”
Our co-pilot, Chelsea, aboard the Harbour Air, Vancouver to Victoria De Havilland 2 englne Floatplane.
She enjoyed her job & was chatting with her pilot, a lot.
Landing in Victoria.
It was a glorious Sunday of Canada’s Thanksgiving Weekend. The Confederation Garden Court was swarming with…
…folks ending a marathon. We saw many folks limping back to their cars.
A shop in the “James Bay…high density neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is the oldest residential neighbourhood on the west coast of North America that is north of San Francisco.”
Brian Turko's Milano Coffee Roasters - "World Peace in a Cup." An excellent caffé macchiato when you need one. Lovely baristas too. I liked her sweater/
Harbour Air float plane pilots piloting our return to Vancouver.
Harbour Air float plane pilots preparing to alight on the water in Vancouver.
Harbour Air dock. He & I later talked about the Harbour Air fleet; over forty float planes, four of which are two engine.
Vancouver Harbour with North Vancouver in the background.
Can you spot the aging Mohawk hair?
Vancouver, B.C.
Our pilot waiting patiently, as we were, for our long delayed Air Canada flight to appear.
Vancouver,B.C. last eve & day.
PLEASE DON'T CLIMB ON THE ARTWORK
AMMI'EL & AMARYAHU, 1999 by Boaz Vaadia (1951 - 2017 Israel, United States).
Bronze, bluestone, and boulder
AMMIEL & AMARYAHU made its first appearance in the inaugural 2005-2007 Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale. The Vancouver Biennale has partnered with Colliers and Downtown Van to bring the sculpture back to public exhibition here at Arthur Erickson Place.
Israeli born artist Boaz Vaadia gained worldwide acclaim for his humanoid sculptures composed of layered stacks of stone that explore the relationship between humans and nature. In 1975, after graduating from Tel Aviv's Avni Institute of Art and Design, Vaadia moved to New York to continue his studies and artistic practice.
To create many of his works, Vaadia trawled New York streets for natural materials, using slate, shingles, bluestone, and boulders from construction sites for his sculptures. He has said that the city's energy and architecture, as well as the fundamental elements found in nature, inspired his practice. “I work with nature as an equal partner…that’s still the strongest thing I deal with today, the primal connection of man to earth. It’s the materials I use, the environments I make and the way I work."
Vaadia has exhibited internationally, with public installations at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Independence Park in Tel Aviv, and others. His work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Museum, among other collections both private and public.”