Canada Diary Episode 2 - YAHOOOOOO !

July 6th - Calgary stampede - Yahoooooo! Yahoo is the battle 'cry of a Calgarian rodeo rider and supporter - not the internet service provider. Ive been practising today and am pretty good - no doubt helped by the alcohol that's cramming my blood supply at the moment...! It's Friday night and I've been here 3 days now. My first full day in Calgary was spent at the Heritage Park - a collection of historic buildings set in a themed park next to the Bow River. With people in costume and authentic surroundings it was fun. Once Ed was home from dentisting, we ate at a barbecue place nearby and took a drive through the city for a drink on 17th Ave - very hip and trendy with people getting into stampede party mood. Thursday was a chilled out retail day with Arlene in the downtown area of the city and malls. I bought some clothes to suit this hot weather and we ate lunch at a sports bar in the city. Dinner was buffalo on the barbecue at home and some great wines - finishing with an ice wine - kind of like a desert wine. Today we got up early to beat the queues into the city for Stampede Parade. This is an annual party event which starts at 9am and kicks off the Stampede which lasts 10 days. The stampede in case you dont know is the world famous rodeo which dominated city life and attracts the top riders from around the world. After taking the C train into the city Arlene and I had a pancake breakfast at ROADHOUSE on 9th Ave and had prime seats to watch the many floats and spectacls passing by during the 3 hour parade. Highlights included the Mounted Police (not mounted though), the Canadian army screeching to a halt in a tank, some mini horses pulling wagons and the many gorgeous horses and natives in their parade finery. The breast cancer charity is supported here and so many people (including us) were wearing pink under the banner 'are you tough enough to wear pink?' I think men look good in pink anyway - and there are lots of real men here! The afternoon was spent in the showground at Victoria Park - a sort of combination of rodeo, fun fair, agricultural show, car boot sale and shopping outlet. We saw some rodeo action up close (Arlene is a committee volunteer so we got in free), drinking booze, eating food ( most of it free) and people watching. We ended our day with Ed joining us for some ore free food and then a stop over in the Nashville North music tent for live country music and more booze! So far I like Calgary - I wish I was a cowgirl! More Rodeo tomorrow, then hiking in the Rockies on Sunday......