Susanne 
Driving along the TransCanada Highway
On Sunday, after our high-intensity day in Calgary and after stocking up on groceries in the Mount Royal Area,, we left the city to head towards the Rocky Mountains. It was an interesting drive on Highway 1, the Transcanada Highway, heading towards the mountains. There were some interesing looking clouds on the horizon that kept us entertained on the drive and it didn’t take us any more than about an hour and 15 mintues to get to Banff. We checked in at the Banff Rocky Mountain condominium resort and settled in for the evening to relax after a couple of really hectic days.
Banff Avenue, looking at Cascade Mountain
Yesterday after a leisurely breakfast we got up to take a drive through Banff. Banff is a quaint mountain town with many different hotels, restaurants, shops and galleries. We drove down Banff Avenue, the town’s main street, and since I had to pick a package up at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, we briefly explored this historic landmark. When Canadian Pacific built the railroads in the 1880s towards the West Coast, they determined that the Banff / Lake Louise area had tremendous potential for tourism and CPR built the Banff Springs Hotel in 1888 to develop this area for all the travellers who were keen to discover the rugged beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
The impressive Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
After our very brief introductory exploration of this impressive building we decided to go skiing at Norquay, just 10 minutes from downtown Banff. On our first full day here we wanted to take it easy a bit since I am just getting over a major chest cold. I figured a couple of hours of local skiing would be enough of an initiation to the Canadian Rockies.
Driving up to Norquay, looking down at Banff
