Big Positive Calgary Cheers!

I have always been an Edmonton fan, ever since I was a little girl.  I have always cheered for everything Edmonton... I cheer for the Eskimos (goodbye Ricky Rae, sniff, sniff).  I've cheered for the Edmonton Oilers ever since the late 1980s when they had the dream team of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Glen Anderson, Kevin Lowe, Grant Fuhr, and Andy Mogg, to name a few. Now I find myself cheering for the U of A Golden Bears, the triathletes and the bike racers!  The quirky little shops down the streets of Old Strathcona, the fancy, old Hotel Macdonald, and the green U of A Campus full of old and new architecture have always captured my attention and salutes.  I even cheered for the Edmonton Summer Games Football team when they were playing against Calgary.

I can't recall when I have cheered for Calgary's sports teams, but I have to confess I have cheered for Calgary's arts and culture, and after this weekend, I have a whole lot more of positive cheers to send to their way! We have always had good times when we have been in Calgary, so I have to admit I am a fan of Calgary too!  When I learned that my son was participating in some bike races in Calgary and the surrounding area on the August Long Weekend, I positively cheered for Calgary because I would finally get to see him, it seems like a very long time since we last visited! 

Even though the tightly packed, cookie cutter houses and compact yards in the suburbs make me want to hop in our Ford truck and head back home to the prairies and the wide open skies and spaces, I did find myself cheering for Calgary, not the sports teams, of course not, but for Calgary and its surrounding area, and what they have to offer!  The lines, the angles, the architecture, the parks, the bridges, the recreation events, the Glenbow, Stephen Avenue, Kensington, the Calgary Stampede, the mountains, the fields, CrossIron Mills Mall, and its art all have me positively cheering for Calgary.  Sorry Edmonton! 

In Calgary, we have always enjoyed many music concerts like Diana Krall, The Judds, and George Strait!  We also have appreciated visiting our family, Heritage Park, the Glenbow, the Calgary Tower, the Zoo, Chapters, the Olympic Park and other things such as the U of C excellent football camps and campus.  This weekend, it became clear to me that Calgarians, or at least their government and the businesses, architects and planners, all spend a lot of  big money to make Calgary look good, to be user friendly and to celebrate all of the diversity of people, the land and interests.  Even though the suburbs make me claustrophobic, there are a lot of other good things to celebrate and be positively cheerful about in Calgary.  Go Calgary!

Splendid Architecture

 I love the curvature of the Centre Street Bridge and the new skyscraper.  I also really appreciate how the building reflects the colour of the sky and has a blue hue making it almost blend in with nature even though it does dominate the sky.  The triangles and diamonds and squares and rectangles create visual appeal.  I found myself taking a million pictures of this scene!

Centre Street Bridge Lion

The splendid white against the blue sky and all of the details of this bridge made my camera smile.  The mighty bison to reflect the past, the strength and confidence of the lion, the maple leaf, the coat of arms, the cast iron fencing, the pillars, the straight lines and curves and the lights all make this bridge extra special!
Sigh! How beautiful!

Blue Squares of Wonder

 Again the blueness and the right angles of the squares and rectangles of this big wonder seized my gaze!



Princess Island Park and Skyscrapers

 The manmade buildings are softened by nature, the Bow River water, deep green trees, and large grey boulders! 

The Bridge of Peace

This $25 million dollar cylindrical and triangular beauty was created for pedestrians and cyclists commuting to and from work and for leisure.  The red and white colours are to celebrate the colours of the Canadian and Calgary flag. There sure are a lot of bridges crossing the Bow River!

x 0 x

 I wonder if the bridge is named The Bridge of Peace because to me it is made of hugs and kisses (xox).  Do you see them?

Get the Point

The symmetrical and smooth rounded red lines with the blue sky smiling in do make this bridge a work of art!

One More Look

 Form follows function, both a method of transportation and a sculptural reminder that all is prosperous in Calgary!

Old and New

Everything seems to be BIG in Calgary!  The very large circular windmill overlapping the huge rectangular skyscraper is a great reminder of how much things have changed from the past to the present!



Circles of Time

This beautiful focal point in one of the wings in the CrossIron Mills with all it details, the cogs, scrolls, circles and colour is another example of the Calgary attitiude, "Go big or go home!" 

The Calgary Tower

At one time the Calgary Tower did in fact tower over downtown Calgary.  It is still fun to go to the top to get a panoramic view of Calgary.  I imagine one now has to look up instead of down to take it all in!
My camera was not cooperating, it must have been tired of taking pictures.  I couldn't get the flash and the zoom lens to work properly, but I am glad they didn't!  I managed to get this cool picture of the lights on the Calgary Tower! 

So to end this big Calgary cheer, in theme of finding positive in everything, I would have to say I did manage to find many things to cheer about in Calagry!  Tomorrow's post will show the more human and natural aspect of Calgary!  I hope you enjoyed my big Calgary cheers! Go Calgary Go!

The Calgary photographs are soul property

of Renee Dowling.

If you would like to enjoy her photographs at home,

please contact her at dowling@shockware.com

to use them or purchase a copy!