Alberta-BC 2025: Closing Thoughts On The Trip

It was a great trip, all told! This one was very low-key – there were no world-class art museum tours, no crown jewels to see, no high-flown attractions, but it was all extremely satisfying, nonetheless. We derived so much pleasure from the simple, low-key things we experienced – it was endlessly fascinating visiting the little prairie towns and villages, and learning about their history.

As I mentioned in my introductory post, it was so very nice to not worry about mentally converting everything we paid for from Pounds/Euro/etc. to Canadian funds. The price we saw was the price we paid. How liberating to be on “home turf”, with no foreign currency or languages to struggle with. There was the comfort of familiarity – if you needed something for your health, for example, you knew you could go to a Shopper’s Drug Mart, which were everywhere in the west.

Kelowna

What a wonderful place Kelowna was! We both fell totally in love with it. Such a wonderful city… I could see us retiring there… just sayin’.

Kelowna kind of reminded me of California. In fact, I’ve sometimes heard Kelowna referred to as Kelownafornia, due to its laid-back attitude and weather. Ah…. mild weather, apples and cherries growing on the trees, wineries abounding… what’s not to love.

If you need a hotel when you visit Kelowna, I can’t recommend The Royal Anne highly enough… what a pleasure it was staying there! Thank you, Jody, for that awesome recommendation. The room we had was so large and intelligently laid out, it was a pleasure to return to at day’s end. And that bed! – both Vince and I agreed that the bed and pillows were hands-down the most luxurious and comfortable we’ve ever experienced – and we’ve stayed in a fair number of hotels in our travels. I don’t know what kind of voodoo magic the staff placed on this bed but the comfort level transcended the extraordinary. The nightly rate at the Royal Anne was quite reasonable and the location couldn’t be beat – right on one of Kelowna’s main downtown arteries. From May until Fall the street in front of the hotel (Bernard Avenue) goes pedestrian-only with a program called Meet Me On Bernard. It was so nice to experience that when we’d step out of the hotel and into the street. Whether or not I’ll get around to posting my hotel review on TripAdvisor for this hotel remains to be seen, but I should do that so more people get to know about this gem of a place.

The people we met in Kelowna – and the west in general – were all kind, friendly and a pleasure to deal with. That was a whole new experience for Vince and I, coming from downtown Toronto as we do.

Calgary

It had been six years since Vince and I last visited Calgary. In six years, a lot has changed in that city.

On this visit, Calgary reminded me of the way Toronto was about 15 years ago – i.e. sudden growth and population explosion, and the infrastructure not set up to accommodate the volume of people (witness the major water main break in Calgary in June 2024). This water main break coincided with the Calgary Stampede – it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Calgary now has big city problems, not unlike Toronto. We experienced rampant homelessness and mentally ill street people everywhere, especially in Century Gardens, which was opposite our hotel on 7th Ave SW. This was the biggest shock of all; during our 2019 Calgary visit we saw literally no homeless people. The traffic in Calgary now is crazy and aggressive (again, much like Toronto), and the sidewalks are congested in the downtown core.

Calgary’s downtown, though, is clean, clean, clean! Stephen Avenue Walk offered a wonderful diversion from the high-rises of Calgary’s downtown and the omnipresent street people; on the Walk we witnessed a very happening place on the weekend evenings.

Alberta

Even though I was born, raised and spent my first 23 years in Alberta, I did not pay a lot of attention to the fact that settlement in Alberta was so dependent on the railway. Many of the smaller places we visited stressed how crucial the railway was to the development of the province and its villages, towns and cities.

As most people know, Alberta has no Provincial Sales Tax. As Ontarians, Vince and I thought: Oh boy! Stuff will be so cheap!…HA!! Not so! We were absolutely shocked at how expensive it is to eat in restaurants in Alberta, especially in Calgary. I couldn’t believe how much the bill would come to when it arrived at the end of a meal. Alberta may not have PST, but there was definitely an extra little invisible charge built into everything we bought there, especially restaurant meals.

And, OMG, I couldn’t believe the prevalence of Boston Pizza and A&W… they were everywhere in B.C. and Alberta!!!

Porter vs. Westjet

It was a real treat flying with Porter Airlines. I give them a 10 out of 10 on all counts – from the counter staff in the terminals, to the ground crew, to the Flight Attendants on our flights – everyone, without exception, was top notch, friendly and helpful. I love the 2×2 seat configuration of their jets – so much better if you’re flying with a travel companion. The boxed Porter meals were absolutely fine and actually quite delicious.

What a contrast it was when we were forced to take Westjet from Kelowna to Calgary! (Porter did not service that route). I’ve never been a fan of Westjet anyway (a ghetto airline if ever there was one), and that flight worsened my opinion. It was only a 47-minute flight from Kelowna to Calgary but it felt like 47 hours, especially to poor Vince who was squished into the dreaded middle seat of the 3×3 seat config. Those Westjet seats were EXCRUCIATINGLY painful – there was a horizontal metal bar where your lower back rests on the seat, and it proved to be agony for most of the flight. The seats on this Westjet flight were incredibly close together and there was a very tight seat pitch – Vince and I are only 5’4″ and 5’6″ respectively, but our knees banged up against the seat ahead of us. I shudder to think of those 5’8″ and above in that situation. The seats are so tight on space we couldn’t get any luggage underneath the seat ahead of us, so it was upper-bin time. To top if off, the Flight Attendants were soooooooo grumpy!

It’s sad – I remember a time when Westjet had just launched their cross-Canada service. At that time they went over and above to please their customers, but I no longer see any evidence of that.

For Next Time…

One helpful tip I would give after returning from this trip is to visit Alberta and B.C. later in the year!! – for example, June or later. Alberta has a very late spring, unlike here in the Banana Belt (aka southern Ontario), and things don’t really get hopping there until mid-summer. In the little towns, especially, it was so disappointing to find most of the museums and attractions still closed for the winter season. Even though we visited after the Victoria Day weekend, I guess it was still too early. Oh well, we’ll definitely be back at some later date to check out the things we missed!

Thank you Western Canada, and thank you – the reader – for following along with our adventures and your lovely comments on the posts!

Until next time…