Calgary skyline

OUR CALGARY

A practical guide to Calgary, Alberta.

Why Calgary?

Even though it's a big city, very few people outside North America seem to have heard of Calgary. Before we moved from the UK to Canada only a few people had heard of it ("Weren't the Winter Olympics held there once?") and only two knew where it is ("Oh that's just down the road from Banff - it's a fantastic skiing resort!" and "I remember - Calgary's where the plane lands before you get on the bus to go snowboarding at Banff!").

Certainly as far as many people in the UK are concerned, Canada is a mysterious place where people live in igloos or log cabins, and the nearest neighbours are miles away through huge snowdrifts. The exceptions to this are the three cities in Canada - Vancouver, Toronto and, to a certain extent Ottawa (because that's where Parliament is). Some even think Canada is part of the USA, or that it has a President. I think it's fair to say that Canada needs to get itself publicized a bit more, and the UK should probably teach a little more about the biggest member of the Commonwealth in its schools.