Day three...on the road

Before starting today’s tale, we need to complete day two dinner in the Samuari Restaurant.  We dressed as Zapponian representatives should to dine in a castle and were quite appalled by the casual attitudes of other diners.  When did dressing for dinner go out of style???  Yes, the Castle indicates casual chic but casual tacky is just too much in such a nice place. Sister and I both love sushi and this restaurant is fabulous not only for the food but for their service.  How wild that we would have the same server, Frank, that we had in 2007.  We certainly remembered him and his endearing habit of saying, “aye!”, after every sentence.  Turns out that little quirk is so Canadian.  Think about the movie, “Fargo”, and it will resonant in your mind.  Anyway, back to dinner.  The fish had been flown in from Japan that day and we wondered (but did not ask) why they didn’t serve Canadian fish. Being bold, Sister ordered Sable fish (very oily fish) and I had Tuna Tataki (love that rare Tuna)  Edamame, salmon skin rolls & eel rolls rounded out the menu.  This restaurant served hundreds of Japanese diners in the late ‘80’s but there are so many Japanese places in Banff, that this one is no longer exclusive.  We like it because you don’t have to leave the castle to forage for food.

Sister is awake and ready for breakfast before 8:00.  She has been planning her breakfast menu for an hour!  The Bow Valley Grill makes the best omelets you will eat on this planet.  In fact, every item on the buffet is delectable. After another bountiful breakfast, we head to the Hertz office to get a car for the trek to Lake Louise.  We had reserved a BIG car yesterday because we like to travel in comfort, one of the husbands insists on BIG for safety and of course, style.  Kevin, the young man at the office, said he would do the best he could but no promises.  This morning he delivered a WOW!  (first item on Zappos’ Culture list). The perfect car for diplomats was waiting for us…a big, black Cadillac. OMG!  Ok, enough about the car even though Sister insists she was ‘driving Miss Daisy’.

Lake Louise is about one hour from Banff on the exquisite Bow Valley Parkway.  This is one drive that you should not miss in your lifetime.  Don’t waste your time in the summer; wait for some snow to frost the trees and rock faces.  This awesome drive was a mixture of the Rocky Mountains, Maine and Sweden.  The Aspens were “quaking” and still golden sitting in the meadows.  The evergreens, coated with snow, shaded large puddles of snow.  Brave souls had stopped along the highway to construct snowmen and these were beginning to fade. 

Lake Louise is a tiny village with limited (only the basics) shopping.  The hotel, a.k.a. chateau, is located on the edge of the lake.  To describe Lake Louise is virtually impossible since the color of its glacial water is aquamarine in various shades.  The mountain of impending ice and snow hovering above the lake is breathtaking and no photo can truly capture the beauty of the moment.  We tried for at least an hour and will share those pictures with you.  It was 32 degrees when we arrived and rather obvious that this area had enjoyed an abundance of snow since Friday.  Sister and I could not wait to play in the snow.  Sister even did her famous “snow angel”.  We stayed outside in the snow and by the lake until our hands and toes were frozen.  Those of you reading from the South will find this difficult to believe but it WAS cold. There are a few interesting facts about the Lake Louise area that we want you to know.  First it is very avalanche prone on the higher trails.  At the Plain of the Six Glaciers, you can have tea and watch avalanches.  Of course to get to this spot, you have to trek at least two hours and reach an elevation of 6,800 feet.  The Victoria Glacier, a.k.a. the Death Trap, is located in the Abbot Pass and is another mile above the teahouse.  The Abbot Pass was named for an American alpinist, Phillip Stanley Abbot, who was killed in an avalanche.  This is such a treacherous trail, that only experience mountaineers are allowed to traverse it.

After lunch with a view of the lake that would melt the coldest heart, we did another walkabout and then headed back to Banff, after purchasing a park pass.  To travel in the Banff National Park, you must have a pass on your ‘windscreen’.  We had waited in line in Banff for some time to purchase one and then decided to buy one in Lake Louise.  If you are stopped by any “official”, not only will you get to donate your money for a fine but also for the pass.  Since we had taken the Parkway into Lake Louise, we did the Trans-Canadian Highway on the return to Banff.  What a beautiful drive!  Even though sections are under construction, this is one more awesome stretch of highway.  We kept hoping to see animals, wildlife, but none were roaming the roads today.  While in Lake Louise we picked up a card about wolverines and were really hoping one would slink out from the undergrowth.  Can you imagine anything more exciting than cruising along at 90km/hr and seeing the giant cousin of a weasel?

Back to Banff and not ready to relinquish the car. I am loving driving this beauty and am so my mother’s daughter.  (Mother preferred Cadillacs.)  So, we did one more adventure.  We took the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain.  The trip takes eight minutes one way and then you have arrived at 7,500 feet.  This is the number one attraction in Banff and the steepest gondola of its type.  At one point, you are 125 feet above ground.  At the top, you have an observation deck, shops (of course) and the option of walking on trails.  The top has a helipad since supplies need to be ferried in quickly.  This was a new experience for us.  Neither of us “do heights” so this event was a challenge both mentally and physically.  We recalled a beach trip with our parents when we rode a silly ride called the “Wild Mouse” and the operator had to stop the ride and remove us because we were screaming so loudly.  Too bad. So sad.  The gondolas do not stop for ANY reason.  Concentrate on the horizon.  Isn’t that what you are told on boats when you feel queasy???  We made it to the top and then climbed to the observation deck where the view was unreal.  Ice and snow and icicles ruled.  Many photos later we queued up for a cold wait to make the return.  One lady was complaining loudly that she felt it most UNFAIR to have to wait in a line.  Give me a break!  Sister and I are diplomats from Zapponia and we weren’t whining.

By the time we returned the car and got to our cozy room, we were too tired to dress for dinner.  So we flipped a coin to determine who would trot downstairs and do a take-out.  What did we have?  Sushi, again!  It was even better wearing fluffy robes and dining in the room.  Oh, who lost the coin toss?  Sister.  Yep, she had to get dressed again and make nice with folks she encountered on her way down and back up. There is so much pressure being representatives of ‘nice’!

………. Sister says:  Sissy hasn’t dedicated enough verbiage to the delights of the foods we have encountered.  Unless and until you experience breakfast at the Bow Valley Grill you cannot really wrap your imagination or taste buds around the beauty of the layout.  Now I wear ‘the crown’ for being unable to make decisions but here, at the castle, I am in heaven.  This is no Golden Corral breakfast buffet – the selection represents everything Zapponians expect from a meal:  quality and unusual choices.  OK, so lots of places have the old lox, capers and onion spread but the BVG (Bow Valley Grill) takes this to new heights with a large selection of fish and all sorts of accompaniments.  Because there are many, many, many Japanese tourists (did I mention there are a LOT?) BVG has all the items ‘they’ love for breakfast in one specific area.  Yes, there are a great many tour groups and some have folks that Sissy and I like to call ‘coaches’ – you’ve seen them, they pile their plates with enough food for a couple of days and then, of course, go back again and again.  For these folks, the BVG provides piles of all types of breakfast meats, potatoes, eggs in every possible configuration and hearty cereals.  For the health nutz there are a variety of smoothies, fruits and ‘lite’ choices.  For ME – I belly right up to the omelet station where I’ve been able to test the talents of three different ‘omeleteers’ with my favorite: the spinach, mushroom, pepper, tomato and white cheese omelet – OH MY!!!  I’m getting hungry again just thinking about this beautiful contribution from Canada’s own little chicks and a garden (sustainable) close by.  Oh yea, they are all caught up in the ‘buy local’, use ‘stainable’ product ads here in the land of glaciers.  My omelet seems happiest when it is surrounded by a combination of broiled tomatoes, potatoes in some fashion and a new addition mushrooms in gravy.  I am absolutely addicted to these mushrooms (probably because I quit eating meat over a year ago and I have a sneaky suspicion that the gravy is spiked with both wine and some type of meat jus…)

I made myself so hungry I’m gonna take a quick snack-break and turn this back over to Sissy.