The Calgary Tower Trip.

I grew up in Calgary, Alberta in the 1980’s and 1990’s and over the last 30+ years (that exact number isn’t that important – right?) the City has seen so many changes occur.  What I can definitely say is that while Calgary has boomed, the number of people in the City has exploded and inspired change for the better.  I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss Calgary from the 1980’s though – it was a small City that had charm, manners and overall a feeling – and that feeling still exists – it is just different now.  I remember when I was little looking at Downtown as my Mom drove along Memorial Drive and wondering what all those buildings looked like inside.  Some were really, really high – others were shorter and less grand, but had so much character – it was a beautiful time that I remember fondly and with so much love and warmth.   Saying that though there was always one particular building that was the most amazing of all and that was the Calgary Tower (nee Husky Tower).  I could only imagine what it was like to be at the VERY TOP of Calgary as a child and while we did make visits to the Tower Building a lot as a child (my paediatrician and my dad’s barber were in the complex attached to it) I have very few memories of going up that long elevator all the way to the top through the eyes of a child and I thought that it was something that we needed to let our kids experience very soon.

A few weeks ago I was speaking to my husband about this and we decided to make it a plan to take the kids up the tower all the way to the top.  A lot has changed in the last few years – including the installation of a glass floor viewing area that allows you to stand 191 meters above the street level.  While that did not entertain me much, what it did do was peek my interest to bring my Nikon with me to try and get a few images of my kids experiencing this amazing floor themselves.  How would they react to looking down from so far up in the sky?  Only time would tell.

The Trip Up.

The trip to Calgary was fairly wet as it was a classic long may weekend in Alberta and there was rain, snow and was only 5 degrees celsius.  While I was a little concerned for the weather and just didn’t want to be completely fogged in so the kids would miss out on the view, the light would be perfect for some awesome images so we went for it.  We arrived after a fairly painful experience with Calgary Transit and the C-Train maintenance that was happening and hit up the Tower.  The kids were THRILLED with the long elevator ride up to the very top and when we got to the top I was ultimately VERY surprised that 3/4 of them went directly to the glass floor and started hanging off the handrail.  Really?  Are you serious?  My youngest chid (one minute younger then her brother and three minutes younger then her sister) laid on her stomach and gingerly “peeked” over the edge – with 95% of her still on the solid floor – at least with the illusion that you are safe on the ground.

Conclusion?  Super Fun.

Over all, the kids had a wonderful afternoon there, they enjoyed a tasty treat from the snack shop and continued to play and run around until it was time to go about 1.5 hours later.  The ride down the Calgary Tower was seamless and we were so excited to go through images that I captured while we were there yesterday and are looking very forward to returning again very soon for another round of fun, treats and images that are beautiful and so telling of their experience.

Suzie XO