Since numerous people (on both sides of the border) asked me, my visit to Calgary, Alberta, last week was … well, a heck of a lot like visiting another state in the US. Heck, Calgary has a lot more in common with Denver than Denver does with, say, Philadelphia.
That said, there were a few differences.
1. Weather-wise (and spring-blooming-wise), they're about a month behind us. (Being 900 miles due north accounts for that.)
2. Poutine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine) is a thing. And a good thing. (People sometimes look askance at poutine — but, honestly, it's first cousin to chili cheese fries, which are hardly beyond the pale, foodwise.)
3. The locals seemed very enthusiastic about a team called the "Flames."
4. The highway signage was all very familiar-looking, except that distances and speeds were in metric (as were temperature signs, for that matter).
5. No American flags, of course. Canadian flags, sure, but a lot fewer of them. The US is a big … flag-crazy.
That all said, I didn't get to see a lot of Calgary, to be honest — airport, hotel, restaurants around hotel, office, highways in-between, that was the extent of my visit. But it seemed like a nice place.
