Calgary

 April 24, 2023

Our flight to SFO was delayed so we had some time to explore the Haneda airport. It's huge! Our terminal had a mall and several restaurants. It was fun to explore until our check in was available about 2 1/2 hours before departure. We checked in and got access to the ANA lounge because we were flying United Polaris. the lounge was decent, but getting very busy by the time we left. We had a great flight to SFO. We were very happy when we landed to find out United had found us another way to get to Calgary since we missed our connection due to the delay. We spent an hour in the Centurion lounge at SFO and then flew to Vancouver and then onto Calgary. We arrived in Calgary about 6 hours later than originally planned, but happy to be there. We checked in the AirBnb and tried to get some sleep. 

April 25, 2023 

I worked most of the day. Glenn got us lunch and when grocery shopping. We watched some Netflix (Dead to Me) and headed to bed. 

April 26, 2023 

Another work day. At night though, we had dinner plans with Kyle and Laura. We met Kyle in 2019 at a resort. We went Rouge. 

Wonderful restaurant! Started with an interesting savory marshmallow for an amuse bouche. Then we had fois gras, salmon, pork belly and scallops along with a delicious wine from the Okanagan Valley in BC.  Cheese plate for dessert.

April 27, 2023 

Yesterday morning I focused on getting some laundry done while Angie finished up some work. About 11:30 we decided it was time to find some local lunch.  When we had dinner with Kyle and Laura on Wednesday, they had given us a list of some recommended breweries and distilleries in Calgary.  I never knew Calgary has such a large beer scene.  We were anxious to see what  this city had to offer.     We started at Ol' Beautiful.  They had a really delicious fruited sour called Dark Arts and a dark lager called Eternal Twilight.  They also had a food truck inside the tap room which has tacos, burritos and quesadillas. Tacos and beer is a great combination. And they had a huge outdoor beer garden which was perfect on such a sunny day.  We enjoyed the 18° weather!   After trying a few of their beers, we were ready for another place.  And Cold Garden was immediately next door.  In fact they share a parking lot and you can look at one place while you are at the beer garden for the other.   

Their Saskatoon Sour was very delicious.   It was then time to head back to the Airbnb. We had a video call with Angie's parents to check-in and discuss some upcoming trips.   We will be seeing them very soon towards the end of this current adventure.

While Angie finished up some work, I had a little nap.  Still adjusting to the new time zone after four days.  About 6 PM we were hungry for some dinner. We went back to the list we had gotten on Wednesday night.   There were two more breweries to try. We started at The Establishment and had a trio of their sours Great Gig In The Sky, Mythological Beauty and Amethyst Realm.  

Great Gig was a syrupy raspberry sour with strong notes of chocolate and coffee in the aroma.  Surprisingly it has neither coffee of chocolate in the recipe. Rather it is roasted malt which gives it that character.   Mythological Beauty was a lighter sour with notes of plum. This was Angie's favorite.   And Amethyst Realm was a blueberry sour with hints of lemon and thyme.  Reminded me of a blueberry poppy seed muffin. This was my favorite.   They had bar snacks here you could purchase so we tried one of their famous cheese buns.  It was a buttery and yeasty roll that had been kneaded with chunks of a slightly sharp melty cheddar.  Very delicious. 

We were then ready for dinner.  In the same block of business was a brewery called The Annex. And there was a burger place called Empire that was inside the brewery.  We both got delicious burgers and fries!!  Cooked medium rare!!  If you have never had Canadian beef, you need to try it.  A much beefier flavor than some American beef I have had. 

After dinner we decided to try one more place.  We had been using Uber to get around, but a walk felt like it would be a good idea after dinner.  So we had about a 20 minute walk to Confluence Distilling. 

We learned from the bartender that in addition to making their own spirits, they also make their own syrups and bitters. We were going to try a cocktail called Finger Gunz which Kyle had recommended.

  The base of the cocktail was Aquavit. Have you ever had Aquavit?   It's a Scandinavian spirit which is flavored with herbs and  traditionally caroway seeds.  I have only seen it and had it as a shot or served over ice. It can have a strong medicinal flavor.   This cocktail took it to another level.   They combine it with lime juice, simple syrup and Ancho Reyes Verde liqueur, shake with ice and then strain into a glass.  The ancho liqueur has just enough of a bite to balance the strong taste of the Aquavit. And both blend well with the lime.  The result is similar to a spicy margarita but so much better. A very well crafted cocktail. 

After our drinks it was time to arrange our Uber and head back to the Airbnb.  The house has Netflix setup on the TV so we caught up with a show we hadn't been able to watch. 

April 28, 2023 

Today is our last full day in Calgary.  Looks to be another warm day and it should reach 19°.  Will do one more load of laundry since we won't have laundry available at our next location. Then probably have lunch at the the Airbnb.  We have veggies, hummus, potato salad and rotisserie chicken to finish up.  

We had a great dinner at Model Milk. They renamed their version of an espresso martini "Tucker'd out" 

The highlights were the fried mushroom and cheese donuts. 

 We went to see the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL (American Hockey League).  They are an affiliate team of the Flames.  They are playing the Abbotsford Canucks and lead the best of five series off the Calder Cup Pacific Division semifinals 1-0.