Woke up at 0630, jet lag seemed to have gone but still got a cold. Popped round the corner to a post office to send some cards and discovered that most shops are underground like in Montreal even though it doesn’t get as cold in Toronto. Grabbed a croissant for breakfast then back to the hotel to check out, then over the road to the station to get the train to the airport. Stood in the queue while some woman argued with the staff about something – why does it require all the staff to get involved in an argument? So about 6 of us waited for this argument to finish before anyone else could get served. Eventually got to me and was told the train to the airport is in different building. Luckily it wasn’t too far and managed to get it ok. Flight took 4 hours and was uneventful which is what you want really, then into the hire car – a Mazda CX 9 which was huge. Plugged the hotel into the gps and drove for about an hour and a half to Banff in the Rocky Mountains. The first hour or so of the drive was boring, but we could see the mountains in the distance. We eventually arrived into the mountains – surrounded by pine trees and huge rock faces with some snow on top. They were larger than the ones in Iceland, taller and steeper.
Pulled into the hotel which looked a bit tired from the outside but inside was nice.
Checked Tripadvisor and the best restaurant in Banff was the hotel bistro so decided to go there, saved me driving into town and I could have a beer as well. I had a vanilla porter and it was very nice. The food was actually pretty good. We shared a plate of cheeses and charcuterie, then Song had blueberry risotto, I had a wagyu beef burger which I couldn’t finish. We were sat by the window with a spectacular view of the mountains. Suitably stuffed we went back to the room.
Tomorrow we’ll have a look around Banff, then on to Lake Louise and through the Banff National Park to Jasper.
