Today I went to the city (alone), using a C-train from McKnight-Westwind to downtown (7th Avenue). The main objective was to go and see The Camera Store, on the corner of 7th Street and 11th Avenue SW. Leaving 7th Avenue, I headed south under the tracks of CP Rail and then right along 10th Avenue, hoping to see some rail action. But all I saw was some of Calgary’s “down and outers” queued up outside a recycling centre with their shopping trolleys of aluminium cans, and just across the road, others leaving a liquor store, obviously having already obtained some cash from their can collecting efforts. We have a couple of people in Christchurch who do this, but there was at least 50 here as I passed.
Just a few blocks away is The Camera Store, and I could have spent all day in there. About four times bigger than Photo & Video in Christchurch, this shop had everything for still and video photography, including a rental department. It was definitely not the “shopping mall photo store” but a serious store for advanced amateurs and professional people. I spent about 30 minutes wandering around, looking at the books section, the studio flash section etc, before checking out tripods and heads. They had the Wimberley Mark II head and various adaptor plates, so I bit the bullet and purchased one, along with a P-50 adaptor plate, for the 600mm f4 “bazooka” at home.
It had started to rain while I was in the shop so headed back towards 8th Avenue wearing my lightweight rain/wind jacket, but I soon had to find shelter in one of the shopping malls. I checked out HMV (again) Coles bookstore, before grabbing a coffee and a couple of chicken wraps at Tim Hortons, and then deciding that the rain was not going to abate, so headed back to one of the stations on 7th Avenue, and got a train back to McKnight-Westwind, and then a Falconridge bus (route #55), that took an age going through other areas (Castleridge and Coral Springs) before arriving in Falconridge. If it had not been raining I would have walked the 2+km – it would have been quicker!
The rain was heavier in the city than at Falconridge, but as I walked the short distance from the Falconridge Blvd bus stop, lightning flashes were seen and the thunder could be heard approaching so I was glad to be home at Rozi’s. Only Rizwan and Zaheer were home, Shamina and Rozi out shopping, as was Naushad.
I did another session on the treadmill clocking up a couple of miles. At 6:30pm we headed out to dinner at friends/relations of Zaida (Taki’s wife). There house is on the very eastern boundary of the city with farmland beyond, although some of this land has just been turned into the north east section of the yet to be opened Calgary ring route motorway.
While we were in Vancouver there was news (in amongst all the hype over Michael Jackson’s memorial service) that the local Indian tribe had voted against accepting the governments substantial financial offer for the land for the south east section of the ring road, so Calgary may end up with just a partial ring road. Highway 1 through Calgary is traffic light alley, and the ring route was planned to divert traffic around the city.
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