So with car in hand (so to speak) yesterday I made my way northward to the High Level Rail, an old-time streetcar trip that lasts about 20 minutes and runs from the Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market (wondering if there’s any relation to the Strathcona in Victoria), around a few bends, through a tunnel and 150 feet over the North Saskatchewan River — which divides the city in two along a northeast-to-southwest plane — and into downtown. The streetcar is operated by volunteers of the Edmonton Radial Rail Society, who have restored the rail system back to its early 1900s glory, re-electrifying the tracks and restoring the cars that run on it. The “Radial” part of their name comes from the fact that during rail’s hey-day, Edmonton acted as a hub for many different rail lines. The trip was great, there’s nothing that can quite duplicate the sound of being on a real track going over real wooden ties & the smell of creosote.

South terminal for the high-level streetcar



Work of passion
Once off the streetcar I had a quick look around downtown, and it reminded me a bit of downtown Vancouver/Victoria: hills, tall office buildings combined with single-story restaurants. The weather was gorgeous, sunny, perhaps 25c/78f. I made my way over to Boun Thai, a small, non-busy place where I had a wonderful chicken red curry.

Found out from Mavis this is a magpie

Entering downtown Edmonton.

This could be Victoria

Downtown art

Donairs!

Great little Thai restaurant

Chicken red curry, so good

Interior of Boun Thai
Having a little bit more time to kill before my return trip was due I decided to wander some more.

Portions of downtown were built-up yet natural

Old + new




One of the stops I could have gotten off the streetcar at on the way downtown was the legislature, so I decided to see if I could find it. And find it I did! Seems like it’s a good place to come hang out on a warm summer’s day.



Nice shaded park area by the legislature

Good way to cool off on a hot day

On the way back to the streetcar I decided to walk along some of the track; as a bonus I got to check out some of Edmonton’s contemporary artists 🙂

Different every day

Share kids
The ride back was just as fun, and since it was the last ride of the day the streetcar conductors stopped the car & shut the gates to high-level bridge and tunnel as we went past them.


As a bonus the conductor allowed me to ride the streetcar right into the barn where it is kept overnight!

All in all a great experience, definitely recommend checking it out if you end up in Edmonton.
Just south of the barn where the trains are kept is Whyte Avenue, which appears to be one of the trendier areas in town. Lots of young people in the area, definitely seemed my speed, though Mavis also tells me it can get a little crazy at night. It’s also where Edmonton had its hockey riots (see this link for a description, interesting to compare to the situation in Vancouver).


Not Victoria

Funky clothery

Funky eatery

Funky dessertery

Reminds me a bit of Victoria

Also reminds me a bit of Victoria 🙂

Persian Grill
From there I drove back to Mavis’ place on the Calgary Trail. Driving-difficulty-wise, I’d rate Edmonton somewhere between Victoria and Sarasota, which is to say, as long as you’re looking out the window you should be ok. Nothing too crazy going on, though several of the yellow lights struck me as shorter than I’m used to seeing.
Hardave and Mavis got home about 5 minutes after I did and brought me bubble green tea! I had the one with the lychee pearls, and it completely hit the spot. We ate a good dinner with Daniel & Abigail, two of Mavis’ friends who had just come back from a trip to New Zealand for their honeymoon and came over to collect Ghost, their cat. We had burgers with spicy cheese, baked sweet potato fries & 7 layer chocolate cake! Completely healthy 🙂

7 layers of yum
Finally I got a chance to Facetime with Joy and we called it a night! Off to another day of adventure..

So I made it! I’m in Edmonton. Just me this time; Joy wishes she could have made it but is keeping the house safe and working a summer job at the world famous IMG tennis academy in Bradenton. Vanessa drove me to the airport at noon yesterday (so she could have some practice driving there; she is picking up Cam and Melissa upon their return to Portugal — in the dark). The only hiccup was in Houston, where my Edmonton-bound flight was delayed 2 hours due to a plane being swapped.
Touchdown was just after 11pm local time (1am EST). The greeter over the loudspeaker while waiting in the immigration line WAY too cheery after a long flight and was a dead ringer for Tom Haverford of Parks and Recreation. Immigration moved quickly as did Customs.
The Edmonton International Airport is kind of set up like the Victoria one; Mavis and Hardave were waiting for me the moment I walked through the opaque glass doors. We got in Mavis’ car and in 10 minutes we were home to Mavis’ condo. The weather was amazing.. just like Victoria on a cool day. Low humidity and a nice cool breeze. Some chatting, a glass of water, and into bed I went.
A side note, Mavis’ cat Tofu is just about the cutest thing possible. [part1 part2]
Today I was up at 5am, thanks to whatever the opposite of jetlag is 🙂 That and the fact that the sun is up at that time instead of 6:40! I like to get up when the sun does but I think this might be pushing it a bit.
Mavis and Hardave both have to work today, but I have Mavis’ car and free reign! Time to do some adventuring.