I just arrived back from Canada yesterday and wow, what an amazing trip! We were admitted to the Premium lounge at Heathrow then flew into Calgary for our first night. Calgary is great and reminds me a little of New York. Then we went off to Banff for 2 nights followed by 2 nights in Jasper. Both are lovely towns and by now the group have all gelled well together. At this time of year, the Black Bears and Grizzly bears have emerged from hibernation and can be seen grazing on the roadside! Amazing! Some of our special trips out included the Althabasca Glacier and the water rafting. If anyone is unsure of the rafting - its not the scary white water rafting, its gentle, although you still have to sit on the edge of the raft, but we all loved it!
The highlight was the 2 day journey on the Rocky Mountaineer! I cant praise that enough! The staff are wonderful and we were constantly being fed and watered! I chose to stay with the Silver service and was glad I did. The Gold service people got to view from the upper deck of the double decker car but had to keep going downstairs for meals. The silver service car is very roomy and has great views through the full windows. Meals were lovely, staff commented at appropriate times and played games and sing alongs with us too! I wasn't keen on Kamloops but that was only an overnight stay in between the train journey.
Vancouver initially looks huge and scary! But you soon find its a great city and easy to get around. I was shocked at the level of homelessness on the streets - worse than here at home, poor people. In Vancouver we had more fantastic trips - Stanley Park, Victoria island by ferry, the Capilano suspension bridge and the trip up Grouse mountain - amazing. On a free afternoon, some of us decided to go on the 'Fly over Canada' experience down at the harbour. This was brilliant! You are put in rows of seats in front of a blank screen. Then the floor moves away, the screen lights up with views and its as if you are flying! You travel the whole length of Canada in a few minutes, the chairs tilting for effect as you fly over Niagara falls, forests, snow capped mountains etc. You even get spray on your face from the falls! Great fun. We followed this up with a drink in the rotating restaurant with views across the city!
we were lucky with the weather in Vancouver as it was really nice and sunny. If youre going and wonder what to pack - a bit of everything! There are cold times at the start with the glacier and so on, but warm on the train and in some of the cities. But casual and comfy is the order of the day. Sorry, this has become a long post but we packed so much in! Oh and our Just you host, Yvette, was outstanding! Ive been with her before in New York - everyone agreed she is the best and has everything under control. We were also lucky to have been a great group of people who all got on so well and had so many laughs.
I fully recommend both this tour, it was my trip of a lifetime, and Just You holidays too.
Julie
