Calgary Stampede

THE GREATEST OUTDOOR SHOW ON EARTH!

July 09 - 18, 2010

Nestled in the foothills of the majestic Canadian Rockies, the Calgary Stampede is a ten day, city wide celebration of western hospitality.

Calgary's most popular tourist attraction,

'the greatest outdoor show on earth' features a real rodeo, a midway (amusement park), concerts, chuck wagon races and more. The city of Calgary is transformed for 10 days into town celebrating the cowboy culture. Each year, millions of visitors from around the world come to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to partake in the annual event, the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition.

The Calgary Stampede has a rich history. With origins as an 1886 Agricultural Fair of the world-famous attraction that it is today, the Calgary Stampede's past contains many colorful characters and significant milestones.

Annual Stampede attractions include Rodeo, World Champion Blacksmith's Competition, Animal and Agricultural Events, chuck wagon races. Watch saddle bronco and bareback riding, and the thrilling bull riding. See the crazy clowns, wild cow milking and wild horse races. Walk through an authentic Indian village and a recreated frontier town. Peak of each Stampede day is a must see Grandstand Show with fireworks that ends your day of fun with your family and friends.

Annual free Stampede Pancake Breakfasts are help every day through out the city of Calgary and near by communities like Cochrane.

Ask for more information and directions about The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth!

There is truly no better place to be during the Labour Day long weekend than Cochrane, where every minute is packed with events that are exciting, stimulating and, to be honest, just a little bit odd. There are not many towns where outhouse races take place right down the centre of the main street. The Lions Labour Day Rodeo, a fixture in town every Labour Day weekend since 1968. Come and join us for the weekend of family fun!

source by rockymountainview.ab.ca

Calgary Stampede [photo 2010]

Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede is a wild west extravaganza - a historic celebration of farming life, of agriculture and of the rodeo. It features musical entertainment in the evenings, chuckwagon races, agriculture competitions, fair ground rides, a daily parade and the world’s largest outdoor rodeo competition.
The first Calgary Stampede took place in 1912 and drew large numbers of competitors and more than 100,000 spectators. Visitors to the modern, ten day annual July event usually total more than a million, and a further two million viewers tune in and watch the parade on television. Prize money for the six rodeo events has now topped $1.6 million dollars.
Locals and visitor are encouraged to ‘dress western’ for the duration of the Calgary Stampede and enjoy the range of traditional sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat style western entertainment.

The polar bear...

Apart from guzzling down coca cola, here’s a few facts about the polar bear you might find interesting…

1) Polar bears are considered a marine mammal probably because they spend just as much time on ice as they do on land. 

2) Even though our eyes tell us differently, a polar bear's fur is not white. Each hair is completely colour-free and transparent with a hollow core.  Polar bears look white because the hollow core scatters and reflects visible light, just like ice and snow does. When photographed with film sensitive to ultraviolet light, polar bears appear black.

3) A polar bear is so well insulated that it loses almost no heat!  In addition to its thick fur, the bear's blubber can be up to 4.5 inches thick and adult males quickly overheat when they run!

And here are 10 funny facts about polar bears…but I don’t think they are all true!  Worth a look!

source by discover

CA Highlights

As we celebrate Canada Day and launch our new summer tours I have been fondly remembering my first trip to Canada, many, many years ago when I was lucky enough to spend a couple of months working in Banff, in the heart of the Rockies. It’s hard to describe the beauty of Canada; its spectacular scenery is on such an epic scale, and offers such contrast from the grand peaks and glaciers of the west and the endless lakes and forests of the east; the picturesque fishing villages of the Maritimes and the wild Arctic landscapes of the far north… The country is home to fascinating indigenous histories and the wildest of wildlife, as well as a surprisingly diverse range of modern cultures and vibrant cities.

There were countless highlights of my summer in the Rockies but the bright turquoise waters of Lake Louise remain a vivid memory to this day; setting foot on the Athabasca Glacier and climbing to the top of Mt Rundle were also incredible moments for me. Seeing elk wandering down the highstreet and even getting a glimpse of a bear one morning on my way out of town were heart-stopping – so much more exciting than the squirrels and foxes that frequent my own local neighbourhood!

A tour of Ontario and Quebec followed, where I searched in vain for moose and spent many happy hours canoeing through the still waters of Algonquin National Park, marvelled at the torrential Niagara Falls and practised my rusty French in Quebec City.

Much more recently I have just returned from a trip to Nova Scotia, a real gem of a province that offers a unique combination of picturesque charm and rugged scenery. I barely scratched the surface of the Maritimes, but I did finally get to see that elusive moose…. albeit in a wilderness reserve rather than out roaming in the wild. Ah well – there’s always next time…!
source by discover-the-world-blogs

Hanoi VietNam travel information

Vietnam’s capital city has to be one of Asia’s most fascinating cities offering a unique blend of oriental and western charm. It is a city of exotic brightly painted temples and pagodas, elegant ochre-washed colonial villas, bustling narrow streets and alleys, grand tree-lined boulevards and shaded lakes. First established as Vietnam’s capital in 1010,

when it was known as Thang Long, the city’s name changed several times before it eventually became Hanoi in 1831.

Pho Hanoi

The Temple of Literature, the site of Vietnam’s first university, dates back to 1070 and its peaceful gardens and pavilions offer a relaxing respite from Hanoi’s busy streets. Today Hanoi is still a city that attracts many of the country’s intellectuals as well as artists and writers.

Paintings by Vietnam’s new generation of artists can be seen for sale in the dozens of galleries that have sprung up in recent years in and around the city’s Old Quarter. It is here in the Old Quarter that Hanoi began life as a commercial centre over a thousand years ago. The original 36 streets that make up the Old Quarter are named after the goods once sold there such as silk, paper, silver, copper, herbs, cotton, fish and chicken. Nowadays the goods on sale are more likely to be t-shirts, sunglasses or embroidered table cloths but step back from the main streets and you will still find shops specializing in candlesticks, pagoda flags, engraved headstones and traditional musical instruments amongst others.

Pho Hanoi

Just to the south of the bustling Old Quarter streets is Hoan Kiem Lake, an oasis of calm right in the centre of the city. Old men, students and weary tourists stop to rest in the shade on the park’s benches while local residents begin their day with a lakeside tai chi workout. Some of the capital’s finest colonial buildings can be found in the area of Hoan Kiem Lake including the magnificent Opera House, History Museum and the Metropole Hotel.

A couple of kilometers west of Hoan Kiem Lake are the imposing granite structure housing Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. The mausoleum overlooks Ba Dinh Square, the square where President Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence at the end of World War Two. Nearby is the lotus flower-shaped temple of the One Pillar Pagoda, first built in 1049, and the grand palace that was once the residence of the Governor-General of French Indochina.

Like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi also has some great shopping, particularly in the Old Quarter where bargains include silk, embroidery, handicrafts and original works of art. There are some interesting day trip options from Hanoi including Hoa Lu, the site of Vietnam’s first capital, Tam Coc Caves, the Perfume Pagoda and Hoa Binh, the home of many ethnic minority groups.

My favorite assignment 2010

Saveur Magazine sent me on assignment late last year for a story they ran in their December 2008 issue. The assignment was a food feature on Iraqi refugees living and practicing their food traditions in Beirut. The situation was pretty intense for a photographer, let alone a western woman operating in a
Hezbollah-run neighborhood where journalists, especially foreign ones, were prohibited and detained. My access was limited and quick as we didn’t want to draw too much attention to the Iraqi men, which could have been very dangerous for them.
The few nights I spent photographing these gentlemen were amazing. Photographically it was terrible, no electricity, not able to use flash (draws too much attention through the windows, raising suspicion with watchmen patrolling the neighborhood). But when they lit candles for their evening meal signifying the end of their Ramadan Fast it couldn’t have been better. The orange glow from the candles lit their faces just enough to give it the right amount of detail and emotion and capture the moment There we sat on the floor, cut up garbage bags as our table cloth, feasting on spiced chicken stew with chic peas. As I scooped up every bite with flat bread it all tasted like heaven. It was the best meal and the best table I ate at the entire trip. It was one of those moments I’ll always remember because of what it symbolized. The customs and cultural traditions of these Arab Iraqi men don’t allow me to socialize with them , not as a woman, nor as a journalist/photographer. It was my camera that allowed me access to their world. It was a great reminder of how much food can bring us together and give us something in common if only for a few hours. It’s funny how the most incredible experiences can happen in the hardest of situations.

source by http://pennydelossantos.wordpress