The morning of the 27th, we got up early and had breakfast with my grandma before heading to Calgary. We stopped in to have lunch with all of my dad's side of the family. Lunch was excellent and we spent a few hours playing rock band with my two cousins.
After lunch, we hit the road again and headed to Banff.
We checked in to the Banff Centre where we were staying before making our way over to my Aunt's place for dinner. She had made two amazing lasagnas! My two cousins were back from their respective universities for the holidays and my Uncle Brian had flown down that day too. After dinner, we relaxed by the fireplace and played a few rounds of Things which ended up getting a little ridiculous by the end. Regardless, we all had A LOT of laughs!
The next day, the 28th, we met for breakfast at Melissa's, one of my favorite breakfast places.
We then took some time to wander around and do some shopping. I picked up a few things to bring back to the Dominican as well as a bit of "childhood memory candy" from the local candy shop. We also had a chance to stop by my Uncle Victor's place for a visit and some tea.
We then headed back to my aunt's place to have a quick snack. Murray and Debbie arrived with Grandma while we were eating. Mom and dad, Brian, Jonathan, Bart and I headed back to our hotel to get ready for the birthday dinner for my Aunt that night. We went to a Greek restaurant called Balkan. It was "Greek Night" so my Aunt's birthday was announced to the entire restaurant and she had to take a shot of Ouzo and dance with a belly dancer! The food was very good and the portions were huge!
It had started snowing quite a lot before dinner, but it made downtown Banff look especially beautiful.
We decided to go to the Banff Springs to take some pictures there. The snow made it extremely breathtaking and the inside of the historic hotel was decorated beautifully for Christmas.
The next day, we had a big brunch at my Aunt's. We also took the occasion to celebrate my Uncle Murray's birthday a few days early.
After brunch, we all got bundled up and headed to the Springs to go skating. It was a perfect winter day and made me so happy to have been able to come back home for Christmas. There are a lot of things about winter that I now appreciate and miss a lot. Although I still dislike being cold!
Following our skating outing, we took a trip to the new recreation centre and then drove out to Vermilion Lakes to take a couple pictures.
We went back to my Aunt's house to have some hot soup before saying goodbye and heading back to Edmonton.
No comments:
Post a Comment