Ro Wells Travel

I hadn’t been entirely sure that I wanted to leave Jasper, I’d had a superb time there and was loving being in the mountains but was starting to feel restricted in what I was able to do on my own. I wanted to be able to go for hikes and explore the unbelievable nature I was in but didn’t want to go out on my own as I was aware there were still a few bears awake. This was giving me a sense of frustration as I wasn’t able to do the things I wanted to. So! I decided to change tack. Although I’m by no means done with the Rockies yet (“I’ll be back!” in my best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice), it was time to head back to the city where I could happily walk around on my own without fear of bears.

I took the bus from Jasper to Edmonton and have to say that it was a very scenic journey, with lots of beautiful landscape to peruse whilst I made my way out of the Rockies and back towards the civilisation. I instantly liked Edmonton a lot more than I had liked Calgary. Despite being a bigger city, it felt friendlier and safer than Calgary – though I don’t know whether that was just due to the parts of the cities I happened to be in. I found went for a lovely walk along the river in Edmonton. It was almost entirely frozen over, with big clumps of ice that looked like overlapping lily-pads. I’ve never seen anything like it and it completely blew my mind. (Not sure how I’ve got any brains left with the amount of times my mind has been blown out here and I’m only 6 weeks in.)

I used some of my time in Edmonton to work on solidifying my headspace of being ok with doing nothing which involved a lot of taking myself to a coffee shop – oh no, woe be me, such hard work! Edmonton has an abundance of cosy, comfy shops on which to while away one’s time and I greatly enjoyed sampling 3 or 4 of them. My personal favourites were Block 1912 and Remedy in the Strathcona area. The hostel itself was in the Strathcona area and it’s a great part of Edmonton to be in. At the weekend, I had a gorgeous time wandering around Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market which is an indoor venue full to the brim with stalls set up by local people selling every kind of handmade and artisanal product you can imagine, as well as fresh local produce and homemade food products. I hadn’t realised that Edmonton has a huge Ukrainian population, and has done since its beginning so there is a fantastic offering of perogies and other Ukrainian dishes.

The famous Whyte Ave also did not disappoint (I didn’t know it was famous until I got there). There is an excellent selection of bars and shops. One night, myself and a girl from New Zealand I met at the hostel headed to Blues on Whyte where we watched a local band play live music. It was a hell of an atmosphere in there, people instantly flocked to the dancefloor, regardless of age and ability. It was great fun and a super way to blow off some steam.

Edmonton was the last town I had on my initial list of places to go in Alberta and I found myself wondering where I wanted to go next. One of my priorities for my time in Canada is seeing as much of this beautiful country as I can in the time I’m given. So, I decided to head in a general easterly direction and see where I end up. I have no doubt I will return to Alberta later in winter when the ski resorts are fully open, and probably again in summer, but for now it’s on to pastures new, a.k.a. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

More photos here!

P.S. I’ve also been making some tweaks to the website so now you should be able to leave a comment without having to sign up (though please stick your name in it if you want to as otherwise I won’t know who you are. Or you can remain anonymous

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