Calgary

I've been back in Calgary for a week and it's been great. Managed to get almost all of my errands finished, hung out with friends, visited some of my old haunts (the ones that aren't out of business anyway) and it's all been done with fantastic weather. It would've been nice if Lori was here with me but she has her own busy travel schedule. She did get back to Paris in between trips to the Middle East, but it was cold and wet and she was very jealous.

It didn't take long to realize I was back in Alberta though, the dry prairie wind and giant pickup trucks gave it away. There were lots of pleasant surprises though, like the guy who rolled down his window and apologized for pulling into the crosswalk or the bus driver who said good morning when I got on. Those are not things you experience in Paris and I used to take for granted here. I think I've missed Calgary more than I thought. Having said that, I'm anxious to get back to Europe next week so I can go on my beer trip to Czech Republic and Germany.

db