Photo-bomb: Cross Iron Mills, Canada Olympic Park, & A Shot of Downtown

It's almost the end of January (!) so I wasn't going to post these since they're very Christmas-themed (the remainder of the shareable pics from my cousins' visit up here) but my twitter-friends seemed receptive... so you're all subject to them!

I really thought we took them to more but I skipped out on the Calgary Tower visit (too cold) and then we spent most days at either my house, my sister's, or my various aunts and uncles... so I'll have to try harder to explore my city! These are my favourite picture from where we DID visit :D

This is actually right above Murale (AKA my favourite store ever) in the 'fashion district' of Calgary - it's really the outdoor mall part of TD Square. I'm not sure if the mural is the same - it changes periodically!

Cross Iron Mills is this giant outlet mall about 10 minutes outside of Calgary in the small town of Balzac. It's about a 5km walk (I think) to go all the way around it, and it's HUGE, and they really went all out with the directions to represent Canada and Alberta. All the different quadrants are themed (this is the sports/outdoors/hunting sector) right outside of Bass Pro Shop

Those moose are real. Stuffed, but real.

I'll admit now that I am neither a hunter OR particularly outdoorsy but there isn't another place like Bass Pro Shop in Calgary, at least, and according to my cousin, not in California (I believe this is an American sports store chain). The store caters to the hunting/outdoor lifestyle and is gigantic - they sell everything from ATVs to snowmobiles and boats, to guns and regular sports-wear.

All the animals in the store are real, and in the pond there are live trout and salmon

It's a very interactive store experience! Worth visiting once even if it's REALLY not your thing just to ogle at the massive scope of it. In addition to the taxidermied animals everywhere there is a mock-fishing area (with real fish) to test out rods, a shooting range, an archery range, and a climbing wall so you can test shoes and picks and gear.

There's also random things like old bi-planes. The second floor gave me vertigo and I hate heights so we took the elevator back down. *is a wimp*

This is probably my favourite part of the mall. I think the ceiling is SO pretty.

This is the newest extension to Cross Iron Mills and was the entrance to the Entertainment district (which includes, among other things, a movie theatre and paintball range). The lights actually had a flashing show set along to Christmas carols but I missed taping it :(

The last full day we had with my cousins we went to COP so they could see the park where the 1988 Winter Olympics were held. We went on a Sunday right after New Year's so unfortunately only the hill was open, but we froze and saw that anyway. We tried to take pictures on the little replica of the podium but it was really unsteady due to all the snow piled up underneath it!

I miss my cousins already :( It was SO COLD when we took this picture - probably -20C without the windchill? I asked my cousins if they wanted to try renting skis to go on the bunnyhill but I think they were both frozen as they told me no. ;)

That's about it for my Calgary tour... it's easier to go around and visit all the outside attractions when it isn't so bitingly cold. I'm getting visitors in April, hopefully, so I'll try to take more pictures then!