Having left Ursa in the tender care of my mom, Stuart and I hit the road for Banff on Saturday afternoon. We got about 4 blocks away when we realized that we'd left stuff behind, so we circled back for another try. Grab missing stuff, scritch Ursa one more time and head off again!
This time, we got just past Cochrane when I cursed. I left the gift certificate for the hotel at home. Since it was for $500, I didn't really want to go without - so I pulled a u-turn across the muddy center section while Stuart called home. Mom met us about half way, so we didn't have to forge our way clear across Calgary to get it. THANK YOU MOM!!!!
Finally, we arrived at the Fairmont Banff Springs, only 2 hours passed our original schedule. Normally, this is not a hotel on our radar, but I'd won the $500 gift certificate at work and with a bit of persistence, managed to get a good rate during the shoulder season, so we could stay for two nights. Having grown up in Alberta and spent lots of time in the mountains, I've always had a somewhat awed feeling toward this hotel as the epitome of class and history, so I was really looking forward to having some away time here with my sweetie.
I have to say that the hotel did not live up to my expectations. The room - tucked under the roof up on the 9th floor - was teeny, tiny and very oddly shaped. The dormers around the bathroom window in particular were a hazard to health, chopping at an ugly angle across the airspace over the toilet. Given that the "usual" rate for this room is around $450/night, one would at least hope for a less active chance of braining oneself while stumbling to the facilities by the glow of the nightlight.
I was also disgusted with the "hospitality" industry and the rich people who have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by it. Not only do they charge massive amounts for the room, but that's pretty much all you get: it had the smallest "queen" bed I've ever seen, parking is $25/day (more for valet), you have to buy robes, pay $40/person for afternoon tea, pay for cabled internet in your room (free wifi in reception areas only), breakfast started at $20/person for three pastries and juice! - we asked for some cutlery and I'm frankly amazed that I didn't see a charge for that on our bill. I don't know what you get if you "upgrade" your room, but I doubt that it's worth it.
On the other hand, it's not like I was in that tiny room trying to climb into a wedding gown or anything. We were there to laze about and relax - it worked just fine for that! We had dinner in our room (a baked brie I made before we left and a Granny Bee's salad from the Grizzly Paw followed by Choklat truffles) and went to bed early. Sunday morning we went to the Wildflour Bakery for breakfast and got yummies for Sunday morning too. Stuart went for a run in the afternoon and I laid in bed with a book. We had a late afternoon soak in the hotsprings and headed back downtown for our dinner reservation at The Bison.
I've raved about the Bison before and we weren't disappointed this time either! We had: Baked Olives (our staple) and Marinated Wild Mushrooms and Pine Nuts for appetizer, Stuart had the Grilled Pork Rack and I had the Duck Breast special. For dessert we shared Cherry Frangipane and Chocolate Torte. I don't usually drink, but I tried the Sangria and it was lovely. And just to make it perfect, we got "our table" again!
We slept in on Monday and then reluctantly packed up our stuff to go. We had an uneventful drive home and found that Ursa and Mom had done fine. Mostly because Ursa apparently decided to sulk about being left behind, so spent most of her time moping and sleeping. It took her a couple hours of giving us the cold shoulder before she perked up again. I think getting her a sister has moved into the definitely pile; now it's just a question of financing and timing...
And just to round out the weekend, we spent the evening at the Mill's, celebrating Myles' fourth birthday. There was pork steak, baked tomatoes, baked potatoes, glazed sweet potatoes and beets followed by Marble Slab oreo cake for dessert. Yum!
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