Exploring Edmonton

Last year our good friends Janice and Peter moved to Edmonton. We were in their wedding, visited them when they lived in Oxford, London, and Sweden, and traveled with them in places like Greece, Iowa, and Italy, so we immediately hatched a plan to go visit them in the frozen north. And what better time to journey to Canada's northernmost major city than February?

Our flight connected in Toronto, and we arrived in Edmonton at night. With the time change we were exhausted, so we hung out for just a bit before going to bed. We set out the next morning for the Old Strathcona Farmers Market, an indoor Saturday market. Strathcona is a cool area of town south of the river, packed with restaurants and shops. The market was surprisingly busy for winter. There were a lot of pre-made products (jams, soaps, jerky, etc) and local foods. After taking in the atmosphere for a bit, we had brunch at a nearby restaurant called Meat.

We walked back toward downtown across the High Level Bridge, which has great views across the city. It's also extremely cold and windy - probably the coldest we felt the whole weekend.

A huge mural in Strathcona.

Inside the market.

Sometimes we're still in middle school.

Walking the snowy path high above the river. It was cold!

View of downtown Edmonton.

Before walking across the bridge.

A little bit of unfrozen river.

Our next stop was the Alberta Legislature Building, where we went on a guided tour. The sandstone building was constructed after Alberta became a province in 1905. The tour was nice, and covered a bit about the history of the building and the province. We also learned that Canadian provinces have non-elected lieutenant governors (which they pronounced "left-tenant") that represent Queen Elizabeth. Fun fact of the tour: there are five 80+ year old palm trees inside the dome, and nobody knows where they came from. The rumor is they're a gift from California, but when asked that state denies it.

Next we walked a bit of the river trail, and took the automated funicular up the hillside back in to downtown. We made a quick stop at Craft Beer Market for some drinks before returning to Janice and Peter's apartment. We finished off the night with a lovely dinner at Woodwork.

The sandstone exterior of the legislature building.

The inside is nice, but a little plain.

One of the former lieutenant governors.

Palm trees in the dome!

The snowy grounds.

Nothing to see here, just David on a weird bench.

Inside the funicular.

Going up!

Blood red falling ice sign.

Downtown Edmonton.

Inside Craft Beer Market.

On our second day in Edmonton, we started out ice skating in front of City Hall. There's a rink in the plaza, and skate rental is free! Since it was early, cold, and snowing it wasn't busy and we had plenty of space to skate around. This was David's first time ever ice skating, and he did well! After briefly visiting city hall, we walked a couple of blocks to the Royal Alberta Museum, and spent a few hours exploring the science and history exhibits. It's a large museum with a lot of great exhibits. By now we were starving, and walked a short distance to Chinatown for lunch at 97 Hot Pot. It was perfect on a chilly day.

The view from Janice and Peter's apartment.

David on the ice.

Peter showing off his skills in the background.

Goofing around in front of city hall.

The interior of city hall.

Albertosaurus skeleton in the museum.

A big exhibit about the early history of the area.

Hot pot lunch. Yum!

After lunch we walked around the "ice district," a new area with a hockey arena, casino, and giant skyscrapers with hotels and condos. It's a nice area but was quiet because it was a weekend day without a hockey game. We walked past a street known as the "neon museum" where old neon signs from around the city are attached to a wall, and then stopped by McEwan University, where our friend Janice works. Finally, we had some happy hour drinks at Campio Brewery, which had our favorite beer of the trip.

Not the best face...

The two tallest buildings in Edmonton, finished in 2019, tower above Rogers Place.

Neon museum during the day.

Janice's work!

Janice and Paul at Campio Brewing. Great beer!

Walking back by the neon museum at night.

On our final day in Edmonton we took an Uber to West Edmonton Mall to visit Galaxyland, an indoor amusement park. It's home to Mindbender, the world's tallest indoor roller coaster. Paul had a great time riding, and Peter took a spin too. The mall is ginormous - the largest in North America. It was busy because it was such a cold day. We spent some time walking around, people watching, and checking out a game in the full sized hockey rink in the middle. We had some lunch before taking the bus back to Janice and Peter's, where we relaxed, played some games, and finished the night with dinner and drinks at Beer Revolution.

Ready for some fun!

Mindbender is intense.

The drops on Mindbender. Huge for an indoor coaster!

Peter and Paul in the front seat.

Paul getting those coaster credits.

Lunch time in the mall at a British restaurant.

There was a junior hockey game happening inside the mall.

Beer Revolution

That night, the temperature dipped to some of the coldest we've ever experienced. The Edmonton airport got down to -18°F. David brought his own thermometer from home, and recorded -12°F at Janice and Peter's apartment, so he now considers that his coldest temperature every experienced (beating out 5°F in Atlanta in February 2014). Fun fact, at around -5°F to -10°F ice starts forming on your nose hairs when you breath deeply. It was a little alarming...but was kinda fun too.

Goodbye, Edmonton!

We had a great time visiting our friends and exploring the northernmost large city in Canada. Now we need to come back in summer and go visit the Canadian Rockies and Calgary!

Oxfordian Meadows

After a fun introduction to Oxford, I spent the last two days of my short trip exploring more of the museums and neighborhoods of the city.

On Friday, Peter had to work (in London), so Janice and I set off for some breakfast and museum hopping. We went to a proper hipster cafe, Handlebar, for some avocado toast. Next we walked to one of the main attractions of Oxford, the Ashmolean museum. It's an impressive museum, with objects stolen gathered from all over the world. There were particularly great exhibits of Egyptian and Roman artifacts. Great place to spend a few hours learning about all of the places the British empire once controlled.

A neat building along the river. Janice and Peter actually looked at an apartment in here.

Tons of impressive architecture all around town.

Handlebar, the bike-themed cafe.

Yum!

Yes, they have a whole temple.

Mummy with all of the coffins.

Some replica statues showing how they originally would have looked.

A Faiyum portrait! I love these.

The cascading stairways of the modern interior of the Ashmolean.

They even had a small exhibit about Cairo.

We made our way to our next two stops - the Natural History Museum and the adjacent Pitt Rivers Museum. Along the way we passed through the cute lamb and flag passage and by a few more impressive University buildings. Both of the museums were equally as impressive as the Ashmolean. Together, it's a trifecta of world-class exhibits. The Natural History Museum has stunning architecture and a combination of old traditional exhibits with updated modern exhibits. The Pitt Rivers is a fascinating collection of objects organized by function. If you have just a day in Oxford, these should be your three stops.

Now that's a nice logo.

Lamb and flag passage.

The outside of the Natural History Museum is great...

...but the inside is even more impressive.

A modern photography exhibit hanging over the Pitt Rivers museum.

Rows of objects in the Pitt Rivers.

After a few hours in both museums, we took a walk around Oxford University park and made our way to a place called Gee's for lunch. It was a lovely restaurant in an old greenhouse, with a nice set menu. We enjoyed some wine as well. :)

Great buildings left and right...

A bit cloudy, but the park was nice.

Some trees were flowering, making it a lovely early spring day.

Janice at Gee's.

Lunch was delicious.

Our next stop was Christchurch, one of the most famous parts of Oxford University. Like the other colleges, you have to pay to enter and can only visit certain areas. Christchurch was particularly popular, with many more tourists than the other parts of the University we visited. It does have impressive architecture and is worth the visit. We then walked through Christchurch Meadow, down Merton street, and popped in for a quick pint at the Bear Pub.

Carfax tower.

Christchurch.

Really cool tree/vine growing up the building.

Impressive ceiling details.

Yet another Harry Potter-esque dining room.

Postcard Christchurch view.

Inside the church.

A plaque in the meadow.

Quiet streets and pleasant walks.

Unicorn!

Nice place for a cheeky pint.

As evening approached, we walked around a bit more, passing by Oxford castle before walking along the Oxford canal to a neighborhood called Jericho. It's a scenic walk - I recommend it, and the Jericho neighborhood is worth a visit to escape the touristy center. Janice and I had another pint and a snack at a restaurant called the Rickety Press. It's a great place to hang out, and was one of my favorite pubs of the trip. Peter joined us for dinner at the Old Bookbinder, where we had messy hamburgers and enjoyed some wine. Finally we walked home via Bulwarks lane and one more pint at the Royal Blenheim pub.

The hill that was the site of the original castle.

Oxford Castle.

A nice restaurant along the canal.

Evening canal walk.

Great place to grab a beer in Jericho.

Dinner time!

Walking home through an atmospheric alley (Bulwarks lane).

The Royal Blenheim, Janice and Peter's favorite pub in Oxford.

Since Friday was a Janice day, my final full day in Oxford was a Peter day! Janice had a pre-booked full day wine tasting, so Peter and I went off on a walking tour of some of the more southern neighborhoods of the city. We walked through an area called Isis, passing the Iffley lock and through an upscale residential neighborhood, ending up at the Jolly Postboys for lunch. I loved this place - it's a bit out of the way from the main part of Oxford, but we had an awesome lunch and by far the best beer I had in Oxford (a New England style IPA).

Found them!

The Isis restaurant.

A bridge over the canal.

We saw a boat go through the locks. There was a nice biking/walking trail, popular on a Saturday.

We walked through a fancy neighborhood.

Yay, good beer!

Gotta have fish and chips.

After lunch, we went through Florence park, a very popular local park with busy playgrounds and tennis courts. We made a quick stop at Brewdog, before going back to the Royal Blenheim pub ("a proper old man's pub") to meet Janice and her friends, and heading back to Janice and Peter's for the night.

A big row of trees in Florence Park.

Octopig mural?

Lots of beer options at Brewdog.

We stopped in a Korean grocery store and they had Pokemon drinks.

The sun came out! People went in boats! Everyone rejoiced!

See, it is sunny sometimes in Oxford.

Too soon?

My time in Oxford came to a close, and the next morning I took the bus to Heathrow. Oxford is a great place to visit, with world-class museums, impressive architecture, and a compact downtown that is great for exploring on foot. Every place seems obsessed with telling us some part of Harry Potter was filmed there, but hey, I guess they know where their tourist bread is buttered. Now, when do I get to visit Peter and Janice again? :)