It was a quiet weekend, yes

With one sister mending a broken foot and the other trying to catch up sleep, our weekend in Banff wasn't very exciting. However, it was some quality time spent with Annie. Some pictures can be found here.

Things I learned about Banff while visiting for the weekend:

• You can't flag a cab using the universal waving of hands. At least the four cabs that drove by us didn't seem to understand. All had their light on.
• Elks are large animals that you probably don't want to approach. We saw several of them, fortunately, from within a car or the shuttle. Sorry, no pictures.
• It's dry, very dry in Banff. Dry and dusty.
• The average age of visitors in Banff is 18-24, and over 50.
• You can't live in Banff unless you work there. Something about the place being a National Park. Pfft!
• Australians like to work in Canadian ski resorts, not just at Whistler.
• Alberta is one big rock. And the tourist shops will try to sell you little pieces of it. Pretty.
• The sales tax in Alberta is only 6.5%. More shopping.

We had fun, managed to get my school work done while Annie was translating what she learned over the week into an action plan for work. We went out for dinner and beers in a cute Irish pub last night, then headed over to the movie theatre to see 300. Although the movie is violent, it was artistic violence, a little bit along the lines of Kill Bill. Still a bit gory. I didn't know the entire movie was shot in Montreal, in front of a blue screen. I liked it.

On the way back to Vancouver, the flight attendant told us that the weather was calling for light sprinkles and clouded skies. When I saw my soaked suitcase drop onto the conveyor, I knew exactly how sprinkly it was. So much for taking the bus back home.