Day 5 - Montreal-Quebec

Day 13 - Calgary-Banff

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Before we leave Calgary today we visit the Olympic Oval, the speed skating stadium used for the Olympic Winter Games of 1988. In this stadium the Dutch female speed skater Yvonne van Gennip won three gold medals in 1988.

After seeing the stadium from the outside and inside we drive a little further to the ski and bobsleigh area of the Winter Games of 1988.

As soon as we leave Calgary, we can see the Rocky Mountains in the distance. This is where we're heading. Our destination today is Banff, in the middle of those Rocky Mountains.

But before we arrive there, we spend lots of time in the Rocky Mountains, take some touristic routes, have a lot of breaks and go up one mountain with our tour bus to make a photo stop and enjoy the fantastic view. We have lunch in Canmore.

In the afternoon we come to Banff, drive around this town and drive past the famous Banff Springs hotel.

Tomorrow we'll spend the whole day in and around Banff.

The Olympic Oval, the first INDOOR skating rink in the world.

At this moment junior talents from many countries were training here. Still, the stadium was accessible for everyone so we could enjoy some speed skating.

Just as we see it on television.

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A legend of the ski and bobsleigh area.

The ski jump towers.

Whether there's snow or not, those crazy ski jumpers will jump from the incredibly high towers.

Notice the tiny ski jumper on the photo!

The bob sleigh track. Here we finish our visit to Calgary.

Just after leaving Calgary, the Rocky Mountains are in front of us. In a time period of a few minutes driving the landscape changes from flat to mountains.

On our way up to the top.

Welcome to the Rocky Mountains.

The rocks in the middle are called 'hoodoos'. These rocks have a weird shape because of erosion. The hard rock doesn't erode as fast as the surrounding softer rock. This results in pointed standing rocks.