ISO Edmonton's Elusive Trolley Busses

We begin with Unohu's search for the perfect coffee:


We arrived in Edmonton last night in the middle of a huge rain storm. The clouds had been threatening during our trip down from the Icefields Parkway along the Continental Divide between Alberta and British Columbia. They followed us through Rocky Mountain Home and Red Deer (those are really place names in Alberta) and began to dump their rain on us as we waited for our hosts to arrive from work to let us into the BnB.

The Icefields Parkway is a trip. In many ways it was one of the most impressive mountain experiences we have ever had. Not only did we see more bears,

but we drove above the tree line and at every turn experienced glaciers that appeared about to drop their tons of snow as they retreat up the mountains into non-existence.




Edmonton, set in the flat prairies, but on the banks of a huge ravine where the Saskatchewan River flows north to Hudson's Bay, is a pleasant city of many parks and gardens. The architecture is somewhat non-descript late 20th century office modern downtown, and mid-century sprawl elsewhere with wide streets. Very reminiscent of Dallas, though perhaps with more trees.

Throughout the city the streets are hung with trolley bus wires. Edmonton is one of seven North American cities with a trolley bus system. It's the only one I haven't ridden. And probably will never ride.

As far as we can tell from the bus drivers and inspectors with whom with talked, the busses have been put away for the summer because they are hampered by light rail and road construction. So I can report that we spent $7.50 each for day-long bus passes, that we rode the light rail system (nice, but still an overgrown tram system), saw the ancient tram that rides over the river, and rode a heckuva lot of trolley bus routes under trolley bus wires, but on busses with diesel engines. Oh, well.

City council is debating abolishing the entire system, claiming the busses are old and none of the drivers like them, but it would be sad for North America just to have six remaining systems...and Edmonton's appears to be fairly large too.

Our Bnb is very nice, a sprawly mid-century ranch with a pool. Dale and Alfredo, the hosts, are very pleasant and the bed is good. We had dinner at one of their recommendations last night, Il Forno, nearby. We had nice calamari to start, followed by a blackened arctic char for Ben, and a small veal steak for John. Both done perfectly. A southern Tuscan sangiovese to go with that was nice, but wine in Canada, like all booze, is very expensive in restaurants and quite pricey in stores.

We spent part of the afternoon at the Royal Alberta Museum. We had passed it to see that it was hosting a show on "Dragons" from Paris and thought it might be fun to visit. Ben enjoyed the totem overlooking the city, where the god has the world on his shoulders.

Yes, it was fun but we enjoyed the show on the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland in the St. Lawrence with over 1000 dead in 1914 more. Besides discussing how a certified ship could sink in 14 minutes after being rammed by a coal ship, it went into the accomodations on the ship, including how primitive, for us even First Class was. (You went down the hall to the loo or for a bath). And how third class had to wash their own dishes! It interested Ben because that's how his father and grandparents came. I could relate to the size of the vessel, but 40 years later when the Crosses came from the same British port of Liverpool, the accomodations in first class were more like a Marriott, with bathrooms with bidets ensuite and full staterooms, not bunks.

Tonight we think about Thai fusion for dinner on Jasper, the main drag. Tomorrow we leave for Saskatchewan and Manitoba.