Tag Archives: Toronto

Day 1 – Toronto to Banff

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After packing the car last night, we were all set for the start of our trip this morning. Shortly after waking up, we locked up the house and headed to Toronto Pearson Airport.

We booked a flight leaving shortly after 9 AM, so we would still have most of the day available on arrival in Calgary. Our flight was delayed by about an hour, but after a leisurely breakfast in the lounge, we headed to the gate and were on our way.

Because we liked the product so much before, we booked a flight operated by a 787 with Air Canada’s new business class pods, which we find very comfortable. The flight may only be about 4 hours in length, but we like to be comfortable nonetheless. Here we are getting settled for the flight.

As you can see from the photo below, the weather today in Toronto is nice and sunny as we are about to take off.

Here is a video looking out the window from my seat, as we’re flying just about the level of the clouds.

Upon arrival in Calgary, the visibility was much different from Toronto. While the weather was OK, it was very hazy from the smoke blowing in from the wildfires in BC, and the city smelled a bit like a campfire. After picking up our rental car, we made our usual stop at the Sobeys for some groceries, and then headed west toward Banff.

It was a bit cloudy when we arrived in Banff. We pulled up to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, which is our usual place to stay. We checked in, and the hotel once again gave us our usual suite, which will be our home for the next 4 nights.

After getting unpacked, we headed outside to walk around the grounds before dinner. We had reservations at Castello, which is our favourite restaurant in Banff.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner and relaxed for the evening just taking in the mountain views.

Day 1 – Leaving Toronto

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There isn’t much to report today, as our flight is leaving rather late. After being dropped off at Pearson Airport, we checked in with Turkish Airlines, who will be operating most of our flights on this trip.

We ate dinner at the Air Canada lounge, and shortly after 9 PM, we made our way down to the gate.

Here is Nadine getting organized for the flight.

We were offered a choice of refreshing welcome drinks soon after we were seated.

I was impressed with the quality of food on Turkish Airlines, who had a chef on board to prepare the meals for our cabin. From the appetizers to the dessert we were well fed. I apologize for the redness in the photo below. The lighting at dinner made for some odd photographic results.

After dinner, we made up our beds and got ready to sleep. It’s never easy sleeping on airplanes, as no matter how nice the seat, it’s not quite like sleeping at home!

Day 1 – Leaving Toronto

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It’s only been a couple of weeks since our return from skiing in Mont-Tremblant, but we’re excited to get away for some more skiing. This time, we’re heading west. Last year, we split our time between the Fairmont’s at Whistler and Banff, but we loved the skiing best at Lake Louise. Therefore, this time, we’re concentrating all of our time at the Chateau Lake Louise.

Here we are after our arrival at Pearson airport. Did I mention that we don’t know how to travel light? Ski gear can be bulky. Good thing our baggage allowance is 6 x 70 Lbs, or this could be expensive!

By the way, for anyone else who loves to ski, and travels with good equipment, we love our SporTube. We’ve been using this thing for several years, on several airline trips. It’s picked up a few dents along the way, but the skis inside were always protected.

We have a late afternoon flight, arriving in Calgary in the evening. Here we are at check-in for our flight.

After arriving in Calgary, we claimed our luggage, and picked up our rental van. We’re staying in a hotel by the airport for the night, and plan to make our way to Banff National Park first thing in the morning.