Almost smack in the middle between Edmonton in the north and Calgary in the south lies Red Deer – a former railway divisional point station that has a town around it. The Calgary and Edmonton Railway completed in 1890 was the economic driving force of Red Deer. The now-heritage train Read more…
After visiting both Edmonton and Calgary, I can say with absolute certainty that Calgary is the better city. It was just before 10am on a Sunday when I witnessed a homeless man do an explosive poo in front of the National Music Centre. The police arrived swiftly to arrest him Read more…
Alberta used to be part of the Northwest Territories so paintings of NWT governors still hang on the walls of Alberta’s Legislature. Its main interior architectural oddity is a water fountain installed to celebrate the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. Its sound echoes around the walls of the rotunda until Read more…
Edmonton‘s Royal Alberta Museum is world-class, but I fault them for not offering student pricing or honoring nationally-recognized cultural volunteers. While the quality of their exhibits is top-notch, their choice of display items is questionable. For example, there were fish in the bug gallery and the transportation exhibit failed to Read more…
There are railway crossings, water slides, and rollercoasters in West Edmonton Mall. It’s purported to be the largest shopping mall in the world until 2004 and claims to be the largest in North America. However, conflicting sources cite the Mall of America in Minneapolis as the largest. Regardless, Edmonton definitely Read more…
Blatchford Field in Edmonton was an active airport until 2013. Today, it’s being redeveloped into low-density housing. The aviation museum is mostly home to military and search and rescue aircraft, with only a few commercial aircraft in its collection. Some of the exhibits, like the iconic Hawker Hurricane, are working Read more…
A good school, not a great school. Edmonton‘s largest university consistently ranks in the top ten of Maclean’s university rankings year after year in multiple categories but never manages to break into the top three. It’s located in the capital of a province with decent economic activity, excellent engineering, and Read more…
I didn’t have high hopes for seeing fine works of art in Edmonton other than the obligatory Group of Seven and some other landscapes from the Rocky Mountains. I was right. What I didn’t expect was for the art to attack more than my sight. The scent gallery exploits one Read more…
Edmonton has two claims to fame: being the aerodrome of freedom during WWII and the northernmost metropolis in North America. The Alberta Aviation museum has more information on the former and the Royal Alberta Museum on the latter. Apart from that, it’s a city full of boring NPCs from the Read more…
Universities are a public good, even more so when they run museums with free admission. Yale University runs the Yale Center for British Art, which houses the largest collection of British art anywhere in the world outside of the UK. Visitors are greeted by friendly and helpful staff in a Read more…