Amanda Connolly

One of the things I’ve learned since moving to Calgary is to take the little pleasures as they come. The weather here is very bipolar- one day it’s 15 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, and the next you get a dump of snow and freezing rain. On the bright side, most of the gross weather days also have a cloudless, clear blue sky, so it all evens out in the end- even if Calgary refuses to salt the sidewalks. I’ve wiped out a couple of times, since one snowfall tends to melt then freeze again then get covered over by a fresh layer of snow, until it melts completely and the whole cycle begins again. Who knew de-iced sidewalks were a novelty?

Despite the, at times, treacherous nature of the city sidewalks, there’s nothing better than getting out and about when the weather gives us a break. Today was the first time in about two weeks that it’s been above zero and when Calgary does gorgeous weather, it DOES gorgeous weather. Clear sky, plus 15, and plenty of seats open on patios. Because I work Friday-Tuesday, my ‘weekend’ leaves most grocery stores and cafes way less crowded than they would be on the real-world weekend. Today I went for a walk to my favourite bookstore near 17th Avenue (hands-down, the best neighbourhood I’ve been in yet) to interview the manager for my next Avenue Magazine blog. I bought a book while there and wandered over to my favourite cafe. I had planned to sit inside to read but it was packed, which forced me to find the little chairs they had lined outside along the sidewalk.

The quaint little green tables and rickety chairs reminded me of the ones strewn about in the Jardin du Luxembourg and I spent the afternoon people-watching and enjoying my new book.

Another cool thing about Calgary is the food truck scene. Coming from Toronto, where we lack pretty much any food trucks other than the ones selling fries and hot dogs, this is a huge novelty to me and I’m really excited to try them out. They’re just starting to come out of hibernation and the group YYC Food Trucks, which coordinates their social media presence, arranged a sort of ‘warm up’ food truck party. Four or five of them parked in one lot and everyone came to take their pick.

There was everything from jambalaya and Cajun food (above) to Italian calzones, Greek yogurt and gelato. A few cops and paramedics even stopped by for a bite! Being the gelato fiend that I am, I went for the cappuccino and cherry flavours from Fiasco Gelato. The cappuccino was a little bland but the cherry was fantastic and I’ll definitely be hitting them up again over the summer.

Final thing- I came across this little quote online and think it’s just fantastic. One of the girls I met while travelling last summer shared it, so I’m sharing it with you in the spirit of this ‘food for thought’ post.