Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Trip to North Carolina

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Been quite late getting this update out, but here it is. After traveling to Atlanta for a conference in the summer, I visited my uncle in nearby North Carolina. He lives near the small city of Asheville.

Many old buildings in Asheville were vacant for some time, but a large presence of artisans has generated enough interest to restore and maintain many of them. This particular building is notable for actually having curved glass on the corner.

Another part of Asheville’s active downtown.

My uncle and I rented a boat on a nearby lake.

Many people enjoy the lake. The homes on the lake have boat houses with doors that look like garage doors that open to the water.

Many mountain tops at different distances are visible from Asheville.

For a few more photos, please check out my gallery.

Trip to Atlanta

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

During the summer, I traveled to Atlanta for the final academic conference of my M.Sc.

One of the sights to see in this city is CNN. The tour was a bit short, but did include live viewing of news anchors while on the air, as well as reporters collecting news from various sources.

I also saw the World of Coca Cola, and got plenty of souvenirs! The highlight of this tour was the tasting of dozens of Coca-Cola products from around the world. Some are quite delicious, particularly the foreign Fanta flavours.

This lion at the Atlanta Zoo seems quite relaxed, almost as if posing for my photo!

Atlanta has the beautiful Botanical Gardens with lots of great sights to see inside and out. This photo here almost seems like it could be a musical instrument of some sort.

Atlanta is also known for Martin Luther King Jr. There’s a national park set up in his honour across the street from the church where he preached.

I have many more photos from Atlanta in my gallery!

 

July Hike in Kananaskis Country, Alberta

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

In July, I went hiking in Kananaskis Country with my friends.

The scenery was beautiful with large rock faces and trees in the valleys, seemingly clinging to nothing on the rock.

Even though we weren’t super high up in the sky, clean white snow was still around in patches. Thankfully, it wasn’t too cold as most of Alberta was pretty much into its summer by the end of July.

About 3/4 of the way, there was a lake with more mountains away in the distance.

The view from the top!

A clear trail marks the best way through the mountains on this long, but beautiful hike.

Near the beginning of the trail, a stream runs though. There were actually several streams. After over 6 hours of hiking, we were anxious to find the parking lot again on the way back, but this is what we kept seeing instead!

After the hike, we had dinner in Canmore before returning to Calgary. I look forward to more hikes again next year after Calgary’s 9-month winter is done for another year again!

 

Family Visit 2011 (Drumheller, AB)

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

While my family visited for my university convocation, we took a side trip to Drumheller.

Until you are near the town, it seems like a normal highway. Then, the badlands appear, and you’re there.

This is the view of Drumheller from inside the world’s largest dinosaur.

The dinosaur bones are quite fascinating to see in person at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. It’s hard to tell from this photo, but this display was quite large. I was only as tall as the legs, if that.

This display showed a neat little bird.

Another one of Drumheller’s attractions is Little Church. It is designated as an actual place of worship that seats six at a time. At one time, it had stained glass windows and a brass bell according to the town web site.

Check out my gallery for more photos of Drumheller.

 

Family Visit 2011 (Banff & Lake Louise)

Monday, July 11th, 2011

In June, I officially completed my Master of Science in Computer Science at the University of Calgary. To mark this occasion, my family came out from New Brunswick (by car) and North Carolina to Calgary.

This post is my first in a series. I haven’t had much time to update my blog yet this year, but I plan to do this more frequently since I now have quite a growing backlog of photos to go through!

Our first trip outside to Calgary was of course to Banff and Lake Louise. This beautiful vista is a popular photo spot on the way to Banff.

My parents.

Beautiful downtown Banff boasts an impressive mountain backdrop.

My mom and my uncle.

The Banff Springs Hotel.

Me with my family in front of Lake Louise. There is still some ice covering the lake, but most of it is gone.

Me and my uncle.

A bird was seemingly quite eager to pose for photos. What else can you do besides relax beside Lake Louise?

View more photos in the gallery. Check back soon for more summer blog updates.

 

Video: New York City

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

In addition to my photo galleries, I made a video for New York City which includes video clips that I took. Mixed in are some photos that you may have already seen if you followed my previous blog posts. Enjoy!

Central Park – New York City (7 of 7)

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

On my last full day in New York, I went to Central Park.

When she was young, my mother had her picture taken near this Hans Christian Andersen monument. So I did the same!

A beautiful bridge spans part of the lake that I rowed in with my friend Roddy.

Many New Yorkers love to relax here, as tall buildings loom over in the distance.

Trees are everywhere and contrast sharply with the tall buildings that you can find everywhere else in New York City.

Pathways snake all through the park. Sadly, we only had time to see part of the park.

I stand in front of one of the lakes. As evening drew near, it got quite cold, and I was not wearing anything warm.

This concludes my photo highlights from my trip. Be sure to check out my gallery which contains all of my favourite photos.

Check back soon for a video I compiled from this trip as well that I am still working on.

Empire State Building & Brooklyn Bridge – New York City (6 of 7)

Monday, July 12th, 2010

The city is a sea of bright lights at night. This view is from the top of the Empire State Building.

Another view from the top of the Empire State Building.

Cars drive under Brooklyn Bridge. So many movies and TV shows set in New York include this bridge in some way.

We only walked across part of the bridge. Walking the entire distance takes quite a while!

That’s all for now. Be sure to check out my gallery!