A sunny day and good weather for our visit to the University of Alberta Botanic Garden, a 240 acre “garden in a forest”. Inside the garden was the Aga Khan Garden, the northernmost Islamic inspired garden in the world. It was opened in 2018 and would have been a quiet serene place if not for the kids on field trip and a fairly sizeable crowd. There was also a Japanese garden but it was not laid out as well as many others we have visited. We walked into a tropical show house complete with heat and humidity and were reminded of why we leave Florida in the summer. After we ran an errand we decided to go to Hendrickson Bagels to get bagels before we leave the big town, a place recommended by our friend. Turned out it was in Sherwood, a bit east of Edmonton. After a 30 minute drive we arrived to find a sign on the door “Closed for Vacation until August 28". Driving back west into Edmonton we decided to give Duchess Bakery another chance, this time after a phone call verifying that it was open. We bought some goodies and then ate lunch a few doors down at Tiramisu Bistro which was good.
We visited downtown Edmonton and took a tour of the Legislative Building, a beautiful Beaux Arts style building built from 1907 to 1913. The tour guide was very informative. One thing he informed us was that any item that a legislator may use while debating on the floor of the chamber is preserved in the Capitol Library. One legislator back in the 1960's used a hamburger to make a point and the burger is still available in the library for anyone interested in seeing it. We were not. We then drove to the Duchess Bakery, a place visited by Prime Minister Trudeau when he comes to Alberta. We parked and got out of the car only to see a hand written sign on the door “Closed August 13". We then drove across the High-End Bridge to Whyte Avenue home to many restaurants and entertainment venues. We had lunch at Pho Sandwiches which was just ok. But the bubble teas at Gong Cha were good. We then drove by the house of our friends who reside in Edmonton but who unfortunately are currently on a three week vacation so we will miss them. We had planned to go to the Muttart Conservatory but it is closed for renovations. Likewise, Fort Edmonton Park was closed. We drove through Chinatown but it was fairly small and seemed to be mostly under road construction. After all, it is construction season, the only season other than winter! Speaking of winter, when we started in the morning, it was cloudy and cold, temp in the upper 40's. By afternoon, it was sunny and temp in the 70's.
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