Upcoming Story: Going to the ZooSiberian Tiger Burns Bright

Tyger, Tyger

Siberian Tiger Baikal at the Calgary Zoo. The 430 lbs. cat is a relatively new arrival at the zoo and is there to be part of the Species Survival Plan breeding programme.

Old Strathcona District: Maybe Not Exactly the Champs-Elysée but best part of Edmonton

photo copyright Travel Alberta

Old Strathcona District

“I thought it would be like the Champs-Elysée , but it's not.”

That was Andrea's first reaction when we arrived in Edmonton's Old Strathcona District.

The travel magazines promising theatres and cinemas, boutiques and bookstores, restaurants and sidewalk cafés had clearly captured Andrea's imagination – and she was most keen to go to what I had called “the best part of Edmonton.”

Clearly Andrea had failed to factor in two things: Edmonton is not Paris, and Old Strathcona's famous Whyte Avenue lacks the more temperate nature of those foreign climes. In fact, Whyte Avenue might have more in common with Toronto's Queen Street than it does with Paris' tree-lined avenue. But that's not all bad.

Royal Alberta Museum: Not So Many Dinosaurs but Lots of Fossils in This Corner of Edmonton

Royal Alberta Museum

First things first: There aren't many dinosaurs at the Royal Alberta Museum. For dinosaurs, you have to go to the RAM's sister museum – the Royal Tyrell Museum – in Drumheller. Or at least across the lane to Alberta's Government House, where the provincial cabinet meets.

What you will find at the RAM are galleries and exhibitions that are classic and contemporary, eternal and engaging at the same time.

The RAM's contrast with the Art Gallery of Alberta couldn't be more obvious:

The revamped AGA is cool and ultra-modern in an urban renewal setting. The museum, on the other hand, seems like an historic manor house that is part of the landscape. When you enter into the main hall, you half-expect a huge fireplace and a warm fire.

Art Gallery of Alberta: Guggenheim of the Prairies

Art Gallery of Alberta

“It looks like the Guggenheim,” Andrea exclaimed when she first caught a glimpse of the remodelled Art Gallery of Alberta. “They copied it."

And certainly anyone who sees what they've done with the re-imagined repository of art would have to admit that the architect was at least inspired by the curved lines and open spaces of the Guggenheim. And that's not a bad thing.

But the people at the AGA will also tell you that the architecture was inspired by the city itself – a rigid grid of streets and avenues, superimposed on the flowing lines of the river and valley.

It's an interesting synthesis. And wherever you go in the gallery, you feel like you're inside some synthetic jewel looking out to see the different facets of the city.

Well, at least you would on an clear day.