pedestrian unfriendliness & stocking stuffer tips

Mystery sister and I went for a walk the other day. I am always a bit wary to go for strolls in this city, as it has always seemed a little pedestrian unfriendly unless of course you are walking around a park where there are no vehicles. Not wanting to take too many chances with our lives... mystery sister and I stuck to quieter streets with less traffic. We garnered a few strange glances from drivers here and there, but since I was sporting my camera bag and mystery sister was leafing through a little mapbook of Calgary we assumed that they just thought we were tourists looking to get to know the real cowtown.

As we neared Kensington I came across a rather amusing sign on one streetcorner. "Elderly Pedestrians" the sign warned...

Again I will state that my pedestrian exploits in this city have always had a less than warm reception by motorists. It becomes very helpful to have experience in defensive cross-walking when venturing outdoors. Thankfully, the city seems to recognize this, and has responded by posting such helpful signs as we see here.

Luckily, mystery sister and I were able to make our way relatively unscathed. We stopped at the Oolong Tea House, which shortly after our arrival became very busy (apparently due to some recent newspaper article).


As you can see in the following pic, teas make great stocking stuffers. I would have to agree, having always been more of a tea person than coffee.

*Side note* I have recently discovered that I tend to connect the smell of certain coffees with the smell of cigarettes... Twice now I have stormed into the kitchen ready to complain to my sister about the smell of cigarette smoke coming from the upstairs tenants only to find her calmly sitting at the kitchen table with her cup of coffee in hand... the coffee being the source of the stench I find so offensive.


You can see mystery sister lurking off in the distance. She is the one dressed entirely in earth tones.


Our walk ended in the late afternoon, after browsing through the second hand book store and various other little shops. We returned home via the LRT to our respective final exam studying and research paper/essay writing. And so the educational journey continues.