Baseball Books and More: Canada Day Two

After a good night's sleep and a shower, I was ready to explore Calgary. I had a list of things that the internet told me to see. I saw those and so much more! Sheena and her oldest daughter Katherine joined me which was nice and allowed me to do much more than planned.

We started out by driving to the Calgary Library (Central branch) which was stunningly beautiful and also a very nice library. It was very bright and open and all the stacks were like a bookstore or museum.

Looking up from the main lobby area. The stairs are the wooden parts. It's hard to explain!

From the library we walked a couple blocks to Studio Bell, the National Music Centre. It's built around the King Edward where musicians come to Calgary to play. The museum was quite large and had many exhibits of various Canadian artists from over the years. Several displays were dedicated to musicians who are in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. I only knew a few names but it was still an interesting time. Though I didn't take any pictures.

Sheena and I

From there we headed to Sheena's church. They were hosting a prayer vigil that Sheena was the presiding Pastor for. Sheena's church is in the heart of downtown and has a congregation made up of all walks of life. The vigil was to share space in support of individuals on a local assistance program that the government has decided is unnecessary. I support the cause but I was excited to explore the church. Knox United Church was once Presbyterian but then the Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists merged into the United Church. The current building was built in 1912 and expanded in the 60's. The organ is the 2nd largest in Western Canada. When we arrived, the music director was practicing on it and it was beautiful. I even got to see the pipes from the back!

Katherine gave me a tour while Sheena set up for the vigil. Funny story... Katherine unlocked doors, showed me the room and then we moved on. Except at one door, she couldn't get the key out of the lock. We tried for a good ten minutes, yanking, jiggling, etc. Finally we found a screwdriver and I took the lock apart and voila, key was removed. Yes, I put the lock back together but we've alerted the caretaker that they probably should look at it! We attended the vigil and helped clean up and then we headed out.

The next stop was Prince's Island but on the way there, a couple streets were blocked off and there was some sort of festival thing happening so after we parked, we walked over to see what was happening. It was a parade of sorts for the Festival of Chariots which is a Hindu celebration. There was dancing and people holding a rope that pulled a large "chariot" carrying what we presume was the holy man. Lots and lots of people! Many dressed in their finest Hindu type clothing.

The parade actually went to Prince's Island where they were offering a free vegetarian feast to anyone who wanted (and was willing to stand in line). There were vendors and even a tent where you could go see the "deity". It was all quite fascinating.

The Chariot (the holy man is on the left in light blue)

We did also walk along the river on the island and saw a LOT of Canadian geese. And people. The Bow River was lovely. I will be canoeing on it on Tuesday!