Christmas at Lake Louise

You would think this was Tennessee, well, without the snow, because it is down-right cold here! But, this was taken at Lake Louise in Alberta.

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is one of the most beautiful places in the world. (Gingerbread and chocolate!)

Everything was so wonderful there.

And festive.

Nostalgic.

Magical.

Cold.

Delicious.

and friendly. It's absolutely perfect!

I fiddled with this shot in iPhoto. It was eerie to begin with, but now it's downright odd! Perhaps it's just me. Poor feller.

The night before we were leaving, we took a horse-drawn sleigh ride around the lake at sunset. Burrrrrr, it was absolutely freezing--probably below zero ƒ! And (I wish I had a photo), there was a lady who was wearing a mini-dress, stockings and high-heeled (stiletto) boots! Oh MY gosh, she had to be completely frozen by the time we made it back. The teenager had on long johns under his jeans, layered sweaters and a ski jacket with wool hat. He was frozen even before we made it to the end of the lake! By the time we were heading back, I was feeling the cold and I was dressed similarly to him with an additional lap blanket. I know we all were chilled to the bone by the time we made it back to the hotel.

But oh was it ever gorgeous.

The sun goes behind the mountain at the end of the lake around noon, so you get this blue tone over the area.

By sunset, it's almost all blue. Here's the frozen waterfall. Gorgeous.

The moon peeking through over the hotel as we returned was an amazing sight.

Again, by the time we did get back, we all were very, very cold.

The kid and I found a spot in the lounge and got some hot cocoa to warm us up. The teenager and hub wound up in the pub. Figures. This is the lap blanket I found at one of the shops on sale. It's made by Olena Zylak of lambs' wool with soft leather additions on the corners. Her pieces are so much fun! The salesperson was really up on her. Now I can see why.

I absolutely hated packing. We had almost three duffels of snow clothes, alone! Garsh. And I had used those space bags that you vacuum the air out of, so I had to call and get a vacuum. lol Crazy Americans, no?

And one last look at the lake from the room. (The teenager and hub circled.) (I forgot to mention the boys went dog sledding! --just an afterthought, sorry.)

After what happened Christmas Day on the flight from Amsterdam, we knew we were in for quite a ride once we arrived at the airport. We had already read up on the changes in security; so thank goodness we knew there were no carry ons allowed. I am so happy we were at a Canadian airport going into the U.S. rather than coming in from Europe! Oooof. The only "incident" was when we first arrived, four hours early and a United Airlines "attendant" felt a little power hungry. {RANT ON} We were getting our checked bag labels printed (we checked everything but my purse, the hub's lap top carrier and his camera bag. We were at one of those kiosk thingies (hate them!) when the woman came up to me and said "Your purse has to be 8X11 to take on board." Well, I'm sorry, but at 5 a.m., I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. So I picked up my purse to show her and asked nicely "Is this 8x11?" She replied, "I don't know, you tell me." At which time I replied, "NO, YOU tell ME." So she walks over to the counter, picks up a piece of paper and says "This is 8x11." Now, if I had been in the least bit awake, I would have replied, "NO, that is 8 1/2 by 11!" Biotch. Regardless, when we actually did get up to the counter where a REAL person was working, I asked her if my purse was ok. She looked at me, rolled her eyes and shook her head yes--as if to say "that woman is looney." ha. {RANT OFF} The rest of the airport was wonderful. Yes, even after the heightened security. They were very organized. You could only go through customs two hours before your flight. They would only let so many people through to customs at a time because it was so hot in the room. By the time we got in, it moved, they had set up fans and it was fine. Customs did their jobs effeciently, baggage was pretty self explanitory and we left on time. I never, in a million years, would have thought it would have gone so smoothly so closely after a terrorist attack attempt. Phew!

I brought one of the mini stollens home (a little old) which came with a recipe! You think I should give it a try? Perhaps 2010 is my year for baking???

Well, needless to say, Canada has become one of my favorite countries. It's beauty and it's people's friendliness is so exhilarating. We all fell in love.

xo
ro