Wondering what to do with the kids on July 1st? There is lots to do in and around Calgary to celebrate Canada's birthday!

Heritage Park is having an old-fashioned Canada Day celebration with bands, a trick roper, family games and more! My family always enjoyed the park. I loved the exhibits and the historical details in the houses and the school, the kids loved the blacksmith shop and the ice cream!!

Celebrate Canada's birthday with family and friends on Prince's Island Park July 1st, from noon to 6 p.m. The Island will be alive with music, live entertainment, food, and festivities. Three stages will be jam packed with live music and entertainment for all ages and interests. In the evening at Olympic Plaza there will be more food, entertainment and fireworks -- a great ending to another fantastic birthday celebration!

Fort Calgary is having a full-day celebration with a free pancake breakfast, live stage entertainment, petting zoo, pony rides, games, crafts, jump houses, and much more.

Spruce Meadows is hosting the Canada One Tournament. Watching the horses jump is exciting, and there is lots of space to wander around, get a bite to eat and visit the exhibits.

Of course, any day is a good day to visit the Calgary Zoo. Everytime we visit the Zoo, there is something different to see. When we were there in May, it must have been mating season for the peacocks as every time we turned around there was another marvellous display of tail feathers. You can attend some of the daily scheduled programs for various animals, such as the gorillas and the elephants, or just wander around. Who knows? You might see Zola the Break Dancing Gorilla!

For a list of other Canada Day events in Calgary, go to Calgary Canada Day.

A little further afield, DeWinton is hosting the annual DeWinton Station Garden Railway Annual Exhibit, from 10:00 - 6:00. It will feature G scale indoor and outdoor layout, Ol' Smoky rides, Panpipe musician Nikolai and Kazoo Facepainters.

Even further afield, Banff is hosting a Canada Day celebration complete with pancake breakfast, parade, native dancing and a magic show among other things. So if a trip to the mountains is in your future, this would be a great way to spend the day. Best of all, entry into Banff National Park is free on Canada Day, according to their webpage.

If you would like to share some of Canada's fascinating history with your kids and the reason for all the celebrating, why not check out some of the wonderful books at the library? Just don't come on July 1st -we're closed so staff can celebrate the day!

Here are just a couple of possibilities.

Denise and Tim were taking the 4:30 am convoy to Abu Simbel, so we’d said our farewells the night before; nice travelling companions. We had opted for the 11:00 am convoy so made our way rather more leisurely. We went in a Kia SUV, driver but no guide. At the rendezvous point a soldier ran a mirror on wheels under the car (to check for explosives?) and the car’s license plate was recorded, although we weren’t asked for our passports. There were 6 vehicles in the convoy (all foreigners need to drive in the convoy, unless they fly to Abu Simbel). Several police/army checks, or slow-downs before we left Aswan, then some road works then open road. There was a surprising amount of “local” traffic. It’s 280 km to Abu Simbel and it took under 3 hours.

We were dropped off at our hotel first: a small venture by the Nubian singer-owner to encourage local culture and enterprise. His house has 5 guest rooms, all built in the local style (dome roofs and arched passageways, roof terrace). His land goes from the road to the edge of Lake Nasser and they grow their own produce. We rested and had lunch (Nile perch and chicken plus various side dishes). Our driver was waiting for us at 3:30 to take in the Temples when it was a bit cooler. 15 minute drive to the ticket office, then another 20 minute walk around the complex hill (all created on top of the original location) and there they were: the massive 4 statues of Ramses II and his temple to Ra (Sun Temple), with the smaller temple he built to his “beloved wife” Nefatari and the goddess Hathor. Ramses’s temple is remarkable in its state of preservation and all the side chambers which we hadn’t seen before, but, Egyptologists that we are, we all agreed that the actual carvings were a lot cruder than others we’d seen! The scenes are dominated by Ramses smiting his foes!

Next door the scenes are gentler but no less moving. Strictly speaking there is no photography inside but photos were taken; baksheesh was exchanged!

The booth selling Sound and Light tickets opened at 6 pm and the show was at 7 pm, so there wasn’t time to go back to the hotel. We enjoyed the visitors’ centre information about saving and moving the temples and then went back to the temples. Due to the large number of French tourists (in a boat up from Aswan, which must be a lovely way to go) we had a headset for the English version, which was read by English actors and was perfect, if over-the-top!). In 35 minutes it told the story both of saving the temples and their building by Ramses – lots of dramatic music and lights – a good show! We were told it was the best of all the ones that are offered at every destination. Anna’s headset didn’t work immediately and in compensation she was given a disk of what we were told were pictures of the temple, but sadly just turned out to be a promo disk of all the Sound and Light shows!

Back to the hotel for a lovely tagine dinner…and so to bed.

Gerry

Check out these great guidebooks for Egypt!

We have recently started canoeing with our seven year old daughter. Here are a couple of the places that we have discovered and love to visit.

Forget-me-not pond is west of Bragg Creek in Kananaskis Country on Highway 66. This beautiful site has picnic tables and fire pits. It is a great place to canoe and also has an easy walk around the pond.

Wedge Pond is approximately 70 kilometres west of Calgary on Highway 40.There is fishing as well as canoeing. There are picnic tables here as well and, again, it is an easy walk around the pond.

For more ideas on where to go and what to see close to Calgary, check out Day Trips from Calgary by Bill Corbett. And why not take along a copy of the Alberta Nature Guide if you're strolling in the country.

Patti

Nile Cruise - Day 5 – May 10

Sight-seeing day: mini bus to the High Aswan Dam – very impressive, past the much smaller one built by the Brits variously between 1900 and the 1920s; not high enough to stop a 40 meter flood, so a larger one had to be built. Big Egyptian-Soviet monument; the most military we’ve seen – the High Dam is regarded as a military installation and appropriately guarded (tanks, Hummers, AKs). Then we took a small motor boat to the island of Agilika, where the lovely Temple of Philae was moved to. This whole area (Nubia) was vastly affected by the creation of Lake Nasser and by the movement of the Egyptian temples to higher ground in advance of the waters. Dozens of temples were saved by the joint efforts of UNESCO and many (40?) countries who worked from the early 1960s to 1971 when the lake reached full depth. The temples were cut onto blocks, each block numbered, a new higher place was found for them – preferably in a comparable location, then they were moved block by block until they look like they had been built there – remarkable!

The Temple of Philae is maybe smaller than many, but in very good condition and quite lovely. Although it’s late period (mostly Roman), during the move they found remains of much earlier temples underneath, showing it had been an important place for worship for many thousands of years. Also interesting, there is a smallish side temple built by Hadrian, completely in the Egyptian style – as opposed to all the many triumphal arches built across the empire by other Emperors – Libya etc. – which are all entirely Roman. Presumably this appreciation of the local architecture shows that the Romans held the Egyptian traditions in some esteem.

Then back to the boat for lunch and a rest. We five decided we wanted to see the “unfinished obelisk” in situ in the red marble quarry, where a fault was noticed before it was completed. Then on to the wonderful Nubian Museum, recipient of the Aga Khan’s architecture award: a museum which tells the story of Nubian culture using photos from late 19^th century/early 20^th century excavations as well as from the 1960s when archeologists struggled to document village life and lesser temples before they were lost to Lake Nasser. 100,000 Nubians were displaced by the waters. In addition to this more contemporary history, Nubians figured prominently in Egyptian history – both as foes (and salves), as a source of gold and ivory, and briefly as pharaohs (for 100 years). You can plainly differentiate between various vanquished foes on the walls of the temples, through hair, nose size and other details.

Back to the boat and we walked along the cornice for a bit: saw a group of very proud, giggly young women celebrating their university graduation (grad caps on top of burqas!)

Our last dinner culminated with the crew presenting us with a huge pink cake and music and dancing again – very nice!

Gerry

No recipe! No measuring! No cooked custard! No eggs! I whipped up a beautiful batch of dazzling pink rhubarb ice cream and here is how it played out. First, it was time to harvest the hearty rhubarb stalks taking over my vegetable patch, so I cut some down and hopefully more will grow. Gave them a wash, a chop and then placed them into a pot to simmer with some sugar and a splash of water. The rhubarb quickly boiled down to a thick, pastey mush which I then pureed and enhanced with natural vanilla extract and some freshly ground cinnamon. Added in some light cream and milk and a pinch of salt to round out the flavours. Tossed in some raspberries. Into the fridge for an overnight chill before churning. A spin in my Cuisinart ice cream maker quickly transformed a cold slurry into a thick, luscious, creamy gelato. Some freezer time firmed things up just right. Served it up in a vintage glass pedestal cup. Success!!

That's all there is to it, really. How much sugar? Up to you. Rhubarb is nasty without it, so don't be shocked when you taste your pre-churned mixture and find you need lots. Use equal amounts of milk and cream. If you feel comfortable with some more guidance, try these proportions:

Rhubarb Raspberry Ice Cream

4 stalks of rhubarb, about 1.25 pounds, cut into 1- inch pieces; 1 cup water; 3/4 cup sugar; 3 whole green cardamom pods, cracked; 1 cup milk; 1 cup table cream, 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract; pinch of salt; 3/4 cup raspberries, frozen or fresh.

Place your rhubarb pieces, water, sugar and cardamom pods in a saucepan and cook until rhubarb breaks down and turns soft and mushy. Take off the heat and remove the cardamom pods and any seeds that may have escaped. Let cool and puree. In a mixing bowl combine the pureed rhubarb, milk, cream, cinnamon, vanilla and pinch of salt. Mix well and taste for sweetness. Add more sugar if the mixture seems too tart. Chill in the fridge overnight. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Add the raspberries about half way through the churning process, when the ice cream is still soft. Makes about 2 litres.

Rhubarb may not be your go-to flavour for ice cream at the moment but once you get your hot little hands on this cool, rose-toned treat you will effortlessly succumb to its charms.

Keep cool with more chilled treats: