4 Ways To Spend Your Day In Calgary

This past weekend, for the first time in a long time, my girlfriend and I had the same day off. At first we were thinking about trying for a picnic on Prince's Island Park, but then the weather gods remembered that this was Calgary and the sky promptly began to vomit snow (Yay, Spring!). So, now we had to plan a fun and relaxing way to spend our day off together that involved staying inside. We ended up going to the Glenbow Museum, but there were a few runners-up.

#1. Glenbow Museum: The nice thing about the Glenbow is that it has something for everyone. For my girlfriend, there are stunning collections of Modernist Art and Historical Art that date from the 18th century all the way up to the 1980s. For myself, there is Warriors: A Global Journey Through Five Centuries. From Maoris and Samurai to Medieval Europeans, it's an exhibit that details all the cool weapons, armour, and tactics that humans have employed to kick each other's ass throughout the ages.

#2. Telus World of Science: You know what's cool? Looking at dead people doing fun things with no skin on! Also, science. Science is cool too, I guess. But, for the duration of the month, the Body Worlds and the Brain exhibit is definitely the main draw for this science center. The exhibit features over 200 authentic human specimens including whole-body Plastinates, organs and translucent body slices; it also features a section on the inner workings of the human brain that highlights some of the latest findings in brain development, neuroscience, function and disease.

#3. The Art Gallery Of Calgary: The Art Gallery of Calgary is always fun to check out because it's always doing something contemporary. The exhibition currently running explores concepts of Masculinity in Sports. Also, their Gift Shop kinda kicks ass. It's filled with cool little pieces created by contemporary artists; there's hand-crafted jewellery, fashion accessories, ceramics and glass - all of it with a focus on contemporary design and quality craftsmanship.

#4. Fort Calgary: Looking out the window at the lovely spring blizzard we're having today, I can't help but wonder who decided to build a city here in the first place. I mean, who was the guy who spent a winter here and said to himself "Good Lord, that winter was long and awful. It was so cold I lost some of my favourite extremities! This is the perfect spot for a city! I can't WAIT to spend the rest of my life here!" Well, okay maybe it didn't go quite like that. At any rate, the answer to that question, as well as many others about the history of Calgary, can be found at Fort Calgary. It's well done, the location is easily accessible, there's free parking, and it's a surprising amount of fun. (Also, it was this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thompson_%28explorer%29).