Spent 3 days in this fascility for the Canadian National Taekwondo Tournament. Cooincidentally,…read morethere was also a Judo competition going on in the oval right beside us at the same time and the venue had no problem handling both events simultaneously. Impressive place. Would have been nice to have all the blinds open for some more natural ighting...but with them closed, this large building stayed nice and cool. Parking was a little confusing as we would up in a different lot on campus every day. Some required payment...others seemingly did not. Washroom were clean enough. Security staff were friendly and helpful.

The Olympic Oval was built specifically for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta…read more This facility is a 20 minute walk from my home, and until September 2010, I had never entered it's doors. In fact, prior to my first visit, I had to look up the direction. During a Tweetup (a gathering of twtter tweeps) in June 2010, it was my pleasure to meet a girl that has her sites set on racing the 500m distance in Speed Skating at the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Sochi. When she started to train in the fall of 2010 I asked if I could watch her practise. I had never watched speed skating, and was immediately hooked on the sport. My friend Alex trains with the Canadian National Team, and they are impressive to watch. The discipline that goes into each moment is inspiring. As for the facility - what an amazing venue. Can't beleive I have never been there before - my loss. There is an area displaying training gear, race info, etc., from those that have made their mark on this sport. Also impressive. The arena itself is amazing. The long-track speed skating ice holds an ice area for hockey games, and another ice area used for both short-track speed skating and skating lessons. (watched a group of small children taking skating lessons last week - all wearing speed-skating skates - it was adorable). Around the long-track, there is a running track. Beside the ice, there is an area that is used for track training. Permanent bleachers at both ends of the long-track, make it easy to watch atheletes train or race. There is a 2nd level, with a lounge (area with tables & chairs), that during practice times is a great area to watch from (found plug-in to feed my unending need for battery charging - phones, laptops, etc). There is another level which allows visitors to view the entire ice area in a unique way. Another great vantage point for snapping photos or shooting video. I have developed a respect for the atheletes that train in this facility. Have enjoyed watching university students learn the game of hockey. Have giggled watching kids learning to skate. And with every visit I learn more about the sport of speed skating. If you have never been, take the time to check it out sometime. Make sure to stop by the display area on the 2nd floor - it's worth the time. :)

I visited Prince's Island Park while on a work trip in Calgary. Wow. What a beautiful park. I went…read moreon a jog from downtown Calgary where my hotel was and it is so nice to have a large park so close to the city. I think there's ~50 acres of land with plenty of well-maintained walkways for walking, jogging, biking. This seems like a perfect place to go on a date, walk around a bit during a work break, read a book on the many places to sit there, or just walk/jog like I did. There is also a cafe located near the center in the park. Unfortunately it was closed when I visited but I heard it's good!

This beautiful, 50 acre"urban park" is found on the north side of downtown Calgary by the Eau…read moreClaire neighborhood and is a fantastic place to get out in nature - even though it's in such close proximity to the city. There are paved walking paths and gravel trails - all very well maintained. We saw lots of geese and ducks and butterflies too - it was surprisingly peaceful! I imagine this would be a great place for migratory bird watching when the time is right! Lots of articles call this park the "heart" of Calgary...it certainly is popular but I can see why. It's lovely - there's tons of flower gardens, some native bee habitats, and it's surrounded by the Bow river on all sides and even has a lagoon that you can ice skate on in winter. Calgary holds lots of festivals here. There are picnic areas and playgrounds and even a cute little cafe. Several bridges connect it to downtown Calgary and one of them connects you to the other more northern side as well. It's very walkable and easy to access - I'd definitely say it's handicap accessible as a good portion of the paths are paved and flat. There are lots of info signs dotted around the island as well. Definitely a must see when visiting the city! We loved it!

What a beautiful park to skate in the winter! Many Christmas lights up around the area, and rangers…read morehave lit fire pits all around for visitors to stop and warm up and enjoy all around the park area. Skating is free of bring your own skates. Can also rent gear by the hour. Charming and natural setting to enjoy a family skating night!

Wonderful park! We did a little bit of kayaking, took the train, and walked around the park a bit…read more It got pretty crowded as the day got a little later (it was on a Saturday). Calgary truly has some beautiful parks! Everything was clean and the workers at the kayak place were very nice.

Honestly, this was one of the most frustrating experiences I've had at VIVO…read more We had the court booked in advance through a league that regularly uses this facility, so this isn't a one-off visit. We've consistently run into issues with equipment setup here, and this night was easily the worst. We showed up expecting the court to be ready, and the volleyball net wasn't even set up. After asking for help, the staff member who came down brought equipment that clearly hadn't been checked. One of the posts had a snapped rope, and the net was completely tangled, which took a long time to rethread and fix. What really stood out was the lack of urgency and accountability. We were told this was the only net available, and then the staff member just left us there with no solution. Meanwhile, a full group of people who booked and paid for the court were stuck standing around trying to fix broken equipment themselves. I went back upstairs a second time to the front desk asking for help, either to find replacement equipment or another staff member who could actually assist. Eventually, I ended up going into their staff storage area myself as a customer, where I found multiple usable replacement posts sitting there the entire time. So the equipment was available, it just wasn't provided. By the time everything was finally set up, we were over a half hour into our booking and it threw off the entire night. At this point, it's not just frustrating, it's a pattern. For a facility that has repeat bookings from organized leagues, this level of disorganization and lack of preparation just isn't acceptable.

Absolutely horrible place to take your kids, they have a lack of cleanliness, or consideration of…read morewhatever your concern is. Your only option is to leave, with reimbursement of any kind. If you want to have an enjoyable day with your family, this is definitely not where to go.

Biking , walking paths. Picnic and park areas. Lovely in the fall. Beautiful and relaxinread more

North Glenmore Park is an idyllic oasis in the city overlooking the Glenmore Reservoir. This vast…read morecity park boasts numerous walking/biking paths, lots of picnicking areas, and a big, brightly coloured playground for the kids. There are lots of wide open fields, perfect for flinging a frisbee around. There's plenty of parking, and this park is also home to the Calgary Canoe Club. It's a great place in the city to escape the hectic pace and unwind. Unfortunately, as I am writing this, there is an extensive construction project at the entrance to the park. No big whoop once you're in, but one wonders if the urban sprawl might not be creeping into this great green space.

Barb Scott Park is a quaint park located in the middle of downtown Calgary. The park is rather…read moresmall and doesn't have many of your usual park features: trees, ponds, fountains, etc... but there is a very beautiful piece of interactive art that I recommend you see at night. (I posted a night time photo of the artwork alongside this review.) The park seemed well maintained but we were visiting Calgary in the winter so everything was blanketed in a layer of snow. I wouldn't recommend you go out of your way to visit this park but it is nice to have in the neighborhood. However, if you're a power-walker that's looking for a spot to get your steps in, this park is perfect for you! ;)

We came for Monday lunch at the clubhouse. We had a travelzoo deal for lunch for two. We had…read morecalamari for appetizer and the Canadian and an inglewood burger for entrees. The food wasn't too bad. My prime rib burger was a bit too done and some areas were a little burned, but my husband says the Montreal smoked meat sandwich was pretty good. The food I think was not bad and the service was pretty good.

We tried to go golfing here over the weekend. Attempted to call twice - there was no answer…read more So, we decided to just go there to see if we could get on. I've never been to this course, but when we pulled into the parking lot, we were greeted with about 20-30 parking spots reserved for "President", "Administrator", "Accountant", "Janitor", etc. Come on. Ridiculous. What happened to putting the customer first? It just smacks of a company that doesn't care about customers. They're only concerned about making sure that the admin assistant has a good parking spot. This may be a small detail, but set us off on the wrong foot. Then we went to the pro shop, and there was nobody behind the counter - seemingly nobody working there, We waited for at least 7 minutes until someone showed up. The guy was not too helpful with us, and he frankly didn't seem interested in helping us. Needless to say, we weren't able to get a decent tee time, and we opted to go to a different local course. So, I still have no idea what the course is like - all I know is they don't seem concerned about pleasing customers.

I attended a Roller Derby event at this venue recently and had never been here before. It appears…read moreto be a pretty large place but only one arena was open for non-ice activities. It's fairly easy to get to and the parking lot is large and free, as it should be. I was impressed at how clean the women's restroom was, although there weren't many stalls. I'm sure there must be other restrooms and I just didn't see them. I'm going to assume this arena has been around for a very long time, but it's been well kept as far as I can tell and would have no problem spending more time here to watch other events.

Nice, neat, and relaxing. We were at the Farmers market and looked up on parks nearby. I'm so glad…read morethat we went here. It was covered with snow but the walk way was clear of snow. You could walk upto the Bow and listen to the relaxing sound of water. This is not an off leash park. I met a few furry friends who were on leash, of course. Park is better than a mall, no doubt:)

A really nice park on the Calgary / Bow River pathway system. All season. Skating in the winter…read more People seem to like Kayaking here as well. I've seen several people on the bigger pond kayaking around. Always good for people walking, jogging, spending time with family, kayaking, and taking pictures. Lots of people walk their dogs here, and as an In the fall, the changing colours are lovely to see here. It goes quickly though, so make sure you get down there when the leaves start to turn as they won't wait for you. It's a good area to see birds too. Geese are here it seems all year round. I think there are other seasonal / migratory birds which pass through the area as well. White American Pelicans summer along this stretch of the river during the summer. I've seen whitetail deer in this area a number of times. It's highly probably that there are occasional coyotes in the area and so like in many Calgary parks, be watchful of your dog. It's a wonderful park if this is your area.

For those who are wondering about Nose Hill Park... it's a large park within the city (15 min drive…read moreaway) that covers 11 square kilometers! There are a LOT of trails up there which make it great for hiking and biking. I've gone multiple times this year and really enjoy it. There are also chances to see wildlife while up there (I've seen a coyote, but haven't seen the white tailed deer yet). It is also a great place to see the city from, and an amazing sunrise location! Super cool seeing it rise and light up the sky surrounding Calgary. Note that it typically is pretty windy up there.

When I first got to Calgary, I assumed Nose Hill Park would be like NYC's Central Park or Toronto's…read moreHigh Park in that you could easily walk into it. Sure, there might be certain entry gates, but they'd be easy to find. Nope! Not in Calgary, which is technically a walkable city, but has the soul of a highway interchange. The charming streets of Caglary's downtown have six lanes of one-way traffic, so of course there are several lanes of cars speeding around Nose Hill. There are quite a few pedestrian tunnels, just don't expect them to be easy to see with your eyeballs if you're in the area or think they'd be marked on Google Maps. Obviously, it's easy enough to get into the park. Lots of people manage it every day! If you have a car, if you get anywhere near the park you can enter any number of clearly marked parking lots. If you're on foot, however, you need to plan ahead in order to find a tunnel or an overpass. Don't assume there will be a way to enter the park or any sort of crosswalk. Once you've made it into the park, it's surprisingly lovely. There are gorgeous views of downtown, the Rockies on a clear day, and the surrounding farmland. Once you're in the park there's a ton of signage and clear paths. Plus, it's hard to get lost when you can see the whole city! Several of the parking lots offer toilet facilities and trash cans. It's interesting to see the grasses and wildflowers shift throughout the year. There's a surprising diversity of terrain for what appears at first glance to be a big hill. There are also historical sites within the park. There's a large off-leash dog area. If you're hoping to pet some stranger's dogs, alas, there is too much space and not enough dogs for it to not be a little weird. If you step off the trails, pay attention for poo and gopher holes. We're in Calgary, so the weather can turn at any moment. There are very few trees, so you'll be in the sun the whole time. Be prepared for it to be windy.