Canada

Five years ago, we were living in Alberta. To get our permanent residence cards, we had to cross the border with the USA and come back again. Our way home went through so many beautiful places, but one place I will never forget is Banff, a town in Alberta. It's a small resort town located within Banff National Park. We heard about this place many times from our friends in Edmonton. "You didn't see Banff yet?" they usually asked. We decided to stay in a hotel for two days and one night. It was a very good hotel with nice mountains view from our balcony.

The most beautiful things you can see in Banff, are the Rocky Mountains and some amazing lakes. When we came to Lake Louise I stopped breathing! It was the most amazing view I have ever seen! It was a cloudy day, and the lake was marine green, but usually it's the color of turquoise. The lake was surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, looking very powerful and huge, and I felt myself tiny tiny… A lot of pine trees make the mountains green at the bottom, but at the top is snow and ice. The air was so fresh, like cold water. It was in October, and the rain was started, so unfortunately, we couldn’t stay longer.

When we came back to the hotel, I found a brochure in a nightstand drawer. It said, "Welcome to Bear Land!" It was instructions for what to do if you meet a bear. Actually later, I saw the back of one bear from the car. The bear had totally black fur, which surprised me. My husband didn't believe me, but I know what I saw.

It was just two beautiful days in Banff, but I still hope to come back to Alberta one day.