Banff

Banff is an odd name. There is a Banff somewhere in Scotland that loaned its name to this place in Canada.
Well, it needs to be said: we love Canada and the Canadians. The people are genuinely friendly. There is a very positive attitude here. Maybe we should move up north? Today we drove south about an hour to Banff, the town we missed on our way here. As it turned out, it was a fortuitous arrangement. The town itself is a typical tourist trap. If you like shopping this is the place to visit, otherwise not. But the setting is spectacular. We went for tea at the fabled Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, an enormous baronial chateau. The views all around are breathtaking. Later we went to a very fine restaurant for a memorable meal. Again, the scenery is just out of this world (photos to come later). To top off our day of delights there happened to be a concert at the Banff Arts Center. This is an internationally renowned program that offers hundreds of concerts throughout the year. We heard a chamber music concert, the resident string quartet playing Beethoven and the Schubert String Quintet. The second cellist was from the Juilliard Quartet, if you please. It was an evening of exhilarating music making. The Schubert quintet is one of the most sublime works ever written. We were so fortunate to hear this program. As we drove back through the mountains in the long twilight it was still light out at 10:30 PM. We are about seven hundred miles north of KC.