Science and skating
Given that we had published a book about life satisfaction in different European countries and I had made with Annette Scherpenzeel several papers about this topic, I received an invitation for a conference on Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction which would take place in Prince George in Canada. We had been in Canada before around Montreal. Prince George was at the other side of Canada, across the Rocky Mountains. What was for me the most important motivation to accept this invitation, was that I saw a possibility to make a stop at the most famous place at that time for speed skating: Calgary. In the Olympic Oval in Calgary many new world records were realized. I didn´t want to go there for new records but I liked to skate at that famous place. The conference took place in the summer but the Oval was also open in the summer months. So it was decided that we would take a flight to Calgary and back and we would rent a car to go from Calgary to Prince George and back.
No skating in Calgary
Because of my plan to go to skate in Calgary, we had a lot of extra luggage to pack. Irmtraud also liked to have different clothes for warm days in Calgary and cold days in the Rocky Mountains. So we had a lot of luggage. Arriving in Calgary, being polite, I carried all luggage and I strained my back. It was so bad that I was not able to go skating. We only visited the Oval to see how it looked like. The stadium was impressive and I definitely wanted to skate there but not with this handicap.
Because of my plan to go to skate in Calgary, we had a lot of extra luggage to pack. Irmtraud also liked to have different clothes for warm days in Calgary and cold days in the Rocky Mountains. So we had a lot of luggage. Arriving in Calgary, being polite, I carried all luggage and I strained my back. It was so bad that I was not able to go skating. We only visited the Oval to see how it looked like. The stadium was impressive and I definitely wanted to skate there but not with this handicap.
Then we went around in this nice town and went on our trip to Prince George.
The route we had chosen passed by the Lake Louise. This is by far the most beautiful lake we have ever seen, even nicer than the lakes in Austria thanks to the color of the water and the high mountains around it. An Austrian citer player was hired to contribute to the nice Austrian atmosphere. |
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Prince George and back
After that pleasant stay we drove through the impressive Rocky Mountains passing by huge glaciers and nice lakes. Finally we arrived in Prince George with its brand new university. At the time we were there it was quite hot but in the winter it could be 30 degrees below zero. To be honest I don´t remember much of the conference. Sure, I met new people because it was the first time that I participated in a conference on life satisfaction. Later I published some papers with people of the conference and published in their journal on Social Indicators.
On the way back we stopped in the town Banff which was mainly a huge hotel constructed when the railway from west Canada to East Canada was constructed. The hotel was situated on an impressive Rock along a river with a waterfall. Staying there one day was enough because now I wanted to skate in Calgary although my back still was painful
After that pleasant stay we drove through the impressive Rocky Mountains passing by huge glaciers and nice lakes. Finally we arrived in Prince George with its brand new university. At the time we were there it was quite hot but in the winter it could be 30 degrees below zero. To be honest I don´t remember much of the conference. Sure, I met new people because it was the first time that I participated in a conference on life satisfaction. Later I published some papers with people of the conference and published in their journal on Social Indicators.
On the way back we stopped in the town Banff which was mainly a huge hotel constructed when the railway from west Canada to East Canada was constructed. The hotel was situated on an impressive Rock along a river with a waterfall. Staying there one day was enough because now I wanted to skate in Calgary although my back still was painful
Skating in the Olympic Oval
Back in Calgary I had made an appointment of the physio of the Canadian skating team for a massage before I would go skating but because I was so eager to skate I was there an hour before the appointment. We looked at the pictures of all the famous skaters but at some point in time I thought" I can just as well try if I have problems when I go skating·. So I tried it out and it went quite well as the video demonstrates.
Back in Calgary I had made an appointment of the physio of the Canadian skating team for a massage before I would go skating but because I was so eager to skate I was there an hour before the appointment. We looked at the pictures of all the famous skaters but at some point in time I thought" I can just as well try if I have problems when I go skating·. So I tried it out and it went quite well as the video demonstrates.
It was a nice experience although the skating was of course similar to skating in any other skating rinks in the world. Nevertheless I enjoyed it to have skated in this famous skating paradise. Outside it was 30 degrees above zero and inside 2 degrees below zero.
Later the physio made my muscles more relaxed again and then we finished our stay in Calgary with a nice visit to the city and its entertainment areas. This was the end of a very enjoyable trip.
Later the physio made my muscles more relaxed again and then we finished our stay in Calgary with a nice visit to the city and its entertainment areas. This was the end of a very enjoyable trip.