Alberta's provincial capital,
EDMONTON
is among Canada's most northerly
cities, and at times - notably in
the teeth of its bitter winters - it
can seem a little too far north for
comfort. Situated above the waters
of the North Saskatchewan River,
whose park-filled valley winds below
the high-rises of downtown, the city
tries hard with its festivals,
parks, restaurants and urban-renewal
projects. With a downtown area that
still has the somewhat unfinished
feel of a frontier town, however,
it's perhaps appropriate that the
premier attraction for the vast
majority of visitors is a shopping
centre, the infamous
West
Edmonton Mall . This certainly
has curiosity value, but not really
enough to merit a special journey
here. Downtown has a handful of
modest sights, though most enjoyment
in the city is to be had in
Old
Strathcona , a rejuvenated
"historic" district south
of the North Saskatchewan River
filled with heritage buildings,
modest museums and plenty of eating
and drinking venues. Edmonton lacks
the big set-piece museums of Calgary
and Vancouver, but its
Space and
Science Centre is a sight within
a whisker of the first rank.
The telephone code for Edmonton and
Northern Alberta is tel 780.
The City
of Edmonton
Edmonton feels oddly dispersed,
even in the six-block downtown
area around Sir Winston Churchill
Square and along the main
east-west drag, Jasper Avenue
(101st Ave). Bounded to the south
by the North Saskatchewan River,
this grid...
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