So I arrived at the airport, and she came to greet me and together I came to visit her place. To my surprise, she is currently staying in a hotel! she didn’t go into much details, but she said that she has often to move through the whole region of Alberta, so she showed me a small book saying that is her “personal bible” about all the best Calgary Hotels Canada (forgot to say that we met in Calgary).

I found the city very attractive, even if of course during winter must be a bit worse, because of the rigid climate. But during summer it was really wonderful, with lots of green areas, flowers, and so on. I would love to go working abroad too one day, if I was sure to end in such wonderful places…!

We started early in the morning since was a sunny day, to avoid traffic. It wasn’t enough unfortunately thanks to italian very insufficient highway system, we had to wait 3h before arriving there (usually we can drive there without any traffic, in 1h and 30min!).

There was so many people, and the shops were open even if was Sunday, as often happens. We stopped by a nearby ice-cream shop to get a ice-cream cup, since we remember that they make very good one, and indeed! was delicious…!

We went a bit to the seaside even if was still too cold to swim, but still we engaged with some people in a beach-volley match. In the late evening we came back, because we ran out of money to spend so we decided to go back home and have a dinner in-house, rather than going out in one of those restaurant which serve tasteful fish food…. sigh ;-(

Overall though, was a very nice trip and a good way to spend our last sunny sunday.

Aside from shopping, you can also enjoy mini-golf courses, an amusement park, a casino, a man-made lake, a water park and more! You can also join Edmonton’s local crowd at Whyte Avenue district. You should also visit Fort Edmonton Park and the Alberta Legislature Building. Do not forget to attend the city’s Klondike Days festival!

Edmonton hotels are plenty around; there are many places to choose from where you can stay for the night. There are many hostels, campgrounds, vacation home rentals, bed and breakfasts, hotels, and motels. Examples are Devon, Stony Plain, Sherwood Park, etc.

Like accommodations, transportation is also a breeze at Edmonton. You can travel around through vehicle rentals, trains, taxis, stations and terminals, specialty transportation, shuttle services, public transit, motor coaches, limousines, helicopters, bus rentals, etc. for a super convenient Edmonton, Canada visit, have things planned ahead and try booking lodgings and transportations online.

Indeed, as soon as I arrived there and parked my car in the spacious parking place in the “Rifugio Lagdei” (one of the many starting points for excursions), I was completely astonished. The park is located in the south of Parma, about 50-60km from it. The best way to reach it in my opinion is to take the highway of the “Cisa” (Highway A15 Parma-La Spezia) , but you can take a look for complete directions here.

this is the view you get on your arrival to Lagdei

a curious fountain made with a giant rock with a small lizard carved into the stone

On Lagdei there is a big wooden bridge that goes all around the perimeter of the starting point, which is really huge. Along the path there are various signs explaining the historical events that leads to the creation of this place. It is both relaxing and very interesting.

the wooden path

If you don’t mind a short walking, about 1h, you can climb up from Lagdei to the lake called “Lago Santo” (Holy Lake) which offers really a spectacular sight, just take a look at the picture below:

wonderful, isn’t it? another option, is to start from the point of Lagoni, and take a different path that leads you up to 1400m on sea level, until you reach another lake called “Lago Scuro” (Dark Lake). This one is longer, but offers more possibilities to explore several places in one trip.

this curious hole was in a big rock nearby the path

here it is, the Lago Scuro in all its splendour!

The latest 2 pictures below are taken from the starting point of Lagoni. The cool thing is that both Lagdei and Lagoni are easily reachable with car, even during winter, so you can start walking straight into the park.

a beautiful view of Lagoni

another picture of Lagoni

All in all, I really recommend to visit this natural park if you have the chance. It will be a travel to remember for sure! Ah, was about to forget: inside the park there are over 150km of cycling paths for mountain-bikes, all well-signaled. So if you like trekking, this is a very good place!

You could wonder how I found out about that website, since it’s from UK, while I currently am living in Italy? it’s because the website has also an interesting international section, indeed I found it through a google search, while looking for parking fees on my trip in the Red Sea a few years ago, when I took the airplane from Milan – airport of Malpensa.

Without doubts this is one of the times when I am very grateful that internet and online booking exist: saving yourself stress and time is really important to start a new trip with the right foot!