Edmonton

 

We spent yesterday and today at West Edmonton Mall. When we first arrived yesterday morning, we were so overwhelmed. The mall is HUGE! I cannot even begin to describe how massive it is. It's only two floors, with a main strip on each floor, but then lots of extra side streets. It was so easy to get lost and confused. We basically spent the first morning in awe, not much shopping was done. We had come from the wilderness of national parks into the largest mall of North America! A very big change!! The first day, Dad was very successful with his shopping. Mum was quite successful, too. I, on the other hand, was off my game. Shocking, I know. My favourite North American store, Urban Outfitters, was actually disappointing this time round for me. I usually buy lots in there. We had lunch at Earl's Restaurant, which is a chain in Canada. I had the prawn pizza which was so good. After that, my shopping luck went up! I got my makeup from Sephora (pretty much the best makeup store on the planet), a top and jeans from Abercrombie + Fitch (the store with super hot male models in their ads), and a jumper from Gap (or should I say sweater?).

 

After leaving the mall yesterday, we went to Best Buy (an electronics store, outside of the mall). I got a CD of a Canadian band I've heard on the radio on our road trips, called Marianas Trench. They're really good. We didn't get back to our hotel til after 6pm! We skyped Nan and Luke, then went out to dinner at a bistro at a nearby hotel which was pretty nice.

 

Today we planned out our attack of the mall much better, and were more successful. Today is a Saturday, so the mall was much more packed with people. We each bought a few more things, and got some clothes for Luke, so he doesn't feel left out. We went to lunch at Moxie's Ball & Grill which was so nice. We had a big lunch, so we're just going to have a light dinner tonight. Before we left the mall, we went into Roger's, a Canadian mobile phone company, and finally set up my Canadian phone number!

 

Here are some photos of the interesting things in the mall. There was an ice skating rink, which originally I wanted to go on with Mum, but everyone on there was so good, and heaps of people stopped around the rink to watch. I didn't want to be the only person terrible at skating and holding on to the rail for dear life for the whole mall to see, so we passed on that one. These grandmas were getting into it though:

 

There was also a large water section in the middle of the mall. There was a ship (yes, a ship!) that you could climb aboard and explore, a sea lion enclosure that put on shows, and water bumper boats

 

 

 

Here's a photo of the waterpark, including a wave pool and a loop water slide! We didn't go for a dip though

 

 

We also checked out Galaxyland, the amusement park inside the mall. We didn't go on any rides, but it was so impressive, much bigger than we were expecting.

 

 

Tomorrow we're leaving Edmonton and flying into Vancouver, the city I'll be living in for the next 4 months!

 

Love,

Emily