SNOW, HOT SPRINGS AND HIGH TEA

We awoke to snow this morning, and a cold and slippery trek through campus to the dining hall.  Oy vey!  We eat on the 4th floor with a grand view to the mountains but today our grand view was of snow and more snow, and not a mountain visible beyond it.  Very dense, but such big gentle flakes it looked like a Hollywood movie set and called to mind Bing Crosby.

View out my window

My physicist had the afternoon free, so we drove up (and we do mean up) to the hot springs and, as the wind ratcheted up, the snow turned more sleet-like, and Catbird was grateful for all her driving experience on winter roads.  

 Parking Lot at the Hot Springs

In the hot springs, we could turn our faces to the sky, but couldn't open our eyes because the snow was so sharp and wind-driven.  It was like getting an ice facial.  Water temperature was 102F; air temperature was about 30.  So sometimes the fog and snow made it impossible to see the other side of the small pool.  Needless to say, one stayed as submerged as possible.

View of the Springs from above

For about a minute after our soak, it looked like it would clear up and we could take the gondola up to the peak of Sulphur Mountain. But when we got back to the car, we had 2+ inches of snow to dust off (after only an hour!) and more coming down, so cooler heads prevailed. 


Coming down the winding, steep road from the springs, Catbird drove very slowly, and pulled over to let two cars pass.   Within minutes, we came upon one of the cars that had just passed us, teetering over a steep embankment with one wheel in the air.  We didn't wish them harm, but did feel vindicated for our caution.  It was really treacherous.


Down from the mountain we decided to warm up with high tea at the beautiful Banff Springs Hotel, built in 1877. We paid six bucks to park at the foot of the hotel and slipped and skidded our way up the as-yet-unscraped sidewalk, full of expectations of cucumber sandwiches and petit fours and prissy service.   Imagine our shock, then, to be told that they had stopped serving tea at 4 p.m. 

I always thought 4 p.m. was the prime hour for tea so I looked it up:  Wikipedia tells us that afternoon tea is served between 3 and 5, and high tea between 4 and 6, so WTF Banff Springs Hotel?

Redrum?

We wandered through the hotel (trying to get our $6 worth of parking) and consoled ourselves with memory of afternoon tea taken at St. James above Fortnum & Mason on our honeymoon.  And, after my physicist checked out the menu from the closed tea-room, we consoled ourselves with the 90 bucks we saved by arriving after 4.

We came back to our room and made tea in the coffee maker; but it wasn't the same.  No petit fours.