It is just as well for us that the nature of fashion takes one of the best outdoor regions in the world and turns them into hip-happening places to go, full of small town wonders that make you feel like you are in a shrunken (but awesome) metropolis - think St Barts. Wonderful hubby treated me, and himself of course, to a luxury weekend in the Canadian Rockies. I expected beautiful scenery and was not disappointed, and also luxury accomodation (will always and forever love Fairmont Hotels - check out
www.fairmont.com). But we got so much more. The town of Jasper is not so fabulous, could in fact be so much cooler. But drive five minutes to Jasper Park Lodge which looks out over a turqoise lake and snowy peaks, and you can enjoy a world-class cocktail at a variety of bars, eat great steak or seafood at your choice of five restaurants and shop for international brands at bloody awfully priced boutiques. Yay!! The next day took us through the Icefields Parkway - heralded as the most beautiful mountain pass in the world
- and into Banff. I. want. to. live. there. Forever. Banff is a ski town, where the buildings are quaint and the bars are full of drunk students. But more than that, there are organic bakeries and coffee houses, up-market Canadian styled bars (proving that this is not a contradiction), a Louis Voitton shop and beautiful boutique hotels. We stayed at the Fairmont Banff Springs which is a gorgeous Scottis
h castle-inspired building built in 1889 - a veritable maze of corridors all leading to tucked away restaurants and bars.
Another thing we really enjoyed about our mini-break (love to hate that term!) was the people we met. Our horizons were broadened from the mainly trailer-park inbred population of our own small town to tourists and travellers from around the world. We met the eccentric, the common, the fabulous and the pretty. Needless to say, this won't be our last trip into the mountains - scenery and civilization!
Part of a unique chain that owns branches in Calgary and Vancouver, Saltlik definitely puts the cool in Canadian. Celebrating instead of ignoring Canadian culture, the Saltlik bar and restuarant in Banff is full of wood, leather, modern graphic design and chic touches such as the wooden elk in a mountie uniform. The menu is comprehensive and despite having no mint for mojitos (hey - at least they had heard of them!) they did manage to rustle me up some vodka and lime, the first establishment in Canada in which I've actually found lime cordial. Service was great, although in their downtimes most of the younger waitresses seemed to be occupying the manager's lap, and while not busy (late Sunday night) the other patrons looked urbane, up-market and city-bred. A good place for an early dinner or late night drink, I wouldn't hesitate to visit again. 
