Tonight (experienced and written in Winter of 2020), I decided to head to a spot in Banff called Park. It’s one of my favourite haunts along Banff Avenue and I tend to go there sparingly, to keep the ‘cool’ factor alive and well. I think the reason I’m so in love with it as a venue, is that it has a ‘vibe’. The entire place is dimly lit with lots of dark wood everywhere, awesome cocktails and beer selections, a yummy menu, and ‘hip’-looking staff that embody ‘stereotypical Canada’ (in my opinion). To underscore everything, I find the whole place to just feel cozy- that’s a ‘win’ in my books.

Shortly after I arrived and took my post at the bar with my laptop, a chatty group of five arrived and took up the seats to my right. Not long after their arrival, an older gent with salt and pepper hair showed up and took the seat at the end of the bar, four down to my left. Next up, about 10 minutes later a woman sat down in the seat to my left. The scene was set.

The woman who arrived was dressed in a, shall I I say, unique fashion. This isn’t a knock, by the way. Instead, it’s just my noticing the fact that she was dressed a bit differently than most people in the area; and I dig it! I think that it’s a wonderful thing when people are confident and don’t care what anyone else thinks- they’re just doing their thing. The woman who sat down was wearing a hot pink knitted beret, a pink long-sleeved athletic-wear-ish top, pink runners, and a long grey skirt that looked kind of like one of those faux fur blankets that almost appears to be striped, because the pile alternates between a lighter grey and a darker grey. To complete the look, she had oversized, translucent red glasses that were perched atop her hat.

Shortly after she sat down, one of the bartenders (a young woman with a French accent) asked if she wanted to order. She must’ve taken her up on the offer and ordered some sort of meat dish because, within a few moments, it became clear that the bartender was trying to clarify how the woman wanted her dish to be cooked. The bartender continued to politely repeat her question of how the woman wanted her meat cooked. In response to each iteration, the woman continued to reply “middle, but higher”, while pointing upwards. After the third cycle of this Q&A, I piped up and suggested that she might mean “medium-well” and that we could perhaps use Google Translate on my laptop. As I said this, the woman pulled out her phone and utilized a translation app. Unfortunately, the translation wasn’t all that helpful. About a minute later, ‘salt and pepper’ at the end of the bar made us all look like morons and quietly held his phone up for everyone to see. He was the clear genius in the bunch and had Googled a photo of meat cooked to various degrees. Showoff.

The woman next to me excitedly pointed to the steak in the image that was cooked medium-well and the bartender happily placed her order. She then asked if the woman wanted a drink, to which the woman simply replied “martini and olives”. The order for a dirty martini was clear enough and off the bartender went.

Once the woman received her martini, she held it up to clink glasses with Mr. Salt and Pepper, presumably for having been the the one who’d ultimately assisted her in ordering her dinner. I couldn’t really hear them, despite my proximity and best efforts to eavesdrop, but they struck up (what seemed to be) a casual conversation and I sat there, low-key soaking in the scene.

The thought that struck me was “mad respect”.

I do consider myself to be a relatively savvy traveller. I think I’ve got a decent handle on the art of flying solo and embracing travel experiences of all sorts. Though, one thing I can’t say I’ve ever done, is travel somewhere where I’ve struck up a conversation with someone in a language other than English; it’s all I’ve got in my arsenal, despite having tried to get a grasp on French between grades 3 and 9. I’ve come to the conclusion that I simply don’t have much of a propensity for languages; just isn’t my forte.

All of that being said, I sat and noted as this woman, who did have a rather prominent accent, confidently walked into Park, sat herself down at the bar, worked through the process of ordering, and then engaged Mr. Salt and Pepper in a chill conversation- I had nothing but complete respect and admiration for her.

Although she and I didn’t clink glasses, as I began to gear up for my jaunt over to the bus stop, she took note of me getting ready to leave. She turned to face me, flashed a massive smile, and said “Good bye” in her very thick accent. I wished her and Mr. Salt and Pepper a great night and off I went.

I don’t know if this woman was a long-term Banff resident, if maybe she’d just received PR, or if she was simply trekking around the Canadian Rockies on holiday. What I do know, is that this woman headed to Park that evening, clad in whatever the heck she wanted to be wearing, and rocked all the confidence on her evening out.

I respect the hell out of it. What I observed that evening was such a beautiful reminder of how wonderful and freeing it is to unabashedly and confidently explore new places. I still think back to that evening on occasion and it continues to hold a special place in my mental vault of lovely ‘human moments’.