Baby, it’s cold outside. Like really cold outside. Like, are you serious!?! cold outside. While the best place to be when the temperatures take this big of a dip is under the covers, staying in for days at a time can also lead to a serious case of cabin fever. Here are five things to do in the city during an extreme cold snap:
Work Out at Talisman Centre
You know how you keep saying that you need to go to the gym more? Well here’s all the motivation you need: during the winter, the air inside Talisman Centre feels positively balmy. Where else in the city right now can you hang out in shorts and a tank top? Go for a run around the track or work up a sweat in one of the invigorating group fitness classes, followed by a warming stint in the hot tub or steam-room. You’ll feel better afterwards, inside and out.
2225 Macleod Trail S., talismancentre.com
Go Shopping at The Core
Mall shopping is a great cold-weather activity, except for the part where you have to shlep across the frozen tundra of a parking lot. The Core downtown offers free valet service for shoppers during regular mall hours. During business hours regular parking fees still apply, even though valet service is complementary, but on evenings and weekends both valet service and parking are free of charge. Visit the valet drop-off station on 3rd Street S.W. between 7th and 8th Avenues to take advantage of this awesome parking perk.
Go To The Spa
Ultra-cold weather doesn’t just chill your bones, it saps all the moisture out of your skin. What better time to disappear into one of the city’s super-luxe spas for a moisture rich body treatment or facial? Splurge on the Enrich Body Treatment at the Hyatt Regency Calgary’s Stillwater Spa (yeah, it’s $220 but can you really put a price on a treatment that includes being “wrapped in warmth?”) Make sure you set aside enough time to lounge about in your robe, reading magazines and drinking that nice tea they always have on hand. And remember, it’s bad spa etiquette to throw a tantrum at closing time.
700 Centre Street S.E., calgary.hyatt.com
Visit the Glenbow Museum
Museums are great places to meander away a few hours when the weather outside is frightful. Take this opportunity to check out the war-themed works by Group of Seven artist A.Y. Jackson and German artist Otto Dix and the eclectic collection of works produced in the 1980s by Calgary-based artists. Then spend some real time exploring the permanent “Mavericks” exhibit, where you can read up on some of the heroic and crazy folk from Alberta’s past who survived temperatures like this without gas furnaces and car heaters and down parkas.
130 9 Ave. S.E., glenbow.org
Hunker Down in a Cafe with a Fireplace
You might have to stake it out for awhile, but if you can snag a spot by the cozy fireplace at Higher Ground in Kensington, you will have struck cold-snap gold. Bring along an engrossing book, fuel yourself with a special coffee (or two, or three) and read until your eyes blur. Higher Ground stays open until 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday, so it’s a great place for night owls looking for a little cafe culture.
1126 Kensington Rd. N.W., highergroundcafe.ca