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Hello From the Canadian Rockies – Part 18 – Our Celebrity Breakfast At The Twin Gables B

Bed and breakfast travel is one of our favorite ways discovering new places and the historic Twin Gables B & B is a real pleasure. 4.5 It is a bed and breakfast star rating, located in the exclusive neighborhood Mount Royal in Calgary, which is about 25 minutes by foot from the city center and restaurant area on 4th Street takes only 10 minutes walk to. It was the perfect place Sneak Peek in our Calgary and after a good rest after our feast at Il Giardino last night, we enjoy the comforts of our Mount Royal Suite, with its own sitting area, private bathroom, jacuzzi in the room, a fireplace and a laptop with high speed Internet access.

Well, much of the B & B experience is the experience of breakfast and a boy, we would have a prize. We were sitting waiting for our morning meal in the historic hall where the B & B two guests came down the stairs: a good-looking couple our age was about to join us for breakfast.

I thought the girl's face looked familiar but could not locate it. My husband, on the contrary, recognized it immediately: Michael Damian, aka "Danny Romalotti "the famous" The Young and The Restless "TV show during the day.

I did some research on our famous breakfast companions and was quite surprised at his achievements. Michael not only stars in the # 1-rated daytime drama (with an audience of over 100 million worldwide), is also a great success in music and theater. He captured the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webbers "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," which became the Renaissance highest cost in the history of Los Angeles. He continued his success in New York, breaking box office records on Broadway. Michael has also released five albums and has had eight top 40 hits and won a composition prize BMI. Recently Michael has gone to direct, write and produce films and music videos.

Mike's wife Janeen (Before Janeen Best) is a celebrity in their own right: it is a former Solid Gold dancer and film credits include Basic Instinct, Bugsy, Earth girls are easy, Footloose and many more. His television credits include Solid Gold, the Academy Awards, American Music Awards, Grammy Awards, the Young and the Restless, Matlock, Fantasy Island, Love Boat, Johnny Carson, the Dukes of Hazard and many more. So, finally I realized that we were actually surrounded by the stars.

Well, after I got over the initial surprise, breakfast was excellent, we start with a yogurt with fresh fruit, followed by beautiful loaves of homemade cranberry. The main course was a delicious tortilla Western with green peppers, onions and mushrooms. The food was delicious, and we had a great conversation with our fellow famous breakfast.

Mike and Janeen shared with us that were in town to find a place for your next film project and stayed at the Twin Gables for a few days. They said that was put in place a film production company called Riviera Films several years ago, and enjoy a very collaborative writing, producing and directing films. His latest project "Hot Tamale" was recently completed and will be released shortly in the Newport Beach Film Festival.

For a moment he felt a little strange, sharing the breakfast table with real celebrities, but Mike and Janeen and feet were so natural in land-it was like sitting with a regular partner next door. There is not even a hint of snobbery or arrogance here and the four of us had a pleasant conversation.

For me it was very interesting because I have been making a transition in the creative / media area of my website, so it was very informative for me to hear Mike and share their own stories Janeen passing of putting in front of the camera to intensified behind the camera directing and producing projects film, a field where they had to prove itself again. We also share many laughs and parted, wishing each other good luck for our respective projects. The meeting will show that some of the stereotypes we associate with celebrities often do not apply and that fame is not automatically inflate the ego of people. It was a real pleasure to meet Michael and Janeen, two successful, creative and people down to earth.

After breakfast, I wanted to sit around with Deirdre and Brost Henry, owners of Twin Gables, to learn more about the history of this historic house and how you arrived at this bed and breakfast special. Deirdre explained that in 1909 there was a boom in Calgary and CP Rail ownership of all land in the neighborhood and decided to sell in lots. Latin American investors wanted to name Hills, CPR but the founder would not allow that. He decided to name the area of Mount Royal, in accordance with what is the most exclusive area in Calgary.

The house was built between 1910 and 1912 by a lawyer, a Mr. Milliken, who had arrived in Calgary from Toronto. Due to the economic crisis after the stock market crash of 1929 the house was lost bank in 1931 and a Walter Wellington, a businessman also from Toronto, bought in 1932 for $ 10,500. He was involved in coal and cattle business and property sign shops. In 1965, at 91 years old, he left the house to his keeper who turned in a guest house after his death. After she died in 1972 remained a guest house and slowly began to fall into disrepair.

the previous owners of the house, Marge and Tsak Rogers, are the Artists produce local highly sought after Paintings and began to renovate the house from top to bottom in 1976. In 25 years it completely gutted and renovated all three floors. Henry and Deirdre bought home four years ago after she had a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Calgary. Deirdre wanted to settle in the city center where there would be demand tourist accommodation all year round. It was a big step for us both, and taxes in the city itself was a significant increase in costs, but Deirdre loves the location. He said this is the house you've always dreamed of owning.

story of Henry and Deirdre of how she opened her B & B is quite surprising in itself: took over a Saturday and helped his friends move. On Sunday unpackaged 3 bedroom home on Monday, the B & B inspector came, and afternoon on Monday were open for business. Indeed last night they had their first guest.

Made me aware of a whole litany of the adventures of update: adding bathrooms to two of the three guest bedrooms. Beat a big surprise when they learned they had to rewire the whole house, but Henry, a qualified electrician itself, rewired the house, leaving the walls and intact historic wallpaper and the installation of cables from the upper floors. They installed additional outlets, cables Additional telephone and high speed Internet throughout the house.

Another adventure happened when the sewer pipe collapsed: they had several guests in the house when the clay pipe that are far from the house broke and a rather unpleasant liquid started the backup at home. They had get a team with a hoe back thousands of dollars and many more had not only a new drain pipe, but also a new road and parking.

They also had to rebuild the chimney, and while they were in what had to remove a family of squirrels. Fireplace mortar had deteriorated and had to redo the joints between the bricks. From 2004-2005 the house was completely painted and holes behind the gutters were fixed: it took 72 packages of silicon to fill the cracks. Handwash and then painted the house. And all this had to be programmed while the B & B was the host a wide variety of guests. Both Deirdre and Henry say that being owner of an old house is like a moneypit, but they both love the house. Henry, always with a smile on his face, did virtually all renewals and says he enjoyed everyone. Even redid the whole garden is not surprising considering that Deirdre is an avid gardener.

Deirdre run bed and breakfast full time while Henry help as much as you can, taking into account that you are working full time as an electrician. Deirdre said she had to train do not pull the strips of bacon away from B & B guests on their way to work. With a smile on his youthful face Henry says he has learned the rules of the house, meanwhile, not take more tasty morsels of breakfast for guests.

With all the renovations, Deirdre and Henry tried to preserve the salient features of architecture of the house. The dining room is not change at all, wallpaper, furniture and hand-molded cornices are original home. The room also has a built in China mahogany. To date, Twin Gables has a functional "cleaning system call" with the bells to call the domestic help on each floor.

The room has a wall surrounding wallpaper with scenes of Hyde Park in London. Deirdre believes that wallpaper goes back to the owner first or second. The first owner, Mr. Milliken was a friend with Prince of Wales, who is said to have been here in Coral Gables Center.

The living room and feature original light fixtures A copy of the original Edison bulbs. Certainly not the brightest light, but in historical truth. The previous owners got the house designated as a provincial registered "historic resource" in 1984 because of the historic arts and crafts style house.

Twin Gables foreign guests mostly come from England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany and Holland. Of course we also see a lot of people in Ontario, British Colombia and passengers of United States. Off-season receiving a lot of "urban romance", which are local residents of Calgary, trying to escape for a weekend of pampering and romance. They also see a fair share of business travelers, especially during the week. Many travelers are teachers, doctors and lawyers, but even their stay NASA rocket scientists.

Total has had a really positive experience with their bed and breakfast and almost never had "to guests of hell. "The only thing that bugs them is when customers do not come down in time for breakfast or do not appear at all. Breakfast freshly do not know great half hour later and Deirdre works hard to ensure that food tastes perfectly. She commented that she really has found his niche in life and strives to provide the best possible service. "I am here to serve" he says, and agrees Henry, nodding his characteristic smile.

All Rooms are equipped with private bathroom, telephone and individual laptops with high speed access. All rooms have a fridge and a manufacturer custom coffee, and our series had a wonderful whirlpool bath with a great view of the horizon of Calgary.

Deirdre and Henry's dedication to delivering a great B & B experience definitely shows.

For the entire article including photos please visit
http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/calgary_twin_gables.htm

About the Author

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of Travel and Transitions (
http://www.travelandtransitions.com
), a popular web portal for unconventional travel & cross-cultural connections. Check out our brand new section featuring FREE ebooks about travel.

Entrepreneur – Owner of Canadian Plains Gallery – Working in Canada