It was a cold and sleepless night..

If you're going to be in Banff on a Sunday, I recommend making a reservation for brunch at the Banff Springs Hotel. I was on a budget on this trip, but this is definitely one of the places where it's worth it to splurge! Prepare to eat a lot of fantastic foods from omelettes and smoked salmon eggs benedict, to roast beef and skewers, to creme brulee and the greatest brownies you'll ever taste. It's worth it to get the star treatment as you walk into the hotel that is a sight in itself in Banff. The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel is an architecturally beautiful building with gorgeous grounds and a lot of history, being built around 1890 when the railway was being built. Be sure to arrive a bit early to take a stroll through the picture gallery located near the restaurant to learn some of the history of the hotel.
If it's around a holiday, be sure to book a reservation well ahead of time to ensure a table!

The popular Lake Louise is almost a necessary stop when you go to Banff. Although it's crowded and full of tourists at any time of the year, how can you not go to the lake that frames almost every postcard of the rockies? Even though it was the off-season and the sky was overcast, when we arrived at Lake Louise, it was packed with tourists from around the world snapping pictures of the well-known area. It's worth it to take a little walk down the trail to a less busy spot to get just as good a picture with fewer tourists' heads in the foreground. In May, most of the lake is still frozen, and although you don't see the famous crystal clear reflection, you do see it in some of the thawed spots, and the frosted surface of ice is a sight in itself.

The turnoff for Morraine Lake is a couple km before Lake Louise, and is a worthy visit. Although lesser known, this lake is also very beautiful and significantly less busy. We managed to arrive just as a bus of Asian tourists came by, but we hung around long enough for them to go on their way, and we could enjoy the silence that only snow, mountains and lakes can give.

With significantly more snow than the other lakes we'd visited, it looked almost like a barren snow-covered field in the midst of the rockies. The misty clouds of the afternoon gave the mountains an extra effect.