A waterpark is just one of the many activities you wouldn't expect to find inside the West Edmonton Mall. (Courtesy Travel Alberta)

World's largest shopping malls Top cities for shopaholics Quirky activities at the West Edmonton Mall

Men don't exactly take to shopping like ducks to water. More like rabbits to rollerblades; wary of the outcome and worn out long before it's over. But when scheduling at a conference in Edmonton left me with free time, shopping -- OK, browsing -- helped fill it.

West Edmonton Mall was a no-brainer. It's no longer the world's biggest -- the South China Mall in Dongguan has that distinction -- but its 800 stores and services are double what America's biggest malls offer and more than three times Toronto's Yorkdale. For serious shoppers it has retailers said to be found nowhere else in Canada, among them G-Star Raw, a Dutch streetwear manufacturer, and Make Up, whose cosmetics come from Sweden.

Grab a map when you go, but don't be surprised if you still get turned around. The main "streets'' are cluttered with kiosks and signage is poor except, thankfully, for blue and white overhead ones pointing out toilets. No matter. I went mainly to see the things that set this mall apart from most others -- the roller coasters in Galaxyland, the replica of Columbus's ship Santa Maria at Deep Sea Adventure, and Ice Palace, a rink for skating and hockey.

Only one feature really impressed me -- World Waterpark. Hundreds of bathers floated on yellow tubes in what's billed as the world's largest indoor wave pool; others hurtled down its 20 waterslides. If it could attract that many on an unseasonably warm Saturday in late May, it must be a zoo in winter.

Much more to my liking was the other end of the retail spectrum -- the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market. Located just across the North Saskatchewan River from downtown, it's named for Strathcona, a city that merged with Edmonton early in the last century, and is open every Saturday, year-round.

I could hear and smell it even before walking inside: On the sidewalk were an Asian gentleman playing an odd-looking stringed instrument and soliciting loonies for China's earthquake victims, an assortment of buskers that included about eight violin-playing youngsters, and a guy making kettle popcorn that set me salivating.

Inside were fresh-cooked mini-doughnuts, green onion cake available by the slice, Ukrainian perishke (like a perogy but baked, explained the lady at Two Baba's & A Stove, and served with dill cream sauce), focaccia pizza, tarts, sausage rolls, Jamaica patties and Cornish pasties. There were free samples, too: Kim chee at Korean Food Market, a dozen flavours of pesto at the Pasta Guy.

Huge hothouse tomatoes from one of the area's Hutterite colonies caught me eye. So did big bags of fresh organic spinach for only $3, signs for wild-caught Alberta fish and farm-raised elk, and a booth called Olive Me, with 18 kinds, including blue cheese and Thai, and more for order.

Among the unusual craft items were Wild & Wired's handmade calla lily vines you can hang on the wall. There were tables and chairs so shoppers could sip a coffee, take a load off, listen to music that trickled through the hubub from a young guitarist at one end and a country-music combo at the other. There was a welcome absence of glitz, a feeling of genuineness, and that infectious hum of happy people. I mentioned this to Trace Johnston at Bedrock Seed Bank's booth.

"The (market) board's very strict on rules,'' he explained. Vendors must grow or make whatever they offer and must be physically present when it's being sold. Bedrock grows more than 600 species, 150 of which are native to the province. One is white penstemon. For $2.50 I acquired a packet of seeds, a souvenir of Alberta and my only purchase of the day.