Day 5 - Winnipeg

Waking up from a bed this morning felt great. After breakfast at the hotel we started the morning at The Forks by the river. This place is the strategically important and historically significant meeting place of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers. Today the site attracts people for recreation and ceremonies. In a beautiful riverside setting interpretive exhibits outline the area's history. Maintained footpaths line the riverbank with plaques in English, French and Cree (a First Nation Language). Fur trade was the central role of historic Winnipeg and its century long relationship with First Nation groups is noticeable in modern Winnipeg as well.

After exploring The Forks we walked along the Assiniboine to take pictures of Golden Boy atop the Manitoba Legislative Building. Even on a Sunday there were hourly tours with a quite enthusiastic guide who told us that the building was designed during Winnipeg's optimistic boom of the early 1900s. The building flaunts a limestone construction with fossils visible on the walls. There were many difficulties in finishing the construction in time, part of it was because the "project manager" Thomas Kelly kept stealing from the construction, including 7 pillars he put into his own front yard. The missing pillars have been replaced by fake hollow ones.

We backtracked to The Forks and crossed the Red River to St. Boniface, Canada's oldest French community outside of Quebec. The St Boniface Basilica was mostly destroyed by fire in 1968, the original facade still stands as an imposing reminder.

There was time for one more sight to see and I chose the Manitoba Musuem over Fort Gibraltar. Main reason was that Fort Gibraltar is an outside presentation and the sun was already killing us. Second, my guide book praised the Museum as one of the best locally focused museum on the continent. Well, it wasn't wrong. They had a complete replica of the Nonsuch ship and wild west townhouses. There was even a movie theater with seats for guests, playing a Charlie Chaplin movie.

After that we had dinner in the Bailey's Restaurant where we were catered by a very friendly waiter from Quebec, who seemed to be fascinated by our idea of going across Canada and we shared some stories with each other. Tonight we will be spending another night in the hotel and then we go see nature again.