Winnipeg with Dr. Phil

Sunday, October 15, 2017

We toured the city of Winnipeg today with our expert tour guide Phil who has a PhD in Canadian history, thus we toured the city with Dr. Phil!  He was an excellent guide who grew up in the area, so was able to share all kinds of information as well as personal stories which made the day-long trip quite enjoyable.   Winnipeg, which means muddy water, is a city of 800,000 people along the Red River and has quite a history with water.  It was once completely covered by a lake, which explains the flat, prairie land which surrounds the area.  Flooding has been a problem with a huge flood in 1928, 1950 and in 1997 that put the city underwater.  To protect the city from future flood damage, the city undertook a huge flood control project by building a floodway and dikes, digging out more dirt than the Panama Canal!  The bands on this pole mark the flood levels—quite amazing!   The Red River and the Assiniboine River converge, flowing north to Hudson Bay.  We are used to rivers flowing south, so I thought this was strange.  Along these rivers is a place called “The Forks” (at the fork of the rivers…original huh?) It is a bustling marketplace, plaza and park, with lots of shops in an old railroad terminal.  I saw this display of artwork by Dianna Lund…wonder if Jim has a long lost cousin in Canada?   The marketplace was complete with a glassblower and an accordion player which added to the festive atmosphere and also made me think of my sisters at home with similar talents!  I didn’t buy anything except lunch…can you believe it?

We visited and learned about the Canadian legislature building, also very impressive.  The golden boy sits atop the structure—actually covered in gold!

We toured St. Boniface Cathedral-Basilica which was originally built in 1908, but was destroyed by fire in 1968, so the new church was built inside the facade of the old church.  It was a very creative way to combine the old and new. Unfortunately, we were too late for mass.

Finally, we explored the Manitoba Museum which provided a journey through Manitoba’s past.  It was an interesting collection of galleries that depicted everything from the days of bison on the prairie—this had real bison in this diorama-- to the discovery of the world’s largest trilobite fossil (in Churchill).  We also learned that vaudville was big--Charlie Chaplin  and WC Fields met while performing in Winnepeg!  Oh, and Winnie the Pooh came from Winnepeg!  It was a real bear named Winnie from Winnepeg that was donated to the London zoo, and enjoyed by Christopher Robin and his dad, author Milne.   And the band Guess Who is from Winnepeg too.

What an interesting city with so much more to see and do.   We didn’t get a chance to explore the Canadian Museum of Human Rights or the Candy Company…we still have time to check it out!

We returned to the campground just in time to see the end of the NASCAR race with Chase Elliott in the lead with 50 laps to go.  What a great performance by team #24, and a gutsy move at the end by a young driver that looked like a veteran.   That win will come soon!