Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada

Who goes to Winnipeg to visit? Mostly Canadians, not a lot of us from the states. Surprise, there is much to see and experience. Winnipeg is a prairie city, being one of the largest city in Canada, located right in the middle of Canada. It is the gateway to Western Canada. We decided to visit Winnipeg, as we didn’t know much about it. Here is what we learned.
Winnipeg is located on the banks of the Red River and the Assiniboine River. The place where the rivers come together is known as The Forks. The Forks were used seasonally by the various Indian Tribes for fishing, socializing and arranging marriages. This has been a meeting place for Manitoba Indian Tribes throughout history. What a beautiful area to raise families. The original inhabitants of the area now called Manitoba included: The Assiniboine, The Chipewyan (Dene), The Cree, The Dakota Sioux, and The Ojibway. With several Tribes utilizing The Forks, one can expect rich culture, diversity and history. The Human Rights Museum, along the River Walk, is worth the time to visit; helping us to understand many of the struggles people have gone thru on their journey.

There is a large building housing the Market Place. There are shops and restaurants providing an array of purchasing decisions. We focused on some of the yummy foods to take home and eat. The Riverfront area is the center point of our visit here. The Riverfront offers boat tours that gave us an understanding of why this area is important now and in the past.
Continuing to walk along the Riverfront you will come across an interesting site called an Oodena Celebration Circle. It contained a large structure with plaques identifying each Sign of Astrology with a description. Above each plaque, a metal sculpture is formed with circles in a particular order to use as a viewing mechanism into space to see the constellation representing each Sign of the Astrological chart. Some Signs would not be able to be viewed in space, from the location, for many years in the future. The location is peaceful and beautifully landscaped.
If one would be interested, Winnipeg’s legislative building is open to walk through and is along the river as well. The downtown section of Winnipeg is nestled together so a walking tour is quit manageable. The Prairie 360 restaurant is located downtown also. The Prairie 360 restaurant is a rotating restaurant located on top of the Fort Garry Place, 28th to 31st floors. Every 70 minutes, diners take a round trip around the city. Local dishes are served so as to reflect the commitment of Winnipeg to share its bounty with all.

As we walked along the Riverfront, we came across the eye-catching and unique Esplanade Riel. This is a walking bridge paralleling the Provencher Bridge crossing the Red River to St. Boniface. The Esplanade Riel also has a restaurant built on it with local cuisine. We took some time to continue on to St. Boniface stopping at the Visitor Center. As with most visitor centers, it affords much information regarding St. Boniface. Worth a stop since it is always good to learn. The area has several little shops, restaurants and history. Very quaint.
When we show up to an area, we are particularly interested in hiking/walking/biking trails. Winnipeg has many. We are only staying a few days only partaking in a couple of areas. The south side of town has the Assiniboine River and Park. The English Garden and sculpture Garden have beautiful plantings and sculpture to view. The area is an easy walk. It was a warm sunny day, just right to walk. The end of May finds many tulips and other early spring flowers already bloomed and completed. However, there were varieties just coming into bloom. Within the next couple of weeks, the entire Park will be magnificently arrayed in many, different bloomed flowers. One of our favorites is peonies. We both come from up North US states. Of course, our home in Florida is not able to grow peonies. We were sorry we missed the fantastic outburst of color and smell these flowers produce. Next time!

There are many stores for shopping for food to housing. They are easy to get in and out having a wide variety to select. One of the local businesses we really needed to visit is a chiropractor. We selected Dr. Brett Carter of North Kildonan Family Chiropractic Centre. We were very happy he would treat us even though we were in Winnipeg only a few days. He assisted us to be able to continue our journey.

Unfortunately, it rained the day we had planned to go to the Zoo. Next time! The many other parks and open, outdoor sports areas provide for any type of activities families enjoy. This is a family oriented city. There also were many events planned thru out the year. The geography is prairie, being flat, with large open fields. With so much open land, it is farmed. We could feel and see the pride of the farmers. All is very well kept, clean and neat. Of course, since it is Spring, the vast fields were delicately planted with rows and rows of crops.
We are glad to have visited Winnipeg. Now we are on to Saskatoon.
It isn’t the destination, it’s the journey.