Stuff To Do In Winnipeg Manitoba

Hi All,

I wish I had more drive to blog about my little trips & travels & adventures…so I’m forcing myself to give an update on my current biz trip to Winnipeg, which I’ve aptly entitled “Stuff To Do In Winnipeg Manitoba“.

Now, I’m sorry, but the camera on my Blackberry isn’t good enough to do these scenes the justice they deserve, but try to use your imagination.

I’ve been in Winnipeg on business since Friday (July 31st, 2009) and while I’ve done some work this long-weekend, I’ve also made time to look around.  And I must say, Winnipeg is a nice place.

First off, there’s a HUGE amount of historical plaques and signs all over the city.  Kudos to the city.  Close to downtown, there’s an area called “The Forks” which has a lot of shops, festivals, parks, and walking paths.

Here’s a pic of the main “Forks” area that has been a meeting place for native cultures for 6000 years:

Right close by, I could see this huge foot bridge that is supposed to boost tourism and also build a stronger connection between The Forks and French Quarter communities.  The doorman at my hotel says the washroom in the restaurant on the bridge cost taxpayers 1 million dollars (difficulty of plumbing, etc) but who knows if that’s true?

Historical roots are celebrated here, and so there’s a lot of material and focus on the native culture, which is awesome.  There were a few shows going on with native dances and so forth.  It was great to walk around the beautiful trails along the Red River while hearing all the drums playing.  Here’s one picture I took but unfortunately, you can’t really see the dancers very well; strain your eyes a bit:

My hotel (The Fairmont) has complementary BMW bicycles and so I’ve gone for some rides around town.  I’ve ridden up & down the Red River trail, gone to the Legislative Building, back to The Forks, etc.

Here’s my own list of “Stuff to do in Winnipeg”:

• Go to the house of Louis Riel, Metis founder of Manitoba (actually, I’ve been there, but I forgot to take a picture)
• Go to the Manitoba Art Gallery, which has the world’s largest public collection of Inuit art
• Folklorama, the largest and longest-running cultural celebration festival in the world (it just started; it runs the first 2 weeks of August)
• Fort Gibraltar
• Fort Whyte
• New Iceland, a community in Gimli, Manitoba founded by a large group of Icelanders (the largest group to ever leave Iceland!)
• The Original Pancake House (their pancakes look awesome)  (yes, they’re also in the States)
• East India Company Restaurant (I love Indian food)

I’ve got some more pics to share, but I don’t want this post to be too long.  I’m here for a while so I’ll be taking a lot more pics and I’ll try to make sure they look a little better.

Shawn