Back in the before times and prior to retirements I always travelled somewhere in Canada at this time of the year to meet up with the senior education union leaders from across the country. It was a time to share 'war' stories, seek guidance, and discuss the common issues of the day.
The Manitoba labour groups were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike and the Manitoba Teachers' Society was celebrating its 100th anniversary so there was a lot of celebrating.
Here are a few more shots from our trip to Winnipeg in May.
Back to shots from our recent trip to Winnipeg . . .
Even though Paul and I were in Winnipeg for work (well, I was anyway) we still managed to get out and see a few things.
There will be some shots from our adventures for the next few Travel Tuesday posts.
We left town and flew to Winnipeg on Friday. I have a meeting in the city and we are participating in the Solidarity Forever Parade to commemorate the Winnipeg General Strike.
It has been a long eight years since we were last in the city. We are only here for a short time - 5 days, and I'll be indoors for much of the time. We plan on touring the new Human Rights Museum that has become such a highlight of the city.
I am also looking forward to spending some time with Paul's sister since we don't see her nearly as often as we would like.
A year ago today we were in Winnipeg enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of the capital city of Manitoba . . .
Be sure to pop on over to Sandi's blog to see what else is happening on Travel Tuesdays!
This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'wet/rain'.
Back in the spring we visited Manitoba in the midst of the terrible flooding along the Assiniboine and Red rivers. Lots of things that were normally dry were quite wet.
This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'missing/missed'. I'm posting an unusual shot this week . . .
I took this picture from our hotel room this morning. How does this photo fit with the theme? Notice the blue sky and the reflection of the sunrise . . . that has been missing this trip! There has been no sustained sunshine or blue sky once. Of course today is our last day.
What is the weather forecast for home?
7 days of rain.
SIGH
It will be some time before I feel recovered from this vacation. LOL
Today was a bittersweet day for us.
First we said goodbye to Paul's sister and family and headed back to the big city. We had had a great visit and it was sad to say good bye. It wasn't as bad as it could have been because they'll be coming our way in 6 weeks.
The drive to Winnipeg is about 90 minutes along the trans Canada highway. The overflowing Assiniboine River flows alongside the highway, meandering back and forth. This is the river that is causing a flood crisis in the province. We were amazed to see how much higher the river had gotten in 5 days - there was one bridge we went over where the water was right up to the base of the road - it was about three feet lower less than a week ago.
The other scary thing was a tad more roundabout. Tomorrow the Province will break one of the dikes to release a large 'controlled' flood in an effort to prevent an uncontrolled breach west of Portage la Prairie. For the past week we have been hearing the names of communities that would be inundated with murky water - today as we travelled along the highway it was close to 40 minutes from the first community that is expected to be flooded to the last one - the magnitude of the proposed flood was overwhelming.
Back in Winnipeg it was snowing as we made our way through the city. Snow in May. SIGH It is safe to in the city known for having the world's largest collection of contemporary Inuit art. It also houses a wonderful collection of contemporary, historical and decorative art from Canada and European masters.
(note, this is NOT my picture - there was rain, snow, and grey skies when we were there).
After we left the the WAG we headed to the Provincial legislative building. The building is famous for the Golden Boy, a gold covered bronze statue based on the style of the Roman god Mercury, or the Greek god Hermes, at the top of the cupola, or domed ceiling.
We walked in, registered, and got a visitor's pass. Once registered and armed with our pass we could wander where ever we wanted in the building - so much for security!
Within the main entrance is the Grand Staircase. This is a perfectly square room measuring 66.6 feet on each side, which is meant to represent the numerological number 666. The stair case is composed of three flights of steps each with 13 steps. The steps are brown-veined Carrara marble, the finest marble in the world. Flanking the steps are life size North American bison. Made of solid bronze, they were modelled by Georges Gardet, creator of the Golden Boy. Each bison weighs 2,268 kilograms (2½ tons). Legend has it that to install the bison safely without damaging the marble floors, the main entrance was flooded and left to freeze. Both bison were then placed on enormous slabs of ice cut from the Assiniboine River, and safely slid into the building.
Floods, goodbyes, snow aside it was a grand day.
Back home tomorrow.
One of the things that I love about travelling are those absurd contrasts that you sometimes discover when you least expect it. Take today for instance . . . Paul decided that we'd go to Riding Mountain National Park - one of Manitoba's best loved parks.
The town of Onanole is at the entrance to the park. We arrived there after driving for what seemed like forever.
Onanole was DEAD. Nothing seemed to be open. I did manage to snap a pic of this giant elk (Manitobans really seem to love these larger than live roadside sculptures and I love snapping pictures of them).
Not far from the scultpure we discovered Poor Michael's Used Book Shop with a huge sign out from advertising books, cappuccino, and art. Inside it was a dream - I had the best coffee I've had in Manitoba. There was great art. A wonderful collection of rare books. All in all a find worthy of the trek north.
Thank goodness, for when we arrived at the park it was freezing . . . everything was closed (including many of the roads) . . . the lake was still covered with ice. To put it into perspective - in two weeks it is the Canadian May long weekend when everyone heads to the lake for swimming, boating, and sunning on the beach.
It's going to be awhile before anyone wants to go in the water HERE!