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.