Retirement Blog: "Nobody likes Winnipeg"

Jo's sister, Priscilla, husband Gary, and the two of us took a whirlwind tour with stops in Manitoba and Ontario.

According to our restaurant server , no one has a positive view of Winnipeg. This sentiment was echoed by our motel front desk clerk who even seemed to suggest that we were a little shallow, and were only interested in things like architecture.

Both seemed to be more interested in night life, and preferred to visit the States on their vacations. To that we could only say, "come on down, we need the money". Perhaps it's just us... but we found Winnipeg to be an interesting town.

The moment you drive into the city, you can just sense that something is a little off... Perhaps it's the honking horns, or maybe it's just the fact that there are few truly square blocks. If you miss a turn, and want to go around the block to try again, you find that the block is not really 4-sided, but a triangle, and you come up one side short when you try to get back on your street. Then, just when you decide to roll with the 3 sided flow of blocks, they throw in a 4-sided one and you get confused all over again. Add to that the one way streets and you have quite a mess. That's about the time you realize that many of the honking horns are aimed at you ! Seems that in this part of Manitoba, Canadians are a little impatient with those of us from the US.

Manitoba Parliament

In spite of the confusion, we did manage to locate a number of attractions. There is an area locally known as "the forks" that has several attractions.where two rivers merge The province capital building brandishes some pretty impressive architecture.

The English Gardens are a memorable display of botanical wonders.

The sculpture garden is a beautiful wooded setting for the many well done sculptures.

There are museums, the ruins of the St Boniface Church, the impressive pedestrian bridge that adds to the view of the sunset, and restaurants and shops galore that add to the overall impression of the city.