Winnipeg Meets Nunavut.

I’ve written these pages now for almost 5 years, since fate smiled upon Darlene and I and we were whisked away to New York City. Over the years I’ve covered many topics before finding my voice and becoming a cheerleader for my adoptive home town of Winnipeg. As any blogger will undoubtedly tell you writing is only half the job of running a blog, the other portion includes reading vast amounts of other people’s work and striking up constructive friendships that help hone the craft.

One such friendship that I cultivated is with the author of I’ll Have Nunavut, a blog by Suzanne Parm-Etheridge and her husband Ian.  Two people adapting to life in Canada’s far north.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that Suzanne was coming to Winnipeg as part of a conference and would be staying less than 10 minutes from our home.

Suzanne and I with Darlene enjoying a nice evening stroll on Corydon Ave.

We met at the Forks Market where Suzanne stayed and journeyed out to UnBurger in Osborne Village.  Suzanne frequently commenting on Winnipeg’s beautiful parks and neighborhoods.  In return Darlene and I asked questions about the far northern reaches of Canada.  It was like we had been old friends for years.

From Osborne Village to Corydon Avenue the three of us strolled, enjoyed Italian Gelato and shared stories of our lives.  As the sun dipped below the horizon a starlight tour of Downtown Winnipeg seemed in order.   Suzanne loved the stories of old Winnipeg and really seemed to get a kick out of visiting Portage and Main, Winnipeg’s most famous intersection.

Darlene and Suzanne ham it up for the camera at Portage and Main.

Thanks for visiting Suzanne, I hope I didn’t bore you with my long-winded explanations and rambling stories.  It’s one thing to have made a friend though our writing but it’s an absolute joy to have met you in person.  Come back to Winnipeg anytime!

To wrap it up here’s a great song about Winnipeg by two hometown boys Randy Bachman and Neil Young with Prairie Town.

 

Past, Present and Future: The Magna Carta in Winnipeg.

It’s mid-summer in Winnipeg as I write this and the past is meeting the present while building for the future of the human race.  Since my last post about the Canadian Museum for Human Rights many things have taken place. Firstly, construction of the museum has progressed steadily,  so much that one can get a true sense of the enormous scale of the finished glass mountain on the prairies.  The idea being a visual representation of what man can attain when he aspires to a noble cause.

Starting in St. Boniface, Alanna is ready to answer tourists questions.

Walking over the Red River, the Size of the Buildings will be Enormous.

Up Close to the Building Site.

Building Izzys Dream: The Canadian Museum for Human Rights

You wouldn’t think it but right now there is a mountain rising into the prairie sky.  Israel Asper’s dream is coming true.

Israel (Izzy) Asper, the one time head of the Canwest media empire wanted to build a shining beacon to the world and he wanted it in Winnipeg.  Izzy, during his life, was not only a modern day media mogul, but also a philanthropist of the highest order.

What is taking shape at The Forks in Winnipeg, The Canadian Museum for Human Rights.  A 300 Million Dollar mountain of glass and steel rising out of the prairie soil will serve as a reminder to those around the globe of the atrocities that have and continue to take place.  The 265,000 square foot facility to literally be made in the shape of a mountain will showcase to the world the past and present failings, and triumphs of humanity.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

New Years Eve in Winnipeg

What to do, what to do.  Here it is just before 9 am on Dec 31 and I still don’t have a plan on what to do tonight.  Well maybe going through a quick list of what Winnipeg has to offer can help me make up my mind.

Starting at the centre of it all, Winnipeg’s historic Forks Market, is doing a family friendly First Night Celebration.  It’s a day long event, complete with ice skating on the winding trails that crisscross through the site. The frozen Assiniboine River forms the worlds largest outdoor skating trail.  Sorry Ottawa, but once again Winnipeg’s rink reigns supreme, check out the Video.  It promises to be a chilly day hovering in the minus 20’s Celsius so hot chocolate and coffee would warm up the body while waiting for the fireworks tonight.