I have had several Canadians remark at the US lack of technology regarding credit cards, etc. (we are one of the few that still have to sign for our purchase). My response is that we have much better Internet and cell coverage!
There have been several conversations regarding the cost of living as well. What I have determined is that "consumables" are much higher in Canada - food, gas, and oh my gosh the price of a beer! but rent and education are much cheaper here. A year at the University of Manitoba or the University of Winnipeg is $5,000.
So, I finally got to Winnipeg and checked into my camping spot for 4 days. I would have liked a couple more, but July 1st in Canada Day and camping spots are hard to come by.
Before I share my sightseeing pictures, I want to tell you about my trip to Costco. We are all familiar with a trip to Costco, getting gas and Costco only accepting Visa, right? Well, in Canada, they only accept MasterCard, not Visa (they will accept the Costco visa from the states, but I didn't have one of those either). They don't accept a Debit card either. Needless to say, no gas and an embarrassing "check out" adventure. And then I drove across the street to get groceries at Walmart. Just as I got into the car, the sky opened up with a deluge for my walk into Walmart. When I came out it was like a sauna outside.
A note about getting groceries in Canada: They don't stock noodles; only macaroni. Strange. Cottage cheese isn't in "curds"; it is solid. Ice cream labeled "ice cream" isn't unless you look for a seal that it was actually made from cream. A large section of any grocery store is devoted to bakery items. And they are pretty proud of their 100% plant based beyond meat (that's exactly how it is "billed").
Another odd thing that seemed to be just this Walmart ... instead of picking a line at a cash register, everyone got in one line and they called out which register was "now available" (like Marshalls). You can't buy this kind of fun. 😁
Manitoba is the first Canadian province I've been in that is heavy into recycling (they hand out bags for cans and bottles) and you buy a recycle bag if you don't bring your own to the store. Yeah for them! I am constantly frustrated as I travel at how few states and provinces recycle.
OK, my first stop was the Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, the oldest remaining stone trading fort in the province. It dates to 1830. There is a costumed reenactment of daily life during that time; the period costumes are worn by University students as their summer job. Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site was the site of the first treaty between the Crown, the Ojibwa, and Swampy Cree. The Fort was also a major supply center for agricultural goods. York boats, favored by fur trappers and hailed as the "boat that won the West," were loaded with three tons of supplies for portage between posts. It was very interesting. I also enjoyed talking with the students about their "normal" lives as well.
I also stopped by the Riel House National Historic Site. This National Historic Site along the Red River is where the Riel family and descendants lived until 1969. Louis Riel is famous for founding Manitoba and leading Metis. Renovated to its 1886 appearance, the home exemplifies Red River post-on-sill construction.When I visited the cemetery at St. Boniface, I took a picture of his plot.
Another stop was the Manitoba Museum. This proved a little pricey. It was $7 to park for 2 hours and $30 admission. They have three sections, the gallery, science and the planetarium, and you pay for each section you want to visit. They also have a traveling exhibit, Animal Inside Out.
This outstanding museum focuses on the interrelationships between people and the environment. There are nine galleries included in the gallery exhibit, all with sound and interactive displays; all very well done and interesting. I could go through them and post all my pictures (oh my) but I want to tell a couple things about the Nonsuch.
For their 300th year anniversary, the Hudson Bay company built a full-sized replica of the Nonsuch, completely seaworthy. The Nonsuch, which brought the first cargo of
furs from Hudson Bay to England in 1669, resulting in the founding of
the Hudson Bay Company, sailed for 4 years until the HBC donated the ship to Manitoba. Manitoba put the ship in a large gravel lot in Winnipeg and built the Manitoba Museum around the ship. I wondered how they got it in there!The room in which the ship is located is built to resemble a dock town.
The Animal Inside Out exhibit showed the "insides" of animals without the skin. There was an exhibit of a human arm and a heart that you could touch and exam. I was interested in looking at the giraffe; wondering about the muscles needed to hold the head up. The docent said the giraffe has the same number of vertebrae as the human neck, only spaced further apart.
St. Boniface Cathedral is the oldest basilica in western Canada. Originally constructed in 1818, it has been rebuilt several times after fires. The facade and part of the walls of the 1908 basilica still stand; the rest burned in 1968 and was rebuilt in 1972.The new Cathedral is beautiful as well, but they had an event so I was not able to take any pictures from the inside.
The residence of the Archbishop of St. Boniface built in 1864.
Driving in Winnipeg was not fun. After the second day I was thinking it would have been a good place to take the trolley tour.
In fact, the lady at visitors' information kind of gave me an excuse to not venture into the city a third day for the legislation building tour and the tour of the mint when she made a face at my asking if they were worth the time.
While I was driving around I saw this great building. It turned out to be the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
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