Poking Around Winnipeg

Good morning!! The sun is just getting up and I dragged Mama out on an adventure. She is in meetings during the day soo... early morning is our adventure time!

We walked past a community pool... hmmm... that is a beary weird sign.

Danger... Water in Pool... Uh? Isn't that what pools are for??? It's not a beary deep pool either but...

What is that? Is that a stuffie?? Maybe I need to go and rescue it?? Hello!!! Do you need help??? Oh dear... not a stuffie... it's a dead baby bunny... so sad... Alright... let's move along

Wow... the streets in Winnipeg are like the streets in Vancouver... deserted at 5:30 am!

Hmmm... maybe I should catch the Folk Fest while we're here?

Heh-heh... I think Beanie would like this sign!

And probably this one as well!

 Ooohhh... Starbucks!!! But... they're not open yet... Mama says "maybe later"...

 Here's the Assiniboine River again - beary pretty...

Oh hey! There's a flock of geese down there! Hey!! Hey Geese! Did you guys get Jerry and Ben home safe and sound??? Hello??? Hmph... they're not beary talkative. Mind you, that's cause the Canada Geese Airlines is likely going to have a labour dispute starting this Friday... They carry the mail as well... this could be a bad sign... grumpy geese.

Ooohhh... that's the Manitoba Legislature... the provincial government's headquarters.

 I found these ladies standing around... Hello ladies... are you having a tea party?

Nope... they are having a document signing party!

It's 100 years ago that women got the vote in Manitoba... wow! Mind you... little bears still don't have the vote... sigh.

The front of the building looks pretty and there seems to be some gold statue up on top...

 Hmmm...

Oh... It's a naked guy carrying a torch and some wheat! He's apparently called the Golden Boy. Except when he was made in France in 1918, he was a bronze boy. He was shipped to Canada but the ship he was in was commandeered for service in World War I and so he stayed in the ship's hold for the next few months, going back and forth across the Atlantic. Good thing the ship didn't get torpedoed! Nowadays he's covered with 24k gold... I wonder if I could climb up there and scrape off a few flakes!

And here's Queen Victoria...

She looks pretty grumpy... but that's probably cause she's not gilded gold!

Here's another statue...

 This guy is called Jon Sigurdson... and it looks like it has a Norway ribbon? Nope... turns out this is THE Jon Sigurdson who campaigned for Iceland's independence from Denmark back in the day. There's a matching statue in Reykjavik and this one was erected by Icelandic settlers here in Manitoba. Interesting...

 Heh-heh... the Golden Boy is now holding up the moon!

 OK... I just have to say... there are lots of interesting sculptures on the grounds here... Except... this one looks like it's exploiting 2 polar bears... They are holding up an inukshuk... Did you know polar bears live in Northern Manitoba? Maybe I'll get up to Churchill one day and see them!

More bears except... it's a bit wet to go and visit them.

 This is a beary cool place to visit!

They even have a little garden growing... but their veggies are WAY behind ours...

 I'm glad we live on the West Coast with its milder climate... it's prefect for gardeners!

 And... finally... a Starbucks hot chocolate!! All for me...