Our time in Churchill is over but we have a day and a half in Winnipeg. We are back at the Inn at the Forks, which is a great location to wander around and enjoy the Forks food and funky shops. We had planned to visit the Museum of Human Rights but they are closed for the next two days to “reflect on some social issues”. I believe somebody attached to their museum said or did something stupid in public and embarrassment ensued. So they decided to close for training of staff. Too bad we missed it. It is a very interesting building architecturally.
The French neighborhood of St Boniface is right across the river from the Forks and we had a nice stroll in the sunshine. The original cathedral was mostly burned but the facade remains. Just outside the cathedral there is a graveyard. Louis Riel lives here now.
There are a few cool murals on buildings here. The second one is on a chocolate shop that does incredible art with chocolate. We were still too full from breakfast to sample but they did look very tasty.
Just down the street is the Bothwell cheese shop. We found some tasty cheese and some salami and crackers to make a picnic lunch.
Yes that is a $350 block of marble cheese. Not sure how many of these they sell….
Below is the walking bridge that crosses the Red River. The building in the middle (ish) was a French restaurant. We had intended to eat either lunch or dinner here but sadly it’s closed and nobody is home. I guess the location proved too hard to get to in Winter. Looked to have been closed for a while so likely not related to Covid issues. Although who knows.
These little prairie dogs are all over the Forks grass areas. Very shy and skittish they were almost impossible to get a shot of. They make a cute little whistling sound and we had fun ‘talking’ to them.
This is an old pivot bridge that is now a pedestrian path right at the point where the Assiniboine River flows into the Red River. Around the Forks there are a good set of pathways to enjoy the area. With the sunny weather the locals were out in force and we appreciate that.
Requisite selfie overlooking the actual fork of the rivers. Red on left, Assiniboine on the right.
In the park area there is lots of pubic art. This particular piece is huge and made out of silver bicycles welded to together. We think it’s new because there was a news crew doing various shots of it.
After our St Boniface tour we headed back to the Forks patio to pick up some wine to go with our picnic lunch. The Commons sells multiple different types of beer on tap and wine by the glass. We then had a lazy afternoon watching river traffic, people and enjoying the beautiful weather.
Dinner was back in St Boniface at a cozy little place called Promenade Cafe and Wine. Tomorrow we have some time in the morning to hang out at the Forks again then it’s off to home. There is a small art museum with a gift shop that looks interesting.
Our late day direct flight was cancelled about a week before we left, so we were forced to choose between a 6am departure or 4pm with a stop in Calgary. Neither was great (it’s only a 2 1/2 hour flight direct) but the Calgary option won out. So we eat lunch in Winnipeg, dinner in Calgary and go to bed in Vancouver.