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At 17:06 I finally pull into Winnipeg, according to my GPS.  At first I’m disappointed because there is nothing over 4 stories tall.  I was expecting a big city.  The buildings in this city are obviously older then the modern construction of Calgary.  As I drive a bit longer east, trying to locate the “downtown” I realize that I am not in the heart of Winnipeg at all.  This in fact the outskirts of the city.

I get into the downtown area of Winnipeg and it’s completely different.  It’s tall buildings and hustle & bustle abound.  This is more like it.  Again, with the exception of the obvious modern construction and very tall sky scrapers the majority of the buildings seem to have an age to them.  I pull into the first hotel and find out that they are booked.  COME ON NOW!  The second place is the Hampton Inn and they have rooms.  That’s more like it.

First thing I do after checking in is take a long warm shower.  I decompress a bit and relax and by now it’s starting to get dark.  I decide to wander a bit around the hotel and I find cool little place to eat dinner.

As i leave the restaurant it’s breezy and it’s getting cool.  I’m in shorts and a T-shirt and I am not prepared for this kind of weather so I high tail it back to the hotel.  I decide to spend the night in, catching up on blogging and e-mails.  As I settle into the room I have to tell you that this is the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed at.  Yes, even nicer than Vegas, Who’d of thunk?

The beds were lush and the comforters were thick as heck.

It had a little microwave and fridge and a chair with ottoman.  And they left a little lap desk so you can work in your computer in bed.

In the morning when I got up and got ready to leave for the day

There’s a paper sitting outside my door.  I went downstairs and had the free continental breakfast, which was more then muffins and OJ.   We’re talking about cereal, pastries, bagels, toast, sausage, french toast, fresh fruit, oatmeal, OJ, Apple juice, coffee, tea the works.  It’s a real breakfast.  Afterward I decide to spend an extra day in Winnipeg since I know I’m not going to get to see everything today.  I go the front desk and tell them that I want to stay another night.

SOLD OUT!  WHAT!?!?!  Apparently, Elton John is in town and they are completely booked up.  “Well I’m already in the room, what if I don’t check out in time?  Then you have to charge me for the extra day right?”  They just look at each other like I asked them an algebraic equation.  Then the lady says, “Well we’ve never had to deal with that before.”

She tells me that they do keep a “Hospitality Room” as an emergency extra.  It’s basically the same kind of room as I have but without a bed.  It’s a sofabed instead.  My guess is they do that in case they don’t have a cholce but they don’t want to make it comfortable so you’re motivated to leave.  I told here that I don’t care, I just don’t want to have to waste all day looking for a hotel.  She tells me to give her a little bit of time to see if anyone checks out and if not she’ll move me to that room.

So I go back upstairs for a little bit when she calls and says she has a Suite available.  It’s normally $153 but she’ll let me have it for $20 more.  Works for me.  So they bring a key up to me and I move my stuff, and when I walk in I realize why the call it a suite.  The first thing out of my mouth was SWEEEEEET!  It’s like the other room, but bigger, with a kitchenette, sofa, coffee table, flat screen that swivels between the sofa or the beds and an actual closet.

It’s a nice room, but daylight’s a burning.

The first thing I do when I head out is go through the Exchange District.  It’s an older part of downtown and is pretty much where downtown originated.  According the the plaque, this area is where the first twelve “skyscrapers” were built between 1900 and 1916

I then walked around the the Artspace area.  This area is more bohemian with cobblestone streets and little restaurants and music stores, and small boutiques and neat little alleyways

Also, there are a lot of bike riders in Canada, but one thing I noticed is that many ride on old, single speed bikes.

Kinda cool.

After that I walked along the main downtown area.  There is Art everywhere in Winnipeg, much like Calgary.  There are sculptures and abstract art sprinkled throughout the sidewalks.

The Dog was my favorite.  As I was taking a picture a girl who was maybe three saw it and said, “A doggy, Woof Woof.”  It was cute.  Also, the control boxes for the street lights were painted.

There are also Amazing stone buildings and Bronze Sculptures everywhere.

I then headed to the Law Courts

and the House of Congress, which you are free to walk about inside.

after the capital building it was down to the river, which is actually a river.

As a mater of fact it’s 2, The Red and the Assiniboine that converge at The Fork Park.

People boat in it and ride and bike along it,

and there is a “Boat Bus” which runs along and stops at several locations throughout the city.

Then I walked along the shops and indoor markets before heading off to the Bridge

This bridge is one of many.  But this one connects the east and west banks of the Red river and it’s how you get to the French quarters.

Walking through the French quarters was beautiful.

There were old historic government buildings

And the Neighborhoods had small European inspired homes

As well as palatial European inspired homes.

They had huge churches and french art all over the place

After the French Quarters it got late so I had dinner and walked back to the Hotel.  Then next morning I checked out and parked at the VIA train station

It then went up to the observation tower at the Fort Garry Hotel(Here I go into a tower again)

The Hotel and it’s mall were fabulous

And the Views were great.

I then I took a cab to Little Itally.  Most of the cabs in Winnipeg are hybrids.  And the trash cans have recycling to separate plastic, glass and paper.

I walked around Little Itally a bit.  The buildings were lovely and there were old Italian men standing around bitching in Italian a kid sweeping the sidewalk.  It’s just what I imagine italy would be.

But alas, it was getting late and I had to hit the road.  I was very sad to have to leave Winnipeg and Canada.  There was so much left to see in Winnipeg.  I didn’t get to go to China Town and many of the buildings and museums they have around the city.  Winnipeg is definitely a place I could see myself living in, and I will have to visit Canada again soon.

In the mean time….

I’M HEADING SOUTH TO THE DAKOTAS

Or, CLICK HERE FOR CHAPTER 5

Or, CLICK HERE FOR THE TABLE OF CONTENTS.