I have been fortunate enough to see much of my Canadian countryside. From the rugged west coast of British Columbia and the northern Yukon landscapes and then to the far east where the cliffs bleed red in Prince Edward Island and the humpbacks are plentiful in Newfoundland — I have even lived a year in Saskatchewan with the rolling fields of golden wheat — but never have I stepped foot in Manitoba. This made my recent trip here quite special as I have always wanted to visit but just haven’t got around to it until now.
We started in Winnipeg and there was so much to see and do that I thought I would dedicate one of my blogs just to this city. We spent a full day exploring the sights, and I have illustrated some must-go places within the city.
The Forks for me was such a nice area in Winnipeg. It is where our hotel was located, called the Inn at the Forks, and so we had free time to explore the area within walking distance. Such beautiful architecture and happy vibes. You know when you get to a city and just know it’s a friendly place? There were so many people walking around and playing ball in the green space — I knew immediately I liked this city. Even flying in I could tell it was a green city, so many trees! We met up with some local Instagrammers, @reidov and @austin.mackay, who gave us some intel on what to expect out of this lively province.
Of course, we had to visit Assiniboine Park Zoo in case we didn’t see any polar bears up North (don’t worry we did!). The zoo was a great alternative to learn about the conservation efforts toward keeping these beautiful bears on our planet. We also had some fun watching one play in the water in the underground aquarium!
We later went to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). I had never heard about this museum until our trip, but I absolutely love to learn about history and I could spend hours in any museum so I looked forward to exploring this one. The museum opened in 2014 and is now a dramatic part of the Winnipeg skyline, and the architecture alone was a muse with wonderful designs and innovative catwalks throughout. Our group dispersed as we explored through the 10 galleries through the glowing ramps — a metaphor for the light through the darkness. It was refreshing to be inspired by influential persons that I read about while walking the museum, learning how difficult some things have been to accomplish and how still today there are many rights issues at the forefront.
Later, we had time to walk the Exchange District, a hip area of Winnipeg with many great restaurants and shops. We had breakfast here earlier at an amazing spot called Clementine — highly recommend it! We met up with a guide to do a city walk to see some of the public art around town and to learn about more history in Winnipeg. The “ghost signs” of Winnipeg I found to be particularly interesting. They are old billboard paintings or store signage from decades ago that are fading away, but the city had decided these signs held too much historic value and so they are protected in the downtown areas. I found the city hot spots of Winnipeg to all be very clean, artistic and full of culture, which is probably due to the care the community has put into this vibrant city.
We wrapped up with a dinner at the hotel, and I felt so happy to be able to enjoy this city as well as our desired destination of Churchill. There is so much to do and see that I felt we barely touched the surface of what Winnipeg has to offer, and I know I will be back to this colourful city.
Stay tuned for Part 2! Content Produced in Partnership with Travel Manitoba and Travel Mindset