Leaving Winnipeg
Driving around and through Winnipeg, what struck me first were how many churches I saw. Churches with steeples,and bells, which is something I haven't seen much outside of Quebec. And other than churches, the most plentiful item we saw were parks. Gorgeous green parks everywhere. Down Portage there's an incredibly wide boulevard flanked by rows of huge, mature trees marching in a straight line down both sides, facing the streets. The center of the boulevard is lush greenery with park benches and looked very inviting. I bet on a nice day it's full of people. Today it was empty. Ergo, not a nice day. Also Sunday, so maybe the people were in some of the many churches.
Lots of the little buildings and older shops downtown are brightly painted with flowers and other pictures. Looks cheerful and cute, and much better than being graffitied with tags from the local gangs.
On the outskirts of the city, heading east on TC #1, the road was a patchwork of repairs and hideously bumpy. Really, one of the worst roads on which we've ever driven and as part of the Trans Canada, a real embarassment. But maybe it's because the weather has been so bad and they haven't had time to fix the roads. Evidently they've had 3 weeks of solid rain and the ditches on either side of the highway were so high with water in parts that you could have canoed down them. In fact, bruised and bloated clouds hung low in the sky, ready to drop some more.
The CBC kept us company on our drive and early in the afternoon we were entertained by Stuart Maclean and the Vinyl Cafe. Today he was broadcasting from The Canadian, the train that crosses our country and like us, he happened to be somewhere in Ontario.
The rain and clouds hung around most of the day, but we managed to find a little picnic spot and eat our lunch without getting wet. A small red squirrel was very interested in our company and hung around, probably hoping for a handout, but he wasn't very interested in the edamame husks.
Lots of the little buildings and older shops downtown are brightly painted with flowers and other pictures. Looks cheerful and cute, and much better than being graffitied with tags from the local gangs.
On the outskirts of the city, heading east on TC #1, the road was a patchwork of repairs and hideously bumpy. Really, one of the worst roads on which we've ever driven and as part of the Trans Canada, a real embarassment. But maybe it's because the weather has been so bad and they haven't had time to fix the roads. Evidently they've had 3 weeks of solid rain and the ditches on either side of the highway were so high with water in parts that you could have canoed down them. In fact, bruised and bloated clouds hung low in the sky, ready to drop some more.
The CBC kept us company on our drive and early in the afternoon we were entertained by Stuart Maclean and the Vinyl Cafe. Today he was broadcasting from The Canadian, the train that crosses our country and like us, he happened to be somewhere in Ontario.
The rain and clouds hung around most of the day, but we managed to find a little picnic spot and eat our lunch without getting wet. A small red squirrel was very interested in our company and hung around, probably hoping for a handout, but he wasn't very interested in the edamame husks.
Comments