Oct 5 2006
Mural
Winnipeg apparently makes a lot of effort to preserve and restore old advertising murals. They are everywhere and I think they look very nice.
Monthly Archives: October 2006
Oct 4 2006
Winnipeg
Alison currently travels a lot for her work. The company she works for was bought by a company in Manitoba and she works on the integration of the two company’s computer systems, so she sometimes has to be in Winnipeg. This time I decided to join her for a few days, because I could use a break.
Manitoba is located in the middle of Canada, on the prairies. A three-and-a-half hour flight from Montréal (2400 km), or a two and a halve day, 1000 dollar train ride if you have the time and money. I flew. It’s my third Canadian province that I visit.
We stay on the executive 19th floor (the rest of the hotel was full with a union meeting of the steelworkers union) of the plush Fairmont Hotel, and the view is really nice. It’s like resembles the Netherlands, it’s all flat, but there are way more trees. Actually as far I can see there are trees.
The hotel is located in downtown Winnipeg and in the evening the downtown area is completely deserted. We even had difficulty finding a restaurant that was still open.
What I also noted was that taxis here all have cameras on board and GPS and a protective shield around the back of drivers. It appears they have a big problem with crack-cocaine here, and the crime related to it. So yet another resemblance to the Netherlands. We’re lucky in Montréal with our low crime rates.
Oct 1 2006
Bear
We’re going hiking in Winnipeg next weekend and since there are bears in that region I decided to buy a bear vault. It is a canister of strong plastic that bears can’t open (and humans, with their smaller paws can) and can’t destroy. You put your food (and other smelly items) in it so you’re not feeding the bears. We used to hang our food in a tree, but finding a branch and throwing a rope over it is often a big challenge. Especially when it’s dark, raining and you are in a forest with only small trees.
A fed bear is a spoiled bear and eventually starts to roam around humans, cause trouble and eventually will be shot. We don’t want that. Not that we expect to have an actual bear encounter, because black bears are quite private and usually try to avoid contacts with humans.
O, and in case you wondered, Pepe doesn’t like bear vaults. So no Bonsai Pepe.
Oct 5 2006
Roomservice
I think this is the very first time in my life that I ordered room service. I usually don’t stay in 200-dollar-per-night hotels and I like going out to grab food. But today I was still hungry and too lazy to scour the streets to find some food.
So I had a nice mushroom lasagna for 17 dollars. A good thing Alison’s employer picks up the tab.
By mare • A., canada, english, food, travel •