Canada By Rail: Winnipeg, MB

We walked from the train station to our hotel a couple blocks down on Main st. Not many people or cars at 4:00 am. We checked in then passed out in our bed until nearly noon.

We finally got out of bed and headed to a diner we’d seen on our walk from the station. We ate and planned out the remainder of our afternoon. We called a taxi and went to the only thing on our itinerary for the day, the Royal Canadian Mint.

The Royal Canadian Mint building in Winnipeg.

The Mint in Winnipeg only makes coins. They make fifteen million coins a day for Canada and several other nations. We took pictures of the really cool building before joining a tour of the mint facilities. It was interesting to learn about the processes used to make coins and to see the variety of coins Canada issues. Makes me wish the USA would take the time to redesign our coins. I also wish Americans would use dollar coins but, for some reason, we just don’t like them.

We took another cab back to the the hotel area and stopped back at the diner for milkshakes - vanilla for the Wife and Banana Fudge for me. They were yummy.

A restaurant on a pedestrian bridge crossing the Red river.

I went out for a short walk around the downtown/Exchange area of Winnipeg. This area is trying to be hipster but it’s not quite there they. A few more years and I think it will be a fun place to spend time at.

On Saturday we walked to the Forks area of Winnipeg, named after the fork where the Red and Assiniboine rivers combine. We rode a tourist bus around seeing the highlights of Winnipeg. The city is a one of big dreams with little payoff. An example of the coasts beating out the heartland. Having said this, there is lots of potential in Winnipeg.

We did some shopping around the Forks Market, ate lunch, and took a boat tour along the river. The boat tour was a nice break from the heat. As we took these tours we took note of things we would like to go to when we get back from Churchill.

We returned to our hotel, collected our bags, and took a taxi to another hotel where our Churchill expedition would start on Sunday.

Pictures can be found in my 2018-06 Canada By Rail Google Photos album.

Onward to Churchill for the polar bears and the beluga whales.