Winnipeg

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The Boring Stuff (Background Information):
Winnipeg is the capital of the province of Manitoba, located in central Canada. It is found at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, which has had a profound impact at times (see Climate And Other Natural Disasters below). There are roughly 600,000 people who live in the city area, and it is fairly widely regarded as one of the more culturally diverse populations in Canada. Large cultural groups include anglophone, francophone, First Nations, Ukrainian, Icelandic, Italian and Filipino. Winnipeg is located just east of the Hundredth Meridian, where the great expanses of the prairies begin. It is several hours from the nearest large centres (Minneapolis/St. Paul's, Regina, Calgary), which has some bearing on the local city - essentially, Winnipeg has several amenities normally only found in larger cities simply because it's too far away from everywhere else. Nicknames (printable): The 'Peg. License plate motto: Friendly Manitoba. Symbol: Bison.

Ways To Get There:
Winnipeg has a major airport, with connections to all the big centres (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Chicago, and lots of others). You can also get there via the Trans-Canada Highway (which conveniently runs through the middle of the city), by train (the station looks like a mini-Grand Central Station), hitch-hiking (not recommended during the winter months, which roughly means October to April), or bicycling (Pros: the whole province is flat. Cons: climate - see below). Although at the junction of two rivers, Winnipeggers use them more for recreation than long-distance transportation.

Where To Stay:
Winnipeg is used to being a crossroads, so it offers many possibilities to the casual hitchhiker or the dedicated tourist. There are many of the major "brand-name" hotels, including the Sheraton, Lombard, and Days Inn. An outstanding local choice is the Hotel Fort Garry, which features an atmosphere of mid-1920s elegance and a matching ballroom. Also available are many local bed and breakfast establishments if your tastes lean towards the domestically experimental. For those on a budget, there is a youth hostel located in the Wolsley area (affectionately known as the "Granola Belt" - much fun for those who have never left the 1960s, or those who want desperately to go back). There are also two universities which may offer residence rooms at low rates during the summer months.

How To Get Around:
Obvious ways include the car, taxis and the bus (which have some of the best-constructed shelters, due largely to the climate - see below). Less obvious include bicycles, a "Downtown Express" bus which only costs 25 cents and stops at many of the major sites, and skating along the Assiniboine River (which may eventually rival Ottawa's Rideau Canal) in winter months. Walking is always possible, but keep in mind two things: there is always the climate (to which I keep on referring, but with good reason - see below), and the 'Peg tends to be built out rather than up - as such, things are farther apart here than in many other parts of the world.

Where To Eat:
There are really an awful lot of restaurants in this city. My theory on this relates back to the climate (yet again): it gets sufficiently cold in the winter months that you have to do something indoors, and you might as well do something that helps maintain those crucial energy stores. Happily, though, this results in a variety of great places to dine. Notable spots include Pasta La Vista (modern Italian, with a loud party-type atmosphere), The Medicine Rock Cafe (about 30 minutes outside of the city, but offers the best Sunday brunch around), The Velvet Glove (for the well-heeled, or those on a generous expense account), Green Gates (a retrofitted mansion which aspires to using as much local produce as possible - also has several horses in an arena, but they are NOT on the menu), V.J.'s (local reputation for the best burgers in town), and the Rogue's Gallery (an artist's collective situated in a refitted house which serves up good food as well as local art). Other mentionables include Kelecki's (a family-owned diner which may rival V.J.'s for burgers), Elicia's (great Ukrainian soul food), Cafe Dansk (good Danish cooking) and Stella's Cafe And Bakery (excellent brunch). The crown jewel of Winnipeg for dessert-o-philes is Baked Expectations, which offers slices of cakes and pie that could feed and shelter a family of four. Corydon Street offers a blocks-long strings of Italian restaurants and cafes, with fantastic patio life in the summer months.

What To Drink:
Winnipeggers, as Canadians, enjoy their beer. Happily, many local microbreweries have recently sprung up. Fort Garry is one of the oldest, and best - their Dark Ale is worth experiencing, several times if possible. The River City Brewing Company offers a mix of house standards and seasonal variations - recent happy memories include their Hallowe'en Pumpkin ale, a Blueberry Scotian Lager (with real blueberries) and a Hemp Ale (the name speaks for itself). The Agassiz Brewing Company is a relative latecomer, but none the less welcome for its Catfish Cream Ale. Another prairie microbrew is Big Rock Ale, based out of Calgary. It produces some of the uniformly best brews it has been my pleasure to experience. And, of course, there's the Big Names - Molson and Labatt's. Locally, though, they have somewhat fallen out of favour since both of them shut down their facilities and pulled out of the city some years ago.

Where To Drink:
The River City Brewing Company has its own establishment - the beer is phenomenal, the food somewhat less so (occasionally great, often good, sometimes average, usually pricey). There are a number of bars in the downtown Exchange District, some of which change names as often as you change socks - at this writing, Die Maschine, Ice Works, and The Opium were pretty good. For the seamier side of fun, try the Hotel Windsor - great blues, and a clientele which an only be compared to the "Mos Eisley Creature Cantina" scene from Star Wars. The Pembina Hotel is a favourite with students. A word of warning: there are several hotel/bars on north Main street which are not for the timid, although you should be fine with a few precautions (a suit of armor, a pit bull terrier and a vial of penicillin should suffice).

Climate And Other Natural Disasters:
Ahh, where to start. As you may have gathered from reading the above, in my opinion the climate is responsible for shaping much of the local psyche. This includes (a) a perverse pride in being able to survive adverse conditions; (b) a remarkably friendly attitude (which could also be a survival mechanism, since those who didn't help others would be removed from the gene pool by the natural selection caused by frostbite); and (c) a paradoxical love of cold things (Winnipeg has the highest per-capita consumption of Slurpees in Canada; it also claims to be Canada's Christmas Capital, under the logic that you are pretty much guaranteed a white Christmas here). Here's the lowdown: winters are long and brutally cold. Expect temperatures in January to hover around -25 to -30 C, keeping in mind that a few winters ago a record was set for having over 30 consecutive days where the temperature never got ABOVE -35 C. There is also lots of wind year round, which can make things even nippier; the local forecasts will go into detail about "Wind Chill Factor", which frequently gets to the point where exposed flesh will freeze in under one minute. The remaining seasons of the year are much better: short but pleasant spring, hot and humid summers (up to 35 C in August) and brief but temperate autumns. To re-emphasize: this place goes through a range of over 70 degrees C (ie. -35 to +35 C), so keep that in mind when packing a wardrobe. Interestingly, Winnipeggers zealously guard their summer weekends and holidays - this is probably necessary to counterbalance the long months of winter. Under the "Natural Disasters" section, we tend to get flooding of the rivers, with severe floods every forty years (last in the spring of 1997). As well, if mosquitos ever were to count as a natural disaster, then this place chould have declared a state of emergency. Happily, though, no mudslides or avalanches (this is the prairies, remember?), and tornados are very rare.

What To Do:
Winnipeg has an incredible variety of events, conferences and celebrations. Chief among those is Folklorama, which celebrates the city's remarkable diversity for two weeks in July-August. Also worth experiencing is "Le Festivale Du Voyageur", a francophone festival in February; "The Winnipeg Folk Festival", which has some great folk music acts and more love beads than you can shake a stick at; "The Fringe Festival", which offers some a huge variety of fringe and alternative theatre (one recent success was "MacHomer," which featured one talented actor performing Macbeth using dozens of characters from the Simpsons); and "Days Of Wine And Roses", which is a weekend celebration in the Italian district of Corydon Street. This only scratches the surface of the huge number of events; basically, if you want to celebrate, there will be a good excuse almost any weekend of the year. Other popular local activities include golfing (the prairies offer an abundance of inexpensive space, so why not?), curling (if you're Scottish or Canadian, you'll understand - otherwise, get a local to explain it to you) ,hockey (but don't get a true Winnipegger started on the demise of the Winnipeg Jets unless you have a few hours, a box of Kleenex and a couple of beer on hand) and mocking Toronto. Culturally, the city is also very fortunate to have the Royal Winnipeg Ballet company, which offers performances throughout the years (with great student prices) and the Winnipeg Symphony.

Where To Go:
As with the above section, there are many more options than can easily be discussed. Significant places include The Forks (a marketplace at the junction of the two rivers; very touristy, but also has some of the best and cheapest fruits and veggies around), Assiniboine Park (the largest Canadian park within city limits - great for rollerblading, playing Ultimate, touring the English gardens or just watching the world go by), the Exchange District (blocks of gorgeous circa 1910-1920 buildings, recently named a UN World Heritage site for its unique architecture), and the Trappist Monastery ruins (beautiful and haunting - also make a great setting for Shakespeare In The Ruins each summer). Finally, do not forget that Winnipeg is in the prairies - it's worth it to get outside of the city just to see what they mean by "Big Sky" (or that "Winnipeg is the only place where you can see your dog running away from you for three days").

Summary:
Winnipeg is worth a visit. If in the summer months, bring some mosquito repellent and prepare to see lots of festivals. If in the winter months, bring lots of warm clothes and have fun touring the restaurants.

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