Oot and Aboot in Canada Eh! – Day Nine

This morning I took the easy and much warmer way out and used the treadmill in the basement.

If only I’d thought to use this earlier in the week.

It’s in miles so I have to convert but keeping the mind busy makes the time go faster.

Today we were lucky enough to be taken out to lunch at Hy’s restaurant, downtown Winnipeg.

Just walking into the building was an impressive experience!

We couldn’t go past the NY Steak Sandwiches so all  ordered them but with different sides.

Honestly the steaks were cooked so well!! They were such a pleasure to eat! And I had the veggies and they were sweet and had lot of flavour as well.

We also enjoyed a delicious bottle of wine as suggested by our lovely server.

For some reason, we don’t have a lot of Key Lime Pie in Australia so when I saw it on the menu, I asked hubby if he wanted to split it and it really was very good!! It was pretty sweet though so I was glad I only had a half serve.

We went for a walk this afternoon and noticed a carnival setting up nearby.  I’m not sure how often it comes by here but I think it’s been set up at some point every time we’ve visited.

I’ve also noticed School Buses all over the place here! We don’t have those in Australia.
If anyone needs a bus, they just get on a public bus or train.
No special school buses or at least, it’s not the normal thing.

And while shopping I saw some S’Mores and I’ve never had one so had to try it right?

I was so excited to try it but it was pretty sickly sweet so I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to have that again.

Our time is quickly coming to a close. Too quickly. We’ve returned our rental car and are leaving in the wee hours tomorrow morning so today really is it and we’ll be packing and organising all our stuff.

As this part of our journey comes to an end, we’ll be looking forward to our next leg that begins in Tokyo, Japan.

I hope that you’ll continue on this trip with us.

For now, Good night and konichiwa!

Oot and Aboot in Canada Eh! – Day Eight

I looked out the window this morning and thought “Yes!!! It’s not raining! I can walk!”
So I went outside in my “Aussie” winter gear, not realising that the sun does not always mean warmth here in Canada. Especially true when there’s a fierce wind blowing.

As I stepped out I immediately thought “This is a mistake” but I obstinately continued.

Five minutes later I broke into a jog to try to warm up and wondered at what temperature frost bite was an issue. If I had worn gloves, it would have been a whole lot better but I’m not sure I even own a pair of gloves!

When I finally got back hubby said he was about to get in the car and come look for me. I admitted that I almost called him from the local supermarket. They have wifi there and I’m travelling without international roaming so I’m not always contactable.

In any case, it all worked out and I warmed up with a couple of coffees as soon as I got back to the house.

We decided to drive out to Lockport today. I’ve been told a bit about Lockport and the Skinners that is located there and apparently a Winnipeg tradition.

I didn’t realise that Lockport was only a small location.

I was expecting a holiday type destination.
A place to take the family when you have a day off.

Still, I saw the Skinners there and after hubby described it as a Winnipeg tradition I thought I have to try that! There’s actually two down there. One on the highway and another  on the water (the original)

It looked so cute inside too!! And the lady who served us was just so nice.

We asked her recommendation for what to eat and she said they were known for their hotdogs so we got that. She asked if we wanted them with the works and we said yes! of course!

Turns out “the works” means with mustard, relish and 3 slivers of chopped onion.

They tasted not bad but I don’t know if they were worth the trip. And look at that Diet Dr Pepper with the exact amount of 591 ml in there. That was pretty funny.

We did have a look at their arcade room which seemed like a cool idea.

I probably would have had a better time if I’d actually put some quarters in there.

We had family coming by the house this afternoon so we stopped in at Tim Hortons to pick up some sweets. We didn’t know that there was already going to be a dozen Tim Horton donuts when we got back home so with our 50 Tim Bits, there was quite a selection of sweets!

And to top off our junk food day, we stopped in at A&W for dinner. We’d seen them advertising a Bison Burger for a limited time and just wanted to try it.

The burgers tasted fine. No different to any other meat burger I thought, but a lot heavier mustard taste than I’m used to.

Lastly, I’m happy to say, with one more day to go, I’ve found there is a working treadmill in the basement so I won’t have to battle the cold AND/OR potentially aggressive geese in the morning when I want to walk! Better late than never

So for now, beware of Canadian Geese and Goodnight and Bonne Nuit!

Oot and Aboot in Canada Eh! – Day Seven

This morning I took advantage of the nice weather (it’s supposed to rain later today) and went for a brisk early morning walk. I wasn’t far from home when I saw a whole heap of geese. Now anyone who knows me knows I don’t like birds in general, and some of them I’m actually fearful of (Those damn magpies!)

And I’ve mentioned previously, that I’ve heard about Canadian Geese aggression. While I was on my walk  this morning I saw a whole heap of these Geese together and honestly had to think twice about whether I wanted to continue on my walk. Especially as I saw a couple with two little baby geese crossing the road.

Take a look at this clip I found on You Tube if you want to see how they can act!

So I did end up making it to the supermarket without being attacked, and found this little beauty.

Baileys Coffee Creamer!!
Can’t wait to have my next coffee.

I should explain to my friends in Australia, they have creamer here that they put in coffee. It’s not as thick as our cream back home, but it’s creamier than our whole milk. It tastes delicious! I wish we had an equivalent in Australia.
It normally comes in a carton that looks like a regular milk carton.

I was also looking for certain biscuits and was walking up and down the aisle looking for where they had their biscuit section until I remembered that the word I should be looking for was “cookies”
And look, they had Tim Tam’s too!! I think they’re a touch expensive here though.

 

We went to Polo Park shopping centre after lunch and I felt like I would in any shopping centre back home.

I’ve been here so many times over the years I’m completely familiar with it and knew where all the stores where.

We drove around some then stopped in for a coffee break at, where else but Tim Hortons.

I went to the counter and asked for a couple of white coffees. The person looked at me blankly. “Two white coffees” I repeated. He said “What kind of coffee do you want?”
And the reason he was confused is that they don’t say that here. You order coffee and it’s expected to be black unless you ask for milk/creamer. So I ordered two black coffees with two “creamers”. It was delicious!

We also got some Tim Bits and a chocolate crunch cookie to tide us over until our family dinner.

Another thing I’m having to get used to is the automatic flushing toilets.

Although we do have some of those in Australia, they have many more here and sometimes it just catches me off guard!!

And sometimes it won’t flush and I’m looking at what the heck I’m supposed to push, pull or wave my hand over to get the thing to flush.

We went to Paradise Restaurant for dinner.  When we walked in, there was a beautiful Italian cooking smell that took me right back to the seventies.
Actually it was comforting, and I really love Italian food so I was looking forward to dinner.

This picture was of the unoccupied section. There really were people in there I promise. I loved the pictures of different parts of Italy on the walls.

Our server brought out some bread sticks to start. They were made from pizza dough.

When I put mine on my plate my mind went somewhere it probably shouldn’t. Come on, I’m not the only one who sees it am I?????

And this was the rest of our food. We really didn’t have any complaints other than we thought the serves were a bit small. I know my fettuccine was really tasty and I loved the sauce too. I like it simple.

Sadly another day has come to an end.

Good night, bonne nuit and don’t dream of bread sticks.

 

Oot and Aboot in Canada Eh! – Day Six

Hubby decided to join me for a walk this morning and although it was only 8-9 degrees celsius, the sun was out so he decided a short sleeved t-shirt would be good enough.
I was happy to be walking but I forgot hubby likes to make stops along the way so as soon as he saw those golden arches, we stopped.

We came across a “stobie” pole on steriods. Actually, there were quite a few of these.

They’re called hydro poles here.

I got hubby to stand at the base so you can get an idea of how gigantic it is.

Today we had to do a bit of personal business/banking so we went downtown.

Hubby has been loving driving this Cadillac. It does seem like we’re driving around in luxury!

Passed some Cannabis store signs along the way. Took a few pics of the downtown area which looked quite nice.

It’s funny for me to see signs in two languages wherever we go.

This pic upper right was a very funny situation. Hubby had to get a copy of his birth certificate so we went to Vital Statistics and had to get a number and wait to be called. Hubby went to get a number and violently pulled the number tab. All of a sudden, the entire roll came undone without any tabs separating. It rolled across the floor and hubby, full of embarrassment, started rolling it back up as quick as he could.
What made it even more funny was that there was a customer immediately to his right who saw it and started laughing uncontrollably. It was such a funny giggle because he was trying to stifle it but just couldn’t.

We walked around Portage Place looking for some other department. Lot of interesting things and people around there.

We drove out to the country again late afternoon and stopped in at Tim Horton’s on the way and this time, we got some sweets as well!! We got a Maple Pecan Danish and a Cinnamon Scroll.

I love how here, and in the U.S too, they offer you coffee with milk or cream. I could get used to the lovely taste of cream in my coffee!!

Still not used to the fact that they display prices before the tax is applied.  You never really know how much you will be charged. The first few times I couldn’t work out why I had paid more than the ticketed price and then I was told.  Why don’t you people rebel!! This is a horrible system! The ticket price should include everything you need to pay. Price and tax! None of this add on at the end. And if you’re having a meal, you have to add on tip after that as well so you may think something is fairly cheap until all the extras are added on to it.

I had doggy cuddles this afternoon again. I could have sat here all afternoon with that little cutie.

We went with family to Portage la Prairie. It seemed like a nice place but it was so close we moved from the park to the indoor recreation centre.

Because it was easy, we went to Boston Pizza for dinner again tonight.

We started off sharing a big plate of nachos. These were great.

In our party of five, four of us had the New York Steak Sandwich. It was so delicious!

And we also ordered a plate of chicken tacos.

We said the first lot of goodbyes to family tonight and that’s the worst part. Always wonderful to see family and it’s never easy to say goodbye.

For now, goodnight and bonne nuit.

Oot and Aboot in Canada Eh! – Day Five

I’ve been told that since I’m here in Winnipeg, it would be a crime not to have the much talked about, Jeanne’s Cake. Jeanne’s Bakery seems to be quite famous locally.

So I looked up the different places I could get this “amazing” Jeanne’s cake from and found I could get it from our local supermarket.

They only had one choice “white” and they were only available from the freezer.

We had some for breakfast (naughty) and my verdict?

 

It was ok. I definitely liked the biscuit base. The icing wasn’t significantly different to other icing I’ve had but maybe that was because it was still a little frozen.
So yes, I did like it, but no, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to have it again.

We went back to Kildonan Park this afternoon and this time walked through. It was so warm we saw topless men. There was lots of Summer clothing out!

And we went to the popular witch’s hut but it was still closed even though it said it was opening in May

This is supposed to be the witch’s hut from the Hansel and Gretel fable and if you don’t know what that is then I feel sorry for you!

We also came across these painted rocks which we later learned were part of a Winnipeg Community called “Winnipeg Rocks”

They have a pretty cool Facebook Page if you’re interested.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/WinnipegRocks/

Speaking of nice weather and enjoying the sun, we came across an older couple who from a distance, were sure were sunbathing in the nude. The “blue” you can see is actually a book and we weren’t sure if there was any clothing behind that.

But as we got closer it became more clear

 

Tonight we plan to enjoy a little piece of home and yes, I’m looking forward to it!