and the bears will play

These bears are the creation of sculptor Leo Mol and can be found in 

Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg.

playful cubs

these are but a tiny few I'm sharing for Jo's Monday Walk

polar bear and cub 

There are over 300 pieces of art in this sculpture garden dedicated to Leo Mol

rescued cub

It was his expressed wish that all his works of art be available to the public to enjoy, and he contributed his bronze sculptures, ceramic works and paintings to his adopted home of Winnipeg where he lived from 1949 until his death in 2009 at 94 years of age.

standing twin bears

cubs in a tree

cubs in a tree

standing twin bears

to bring a smile to your Monday morning

tree of light

Nuit Blanche is an all  night celebration of culture and contemporary art where the city becomes an open air art gallery

this daytime view of what turned out to be our favourite installation looked intriguing














but come the dark of night,
it all became clear

the light tree - or is it a cloud? - became a participatory event

and by pulling the chains the bulbs were turned on or off

it was all so enchanting

sharing with Our World Tuesday

at the zoo

While walking around the Winnipeg Zoo 
we could hear the roars before we saw the creatures

It was all part of the Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit

they didn't really look like the kind of creatures one might want to pet, and mostly it was only their heads and mouths that moved (so, no lunging at the onlookers!)

this guy is a Mojoceratops who is the size of a hippo

some, like this Quetzalcoatlus, looked a bit silly, or at least strange with its long stiff neck, oversized beak and no teeth. it apparently had a wingspan of over 15 metres - or 52 feet!

others did their best to look ferocious

Dyoplosaurus                                                   there were sixteen dinosaurs tucked into the forest and you walked along a looping pathway

oblivious to it all were these pronghorn and peacocks

and this nonchalant, sleeping tiger

now, he was a beast I wish I could have petted.

sharing with Jo's Monday Walk

a bridge to cross

The Osborne Street bridge in Winnipeg had a makeover recently and incorporated in its design was an art project that included phrases cut out (and lit at night by LED, which you can almost see in my dusk photos)  Here are a few of these balustrades as I walked across the bridge

                         

 Bridge ices over – slow down

The phrases all relate to the area

Osborne Village

It crosses over the Assinboine River

Winnipeg is known as a windy city, and the corner of Portage and Main is the windiest intersection in Canada

sharing with Sepia Saturday
and Jo's Monday Walk

grave post - Marie-Anne Gaboury

At the Cathedral Cemetery in St Boniface is the grave site of the Lagimodière family - Jean-Baptiste and his wife Marie-Anne Gaboury. 

Jean-Baptiste was born in 1778 and would become a voyageur in the fur trade. He and Marie-Anne married in 1805 and moved to the Red River Settlement where he was a hunter and trapper and frequently acted as messenger for the Hudson's Bay Company. They had 11 children, one of whom, Julie, would marry one of their neighbours, Louis Riel Sr. In 1844, she gave birth to Louis, who would grow up to be a celebrated and controversial Metis leader.

Marie-Anne Gaboury (born 1780) was known not only as the grandmother of Louis Riel, but also as grandmother of the Red River. Many Metis can trace their ancestry back to her. From a life in domestic service to the parish priest, she and her new husband embarked on an arduous journey through Quebec, Manitoba, North Dakota and the Northwest. She was said to be the first white woman to live in western Canada. The semi-nomadic life with other French Canadian fur traders and their native wives would have been challenging and dangerous yet she lived to an impressive 95 years of age.

the Garrick

While wandering the streets of Winnipeg, looking for signs and murals and interesting architecture, I came across a place selling the "coldest beer in Winnipeg". This may sound unappealing to anyone outside North America reading this. But really, depending on the beer, drinking it very cold may be the only way to get it down. As a general rule light body and low alcohol beer tastes better cold, while full body and high alcohol beers taste better when served warmer. What is being served here is probably something "lite" - Bud,  Miller, Coors, or Molson's ...
Had it been one of those unbearably hot southern Ontario summer days, I may have ventured inside for a look around and a quick one, but it wasn't. Anyway, I prefer my beer with more alcohol, and more flavour.

The Garrick Hotel was built in 1906, making it 110 years old this year. I'm sure it has a storied past, especially during Prohibition which started in 1916 and wasn't repealed until 1921, by which time the Wellington Hotel (the original name) had suffered one too many liquor violation fines and was sold by the bailiffs. The Garrick opened a year later after a makeover but while Prohibition was over there were still many alcohol restrictions and it was raided several times until finally being shut down in 1924. New owners re-opened it, but then the Depression hit which ruined many of the hotels and bars with owners simply walking away and abandoning their debts. Creditors were mostly the breweries who would often take over the premises.  Shea's Brewery were the lucky ones to inherit the Garrick. By 2008, it lost its vendor's licence and became the only historic hotel in downtown Winnipeg to not serve beer. Things improved so much by 2014 that it won an Achievement Award for "best business transformation in downtown Winnipeg".  It is now described as a downtown bar venue with vintage ambiance with state of the art sound, lights and special effects.

You can still see the faded sign for the original name Wellington Hotel.

some signs for Lesley's signs, signs and a not highly recommended hotel for Travel Tuesday

with thanks to this site for help with the history lesson

polar bears in a park

These polar bears are now more than 10 years old, and showing signs of their age.
















They hang out on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature and were enjoying the late evening sun when I stumbled upon them.

All of them were missing their name plates.








But, although faded, and a bit dirty, you could still get an idea of their design

At one time, they were part of a fundraising display for CancerCare.
62 of these 7 foot, 8,000 pound concrete bears were each sponsored by a corporation who was matched with an artist. They were then on display here and along the tree lined median of Broadway, thus the name Bears on Broadway (link where you can see pictures and names of all the bears)

The bears looked a little sad, I thought, in spite of their artistic, colourful coats.

 This one I could guess was called Loony Bear

and these two are known as Nanookshuk

combining two Inuit words - Nanook for polar bear and Inukshuk, a directional guide for a safe journey made of stacking stones.

The other bears have made a journey to various parks and gardens around Winnipeg.

I'm sharing this short journey with Jo for Monday Walks

Corydon Avenue

Corydon Avenue runs between Assiniboine Park 

 and what is known as Confusion Corner.  

After driving down it several times by bus and car on my way to and from downtown Winnipeg, I chose a (too sunny) morning to walk and capture the sights of the street at the Confusion Corner end that is known as Little Italy.

It was pretty quiet at 10am, but I found at least one other person enjoying the nice weather

There are many restaurants, though not all with such decorative patios

or decorative rear walls by the garbage bins

What first caught my attention were the many murals showcasing the area (see also here and here for other pictures) sponsored by the Corydon Ave BIZ (Business Improvement Zone)

Down some of the side streets, the homes look this

with many mature trees

the band on these trees are to protect against cankerworms. I saw many, many trees with these bands. Cankerworms cause a lot of damage in Winnipeg and really like American Elm, Manitoba Maple and fruit trees.





But on Corydon itself, many homes were lowrise apartment buildings with little character







though at least this one was getting a facelift

and this one has a few grand ideas

Scattered around, were these sculptures with painted images representing different countries. After I got home and did some research, I see I missed quite a few of them as according to the website there are eight  to be found. I was really disappointed in myself for not seeing them. If you want you can see the others here. This one is Argentina

 on the left is Spain, and the right, France

some business had rather unusual names...

and unusual canopies on the rooftop patios

Before I set out on my walk, I had high hopes of sitting on one of those patios with a coffee or latte, but  after commenting at one store that was open about how quiet it was on the street, I was told that none of the restaurants opened until dinner time. Sure enough, on a ride down the street in the evening, the place was hopping with people!

another urban walk for Jo's Monday Walks

with a few signs thrown in for Lesley's signs, signs

and some murals for Monday Murals