When You're Cold And Frozen

We rang in the New Year in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I obviously stopped at Tim Horton’s before leaving the airport to fulfill the weird fascination with it that I had in 2014. Later in the week I was walking through the snow with a cup of coffee and someone asked, “Is that a Horton’s” and I thought that sounded interesting. Most of the cast had never experienced -19ºF before, so they were very surprised when the insides of their nose froze. It was very fun for me to watch this because they didn’t know but I knows. Dianne and I set out to find festive drinks and glitter. The malls in Winnipeg are connected by crossways and tunnels, so you don’t have to go outside. We didn’t know until later that our hotel was a part of this tunnel system but that’s ok because sometimes you need to walk around in the cold so you learn to appreciate your life. I’d like to note that neither of us could use our phones for directions during this experience because our data didn’t allow it. 

Who is Roger?

And this is why we asked a Shoppers employee for help. Not only did she recommend a place to find glitter; she also told us about the local night club scene. Perfect. So then we got lost in the system of walkways while trying to find Portage Place (a mall). Along the way we found a liquor store with a line that wrapped through the aisles like an inner-city Trader Joe’s. About ten feet from the counter a new customer came in looking for something very specific and then found it in the aisle in front of me. The person behind me and I were very curious to see what it was, so I checked it out and it was a Vodka Mudshake. 

Person Behind Me Who Could Possibly Be Named Denise: I’m kind of curious about this now.

Me: Me too. Should I do it? I’m gonna do it.

And then I bought it. As the cashier was giving me my total they asked me, “Air miles?” I thought I heard, “Anything else?” but I wasn’t sure. The dialect is different, but not that different, and it took three tries for me to understand what was happening. Apparently you can collect air miles when you buy alcohol? Then Dianne and I found glitter and bought food. My lunch/dinner ended up being a calzone that was bigger than my face and I ate it all. Then we celebrated the birth of 2019 twice (11PM for our East Coast needs and 12AM because it’s real.) 

Just a few minutes from our hotel is the winter/shopping wonderland The Forks. We skated on the river as a truck planted discarded Christmas Trees into the snow to create ambiance. Skating on a river is surprisingly harder than skating on a rink. The surface is uneven and there’s no zamboni to clear the ice shavings. Definitely would do again. There are a number of places to eat at The Forks, and among the restaurants and food stands are clothing, candy, wine, crystal, kitchen, and toy stores. 

That's in Canada

Cookie Dough Macaron from Jenna Rae Cakes

Self-aware

In the days following I heard people wishing each other “Merry Christmas,” which is very interesting to me. I never hear “Merry Christmas” after December 26, and it’s rare for me to hear “Happy New Year” after January 2. Which leads me to this: Canadians actually are very very nice. In America most people act like they don’t want to talk to you or they have a secret agenda while talking to you. Canadians are just nice? Another great thing about Canada is that servers make minimum wage, which is not a thing in America at all. I learned this while waiting for my take out dinner at Corrientes. 

Server Who Could Be Named Denise: You can sit at the bar while you wait.

Me: Ok.

Server: Would you like anything to drink?

Me: Water is fine.

Also Me: Cider would taste nice too.

Me: Actually do you have any cider?

Server: No. But we do have a blueberry beer you might like.

Also me: Try everything one time.

Me: Ok.

And then I drank the Trans Canada Brewing Company’s blueberry ale it was really good. I’d get it again on purpose. When I closed out the server handed me the pin pad, as other servers and cashiers had done before, and I had to ask if this is typical here and she said yes because when servers take cards away to a mysterious register somewhere there’s a risk of them copying down the number, and I thought yes, that’s so true. Trust no one. 

I had Saskatoon berries for the first time in a sage scone from Forth and also this skillet.

The next night we celebrated Emanuel’s birthday at Wet & Dry Dept. There aren’t too many items on this menu, which led me to order the kale caesar salad complete with bacon in the dressing and veal in the salad. I don’t eat pork and I’d never had veal before, but I needed food and Try Everything One Time so I ate this and  mm. And the flourless chocolate cake had the thickest whipped creme/icing? on top. The mac and cheese and spaghetti noodles are made fresh. I had a bite of Dianne’s spaghetti and the fresh pasta really does taste very different from the box.

After our three show day we explored the night club scene at Fame. Music by Ke$ha.

This week was a great lesson in making use of wifi and paying attention to directions and my surroundings. I’d like to use my phone even less this year, and I think this trip has me on a great start.