Not even an hour away from Winnipeg is Winnipeg Beach, which was on our list just out of curiosity. Actually, the boardwalk and the beach were quite nice! Not too many people since it was quite cool, but I can easily believe this place is packed in the heat of summer. We saw a lot of little sandpipers scrambling around for food, too.
So after stretching our legs on the boardwalk, we got back in the car and drove for just a little bit longer to reach Gimli, where most Icelanders we met in Iceland told us they had a relative... Turns out, this place was colonized by Icelanders back when Canada wanted to expand further to the West, and they originally landed on the island you see in the first picture. After a lot of hardships, they managed to build a nice community there, and it was a pleasure to visit! A very friendly local explained a lot to us about the history of the place and brought us to the top of the museum building to see the city. We thought at first he was the museum curator or something, but no, he just lives in the residence there and likes talking to people. 😃
We then visited the New Iceland Heritage Museum, where a whole lot of artifacts were displayed, and a beautiful mural greeted us. It made us want to go back to Iceland... We both had fun "dressing up" as Vikings, as you can see from my picture (I was born to drink out of a horn like this)! There was also a fun flight simulator and a collection of all kinds of minerals. Around the building, on the shore, we found Viking Park, where a nice statue of a Viking stands proud. We even saw Huginn and Muninn, Odin's ravens (or so we like to think)! The kind local I talked about earlier had also suggested we try the Beach Boy restaurant for the fish and chips, and boy, we were not disappointed. It was so good! If you're in the area, that's the place to go for a bite.
We also learned that, although we were late in the season, snakes were still active at Narcisse Snake Dens! It had been too cold in May to allow the snakes to mate, so some of them were still at it, apparently. So we decided to do a little detour just to check it out. It was quite cold and a little rainy, but we managed to see some snakes in Pit 2!
We found a rest area for the night not long after that and planned our next stop in Riding Mountain National Park. But that's another story! Stay tuned, folks! 💜
TL;DR: We went for a little walk on Winnipeg Beach, got treated to a special view of the city by a local guy, visited the New Iceland Heritage Museum, and went looking for trolls at Viking Park. Then we spontaneously decided to go see the Narcisse Snake Dens, where garter snakes mate in the spring!
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