Also attracting my own attention today was the new BBC2 teen drama Falcon Beach. I didn't really mean to watch it although I was wondering if it was the new one meant to be based on Friends when it came on. But about five minutes into the programme I thought the scenery looked similar to Winnipeg Beach, a place I visited with Rebecca when I was in Canada! Checking the TV Times I read that it was based in Canada but was supposed to be a seaside town. Other little things seemed familiar and even the licence plates looked like Manitoban ones. Then I saw the church and I looked back to my pictures and it was the same church. Same boardwalk, same arcade, same streets, same water tower. I was pretty sure it had been filmed in Winnipeg Beach and this was confirmed when I watched the credits!! So there you go - I've been to the place where Falcon Beach is set. And I bet none of you have :)
Watch it yourself next time it's on and look out for these landmarks! Salty's is where Tanya tried to get the bus in today's episode!
As Elia very kindly reminded me last nite, I also have been neglecting my blog. I blame jetlag. For everything that happens this week.
Kenora itself was very maritime and we had a nice walk by the marina.
On our way back we had a picnic in a random campground. We also followed the sign for East Braintree, only to discover that it had a church and 4 houses. We were not impressed.
The day we nicely finished off by watching a video. Funny story about that. Rebecca didn't have enough I.D. with her so I JOINED A VIDEO STORE IN CANADA - isn't that hilarious? So far I have accumulated an American Eagle loyalty card and a Rodgers video card.
I am really enjoying the experiences like these which you wouldn't have if travelling independantly.
This is me trying to make chemistry googles look sexy. As you can see, it was not overly successful.
Today we travelled north of Winnipeg. It was the first time I had been out of the city properly and I got very excited about grain fields, prairie grass, flattened houses and GRAIN ELEVATORS (Rebecca - "Yay - ANOTHER grain elevator!")!! The first place we visited was the Lower Fort Garry heritage park. This was a fascinating opportunity to see life as it was for the early settlers in the times of the Hudson Bay Trading Company. A first for both Rebecca and me was trying a Buffalo Burger - I was proud of myself for trying it, and very impressed with the flavour which was similar to beef. 
Next stop, further north, was Winnipeg Beach, a small town at the lower edge of Lake Winnipeg. I really liked this town - it felt like we were on a beach near Florida! We spent some time lazing by the water, and then Rebecca introduced me to Slurpees (like Slush Puppies). 
A very interesting thing to note about Canadian roads (especially in the prairies) is that they are very, very straight - in fact so straight that every bend has to be marked in case you miss it! I think we hit a maximum of 5 curves on our travels today! Travelling further northwards again we saw a storm brewing ahead. I was quite excited at the prospect of seeing a tornado, but I guess it was a good thing I didn't! We didn't stay very long in the next town of Gimli because of the storm (by this stage there was lightning, wind and a bit of rain) but I was fascinated by its Icelandic culture. The storm didn't come to much, or else we beat it driving down south again.
At night I had the unique opportunity to participate in some Metis square dancing, something Rebecca is learning. Metis culture is a mix of Aboriginal and European. We also drove throught the North End (dodgy area) to get there! 
You may or may not know that Winnie the Pooh was inspired by a real bear called Winnie the Bear, from Winnipeg! I visited the zoo in Assiniboine Park solely to take a picture of the statue. On our way out to visit the St Norbert ruins, we passed a heritage park and decided to go in for 15 mins. It reminded me of the Ulster American Folk Park and there were lots of interesting things to see inside the houses, although it must be mentioned that we ended up just chatting to the French Canadian tour guide as he was very cute! The St Norbert Ruins were also lovely and it was here that I had my first glimpse of prairie grass.
Tonight we met Rebecca's Grandmere for dinnner and then coffee. She is a lovely woman of 92, who acts and looks like a 65-year-old! She heard I hadn't had tea all week so she made me some back at her house, and then we made a funny video about the uses of tea and the proper way to make it! I still can't get over how youthful she is, she is also really trendy (probably due to her being an artist long ago!)
After eating, we crossed the esplanade (spiky bridge) to St Boniface (the Francophone area of the city) and visited the Basilica Cathedral and Louis Reil's grave. Louis Reil is famous for something, but I can't exactly remember what. Back at 'The Forks' we toured the markets which sold all kinds of everything and got our portraits taken by this crazy-looking guy who only asked for donations. Rebecca said he had been doing that for as long as she could remember. It must be about 35 degrees. I am currently sitting in the shade of a polar bear (sculpture) and sunbathing ... After the sunbathing we went to get our pictures taken with some of the bears.
Tonight I experienced the Winnipeg edition of Maud's - the BDI - and had a very delicious ice-cream. There is a funny video of me asking for a flake in my ice-cream and the girl looking a little confused. We crossed another bridge into a very quiet neighbourhood and sat for ages on the swings talking about life, love and music. On the way back over the bridge we encountered some racoons, but only from a distance. Apparently they bite. These creatures were very stereotypically rummaging in the garbage!
9.15 (Toronto): The thing I have found most hard to get used to in Canada is how weird my accent sounds. You never notice it so much, say in France, because everybody else is speaking another language most of the time, and it is very obvious that English is their second language. But when everybody is speaking English and you're speaking it differently, that's when being from Northern Ireland really sticks out. It's not always a bad thing though, guys in the airport were flirting with me because of my cool (cute?) accent!
Tonight I went with the girls to see Chicago at the opera house! It was very entertaining, all big band stuff and showbiz dancing. We inadvertantly got front-row seats which was a good surprise! At the end they were throwing out flowers and I got one [see below for how I used it!]
