WINNIPEG -- One of the coolest things I've been to in Winnipeg is the Assiniboine Park Zoo's polar bear exhibit. The viewing tunnels under the polar bear pool are so popular, especially during the parts of the day when the polar bears are active and in the water. The entire section of the zoo (Journey to Churchill) is pretty impressive.
Another thing people in Winnipeg enjoy, and you find lots of visitors and tourists there too, is The Forks. The restaurants and shops down there always seem to be busy. I've heard the market hall there is a really popular place for lunch. It's also a historic site and there's plenty to do there. The river walks go out each way (along both the Red and Assiniboine rivers).
Another place to go downtown is the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights. You can't miss that building near The Forks. The architecture, even just the building itself, is pretty cool. I think there are some really neat exhibits. You need some time to go through it. The one time I went, we went a couple of hours before closing and that wasn't enough time and we weren't able to get through it fully. We could have spent a couple of more hours there for sure.
And I'd say when you come to Winnipeg, you should skate the river, but that's not going to work this weekend.
There are a couple of restaurants I'd put at the top of my list. One is Tre Visi (Grosvenor Avenue), a great Italian place. The other is Saucers Café on Academy Road. Saucers is a good lunch place, has good soups and sandwiches and good teas. I like the pesto cream chicken gnocchi, and I get it without the cream, just with the pesto and chicken. I just love that.
And if you go to Saucers, you've got to try Jenna Rae Cakes, which is more or less right next door.
A few other favorites are: Santa Ana Pizzeria (St. Mary's Road); Mano a Mano Italian Kitchen on Corydon Avenue in Winnipeg's Little Italy; and the "BDI" (Bridge Drive-In) on Jubilee Avenue, which is pretty good, has great soft-serve ice cream and is different. And I've been to Sargent Sundae on Portage Avenue at Overdale Street (near Assiniboine Park), which is pretty good, too.
