WINNIPEG: FINAL DAY

Another great breakfast at the Gold Lounge and we're off to Assiniboine Park, home to the Assiniboine Park Zoo and Assiniboine Park Conservatory. Esther, Eunice and I were most interested in visiting the zoo. I was quite surprised with the size and variety of animals. In fact, as I kept on walking around it seemed never ending and that was a good thing. Okay, I forgot to take a map. Here's what we saw: lions (great exhibit and cage); sea eagles; monkey world of lemurs, marmosets and gibbons (always fun to watch; lots of amphibians; tigers; camels; kangaroo; llama; alpaca; reindeer; bison; lots of birds; an Australian exhibit; the Kinsmen Discovery Centre; and prairie dogs, peacocks running about along with turtles in the cages of other animals. I know that Esther and Eunice had a great time. www.society.com

Lunch was at the Velvet Glove lounge where I finally had the opportunity to sample the local fish, pickerel. It was served beer battered with sweet potato fries. Michael Blahuta joined me divulged the name of the best gelato store in Winnipeg.

Located in what was once the Little Italy of Winnipeg, Nucci's Gelati at 643 Corydon Avenue. I could not believe how great their gelato tasted! It's by far the best cold processed gelato that I have had anywhere! Why does the best hot processed have to be in Provincetown (I Dream of Gelato) and this one in Winnipeg!

The test was the dark chocolate, hazelnut, and amarena. The dark chocolate was clearly a chocoholic's dream; hazelnut was obviously not artificial; amarena was the special cherries imported from Italy and not the maraschino ilk. I met mom and pop, Rosa and Gino as well as their son Sebastian. Maria Pepe, their daughter, was not there at the time. Rosa then wanted me to taste the raspberry and lemon to get the true flavors. If I hadn't eaten lunch I would have tasted more! Esther and Eunice were just as happy. I then decided to have a shot of espresso, which I usually don't have. I don't know what the brand of coffee was. I didn't need anything else in it as it seemed to be quite low on that acidic taste. Rosa told me that she's been making gelato for 44 years.

Back to the hotel I rested and hung out in the Gold Lounge for several hours until it was time for the jam session in the Velvet Glove lounge. Those folks from the Folk Festival were doing their own thing while everyone just sat around munching, drinking, and watching the boob tube.

And so it was time to depart this wonderful city but not before my final breakfast and farewells.

DINING AT THE HOTEL

I met Michael Blahuta, the food and beverage manager who gave me the info about the food and Velvet Glove restaurant. It just happened that the few days before arriving I had my favorite Filipino food delivered from Mama Meena's Family Restaurant in Woodhaven. Coincidenctally the feature special menu of the month was "Experience the Philippines". Kyle, the chef of the evening, sent out a more than muse bouche of shrimp and smoked salmon topped with caviar. I ordered an appetizer of Pansit; chicken and shrimp with snow peas, cabbage, celery and carrot in a chicken broth with vermicelli noodles, scallions and sesame oil.

Rellenong Manok, is Cornish hen stuffed with chorizo, olives, raisins, edam cheese and hard boiled egg service with "fresh local market vegetables."

Dessert was a Leche Flan of sweet custard with caramel and fresh berries. I enjoyed this particular flan as it was a bit thicker than usual.

The food was tasty and savory but did not compare to the home-style cooking at Mama Meena's.

Esther and Eunice joined me to partake in the meals and had their photo taken with Kyle.

Lunch is served in their lounge area. I wanted to taste their local fish, pickerel. I had it beer-battered and fried with sweet potato fries.

A DAY IN WINNIPEG: CHECKING IN

Having visited most of the United States I am also sparked by the provinces of Canada. The Eastern provinces of New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontariohave been taken in as well as British Columbia on the West and Alberta in the middle. This time I decided on the middle again with Winnipeg, the capitol of Manitoba.

When it comes to being pampered at a hotel, I don't think it could have been better than staying on the Gold Floor of the Fairmont Hotel. I know that many of the hotels have a VIP floor with a lounge that sports extras such as a Continental breakfast, perhaps some tidbits in the afternoon and canapes in the early evening. Honor bars, and internet access are the usual amenities as well. However, in many cases the lounge is only open during the week catering to the business clientele.

Instead of checking in on the lobby floor, I was brought directly up to the Gold Lounge. I could immediately sense the warmth and joyousness of the staff but it wasn't until spending a bit of time that I noticed how the other customers were really enjoying themselves.

They have more than just a buffet Continental Breakfast and they seemed to be going for more healthy food and totally fresh. Some of the pluses were: fresh fruit, mozzarella salad, a hot item that involved eggs, and smoked salmon on bilinis. If you happen to stop by in the early afternoon, they had these sort of granola bars made with sesame seeds and topped with chocolate. Although you were always able to prepare your own tea or coffee, someone on the staff was always on hand to take care of that and bring it to your table.

The canapes were brought out at 5 p.m. and again you could tell that nothing was pre-frozen. I should have taken a photo of the spread. There was certainly enough of a variety to have dinner and they didn't bother with the pastry or such dessert items as there was fruit and various cheeses. It was all great except for an experimental canape of a tiny square of watermelon with bleu cheese on the top. Even dipping it in the provided honey sauce didn't help.

Not only were the staff friendly but those staying at the hotel didn't hesitate to strike up a conversation or simple "hello" with "strangers". The lounge had games and CD's available, internet access with a printer even though internet access was free in your room. You'd think that people would simply come into the lounge for breakfast or canapes and leave. There were families or couples playing games and some who would sit in the lounge for hours reading a book and enjoying a cocktail that they made.

The hotel was hosting a Folk Festival and many of the performers as well as those attending were staying at the hotel. Not all were on the Gold Floor. David Koetke the Fairmont Gold Manager, was graciously on hand to assist with everything including concierge service. He even goes out of his way to find out when someone is traveling elsewhere on Air Canada and gets a small gift that they find on board.

Let's not leave out Marie Paz Natividad, Rhosan Estoy and Colleen Bothor, who were never without a smile, good word or assistants on something you might need in your room and yes, they all met Esther and Eunice. As a matter of fact, Eunice was about to take a bite of my plate of desserts waiting in my room.