Assiniboine Park

Location: Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Address: 55 Pavilion Crescent
Date: Oct 2014
Website: www.assiniboinepark.ca

 Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba is more than just a park.  We were in Winnpeg as part of a trip to Churchill, Manitoba to see polar bears. We were in Assiniboine Park to see more polar bears and the other annimals of the Assiniboine Zoo.  Before we even reached the zoo, we soon realized that there were lots of animals to see throughout the park.

 

    The Pavilion is a beautiful building that operates as an art gallery. Admission was free and we went inside to take a look.  We knew already that the building contained one of the world's most famous bears.

 

    The second floor has a gallery dedicated to Winnie the Pooh.  Winnie the Pooh was a black bear cub from Ontario who was rescued by a Canadian Lieutenant called Harry Colebourn.  The bear was named Winnie after Harry's hometown of Winnipeg.

    Just outside of The Pavilion is a statue dedicated to Winnie and Harry.  Winnie was eventually taken to England and lived in the London Zoo.

  A.A. Milne wrote the famous books about Winnie the Pooh. The stories included his own son, Christopher Robin and his dolls.  The bear doll was named Winnie after visiting the real Winnie at her home in the London Zoo.  Above are some early Winnie the Pooh dolls.

 

    The other floors of the gallery contained art from other artists from Manitoba and highlighted the culture and history of the province.

 

    There were more bears of course, such as this polar bear that was part of a collection of nature paintings.  This painting reminded us that we were still headed to the zoo to see some real bears.
 

  Next to The Pavilion is a Nature Playground.  We found more creatures here all made of wood and plants.  There was a serpent.   

    There was also a yak bush and a sheep with big googly eyes.

    Just in case you had not yet had your fill of bears or Winnie the Pooh, there was a bear shaped bush.  We had not yet had enough so we headed over to spend the day at the zoo.

   After a long but enjoyable day at the zoo we headed back to our hotel.  As we left the park we saw one last animal.  A giant ox sculpture sits at the entrance to the park.  This ox is pulling a Red River cart which was used for early trade, travel and work in Winnipeg.  One last history lesson that didn't involve bears before we ended our day.

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Map of Our World
Nature Playground , Red River Ox Cart 
The Pavilion At Assiniboine Park 

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Post # 298