Winter in Winnipeg

I am in Winnipeg. The temperature is about -6°C/21°F right now. It is definitely still winter here. I like it. It reminds me of winter in Minnesota. People complain about the cold and snow, but when you have been away from it for a few years, it can be something nice to get back into. When you live in Hong Kong, anything below 20°C is a nice change of pace.

I am staying at the Holiday Inn near the airport. I usually avoid airport hotels, but my flight landed after midnight and the flight out leaves at 6:30 in the morning. This hotel has a quick and free airport shuttle, which is convenient for a lot of reasons. After a 15 hour flight to Toronto, dinner at the airport, a delayed connecting flight and another 3 hours to Winnipeg, trying to find the hotel was not on the agenda. If I stayed at a hotel in a more interesting neighborhood, I would have to rely on Lily to pick me up and drop me off. She would do it without complaint, but I think she has enough on her plate right now without worrying about me.

Thanks to all those time zones, the 15 hour flight only took 2 hours. But it sure felt like 15 hours. Thanks to the International Date Line, the 13 hour flight home will take 29 hours. Fortunately, it will only feel like 13 hours.

The Holiday Inn is actually a pretty nice hotel. The rooms are basic business hotel, but there is a small swimming pool and hot tub – indoors, of course – and a decent little fitness center. I doubt I will be doing much exercise outdoors, what with all that -6°C/21°F, so the gym might come in handy. I have yet to try the free hotel breakfast, but I'm not expecting much. It is an airport hotel, after all.

I don't know what they have around this neighborhood. I have not been out since I came in from the airport last night. I saw pretty much nothing in the pitch black of midnight in winter.