August 24, 2025
The first thing I did on my second day in town was go to the Remai Modern Art Museum. It was one the few things I could find open on a Sunday. When I went inside the lobby there were perhaps hundreds of suncatchers hanging down from the second floor ceiling.
Some of them were attached to motors which caused them to slowly spin in place and their reflective surfaces would create flashes of light. The others were just hanging and would occasionally move slightly just based on air movement.
Frankly I wasn’t too impressed with the museum itself (I am a big fan of modern art and I think this is the first time I left a museum truly disappointed). I did spend some time up on the second floor speaking with a woman who worked at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, located in the northeast part of town. She and another volunteer had on colorful Ukrainian garb and were there to encourage kids to draw colorful pictures.
First, she informed me that the museum itself was closed today. That was on my agenda for later in the day but since she works there I took her word for it. She did tell me about another Ukrainian Heritage Site near Edmonton, which I would be close to later in my trip. Unfortunately that turned out to be a disappointment too as I learned when researching it later that they had lost their main building in a wildfire earlier in the year and the whole place was shut down indefinitely.
I have noticed lots of Ukrainian flags as I have driven around all three provinces I have visited and can only surmise that people from Ukraine have come to Canada to run farms, or otherwise live and work in Canada. Agriculture is a big part of their upbringing and I’m sure they sought a more peaceful place to apply their skills and raise their families. I am sure they have other talents as well and now work to support their local communities here.
It was a nice day and I spent some time down by the river and in some of the many parks located around town. The South Saskatchewan River runs past the city and there is a long park along its banks which was a very pleasant place to spend some time.
South of town I found this elaborate pagoda.
Even the inside had lots of fine detail.
Next I set off to find two curling establishments.
Unfortunately it, too, was closed. I then went to the second one.
It was not open either, and a large sign outside indicated that leagues would start in mid-September (I was here in late August).
I am making this post on the day of the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Italy. I already have my Roku device set to record some of the curling events. You will see more about curling at my next stop.
I drove back into town to walk around the city. I found this custom car parked in front of the hotel that had supplied me with a city map.
It did not have a license plate so I can only surmise that it was brought here on a trailer – perhaps for some kind of custom car show. It was a very interesting vehicle.
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