Regina.. show me what you got!

It was my first trip to Regina and I had no real expectations of Saskatchewan's capital, I've been to the prairie province before and left without much of an impression at all. I'm horribly uninformed about the city, my knowledge confined to 3 hard and cold facts. Their CFL fans are intense (according to a guy I met from Edmonton while I was in Brandon), it is the home of 'The Musical Ride (that silly RCMP thing that people go nuts about) and it was the childhood home of our 13th Prime minister, John G Diefenbaker (I'm not obsessive for those who know I've mentioned him before.. but if I ever make it to final Jeopardy and John G is the answer.. I'm nailing it.)

I arrived at the hotel after nine on a Sunday night starving as usual and headed out to scavenge for food and drink. The hotel clerk had directed me to a restaurant not far away and I headed into the streets of Regina with map in hand. I still managed to walk several blocks in the wrong direction then turned around twice before I finally came across a place, not the place, called O'hears Pub . The guys behind the bar were friendly as were the patrons and it didn't take long to strike up conversation. I got the rundown on the indie art and music scene which sounded really vibrant. The bartender  also directed me to a record store not far from where I was staying which yielded a vintage vinyl copy of the original Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack.

Because the job site, airport and hotel were all within a a few kilometers so I had decided not to rent a car. I would confined to walking exploration of the city but I didn't mind as Regina is a rather small city, the weather was good and it would give me the chance to see up close whatever there was to see.

Spending some quiet time in a downtown park under an incredible oak tree with a book one afternoon (such a great way to spend and hour or two.. seriously, when was the last time you sat under a tree!) I kept being distracted by people heading across the park. My distraction grew to curiosity when I began noticing that many of them had painted faces. I was so contented and comfortable sitting where I was and I had been dying to finish the novel I was reading. My curiosity grew and I could see a crowd growing so eventually I sighed knowing once I moved I probably wouldn't get back to my book. I was however glad I wandered over as a 'Living Art' exhibition was just starting. About a dozen different groups from local school and amateur theater groups were performing frozen scenes imitating artistic works of all different sorts. Included was an obvious Warhol a ballerina painting that I recognized and a scene depicting early Canadian life. It was pretty cool and was a further indication Regina has a pretty good arts scene.

Walking farther from downtown Regina one morning headed to the Provincial Parliament grounds I passed through city hall and then the Provincial courts. There were two cool sculptures in front of the Supreme Court building that threw me for a loop at first but made sense after a moment or two.  A bust of Gandhi (that looked nothing like Ben Kingsley) and a full size likeness of Confucius, both wise and worthy icons to inspire the courts to wisdom were at the front of the building. I continued walking through the city and scoped out the Provincial Parliament and grounds which also contains one of the most most beautiful war memorials I've ever seen and is situated at the edge of a lake and in the middle of a  massive park which I would've loved to throw a frizbee around in for awhile but without a partner and with an afternoon shift at work awaiting I turned and headed back to the hotel to change and grab some sushi for lunch.

 

That evening I sat at The Beer Bros Restaurant for dinner on the patio. I started with a 'flight' of beer, sampling three small glasses of beer from one of the most interesting beer menus I've ever seen (The Laughing Buddha in Sudbury, Ont still wins that contest.. but it's close) and stuffed my belly with a delicious German pasta dish called Spaetzle as I sat and read and watched the city life after me.

 I was becoming aware of one thing in particular that surprised me as I spent more time on the streets of Regina. This was the first city I had been to in a long time that didn't seem to have much of a homeless population, I saw very few people asking for change. Even more so, with such a large First Nation population, it seemed as though there was little to no indication of this particular Native community suffering from the circle of dug and alcohol dependency and homelessness that I have commented on, and been so terribly saddened by, in past blogs. It appears the Native community has succeeded here in ways where in other places across the country they have not. A multi-cultural energy seemed to be present here between members of the First Nations and the rest of the community in ways I've not seen elsewhere.

 This is important, I think, to the fabric of our nation.. until some new form of understanding exists between our First Nations and all the nations that followed I find it hard to believe we, as a nation of  people, can ever be 'all we can be be'.

So as I sat back later that evening, my last night in town, on a patio at The Beer Bros restaurant around the corner from the hotel and I smiled. I hadn't found anything weird or wonderful, although some would say that a life sized sculpture of Confucius in downtownn Regina might be a bit weird but I  had found some neat things to take pictures of, explored the city to the best of my pedestrian ability, met some interesting people (I didn't even write a bout the amazing cattle rancher I spent several hours talking to before admitting I was a vegetarian!) and even bought some vinyl.

It was my last, I think, trip to the prairies and I'm glad I had such a great time. Where in that flat bunch of acres in the middle of our country I found life, arts and music and people.. very friendly people.

Back to the west coast for the next few weeks, heading further into the interior of BC's lower mainland. Pitt Meadows is next and from the quick preview I got already I will love it. Those mountains are calling me, pulling me closer and closer and I'm pretty stoked about the chance to start exploring them instead of looking at them from a distance.