Friday night came quickly, with Kate and myself heading out to a friends for dinner (Teresa & Corey's). A wonderfully cooked Italian meal (pizza....my favourite!!!) and a few beers.....we spent the evening catching up with Bonnie, Grant and the two hosts - a lovely night was had.
It was also a good opportunity for us to pick the brains of some Vancouverites - who gave us some wonderful ideas for the time we have in the West! (4 weeks....aaaagggghhhh.....too quick!!)
Waking up earlyish Sat morning, we headed out (in -10 weather...) where we took in a few of the local sights and caught up on some jobs that needed to be done (posting boxes home for christmas, shopping the car around and making sure we had notified most clubs etc we had signed up for that we were leaving). We also scored ourselves a wonderful treat from Starbucks (see photo).
Taking in a movie Sat night (Tropic Thunder) we enjoyed a few beverages then hit the hay, knowing Sunday was a busy day.
With the weekend fast disappearing, we had arranged a guided tour at the Royal Canadian Mint - where all the commemorative coins of Canada were made (Winnipeg makes the coins that go into everyday circulation). Lucky for us we had our own personal tour guide, normally 40 mins, but over an hour for us - which enabled us to ask questions regarding the mint and have a friendly / low key tour of the mint. An informative guide was very helpful to us. We were even allowed to hold a gold bar (28 pounds!!). After wandering through the mint itself, we were surprised to find out that the mint has supplied / created a few coins for Australia (20c & 5c) in the past 10 years, when the mint in Canberra couldn't cope with supply/demand. The other notable mention was the $1,000,000 coin - which weighed 100kg OR 220 pounds. It was 99.999% gold - and valued at $4,000,000 - a collectors item. Only 10 have been made, with 5 already being sold - amazing (it was HUGE!!!)
The coins were great to view - with a number of different styles - holograms, colours, designs etc - just wish we could afford some of the more expensive ones - they looked great!!
After the mint, we headed outside to take a photo of the "spider" (which was located in London, England prior to Ottawa). Wandering around the streets for an hour or so allowed us to take in the beautiful, but chilly day (before the bad weather comes in the next few weeks - snow / ice)
A nice quiet and relaxing weekend - before it gets hectic. We've thoroughly enjoyed having dinners with friends etc over the past couple of weeks, which has kept us busy! There are many more to come!
It was also a good opportunity for us to pick the brains of some Vancouverites - who gave us some wonderful ideas for the time we have in the West! (4 weeks....aaaagggghhhh.....too quick!!)
Waking up earlyish Sat morning, we headed out (in -10 weather...) where we took in a few of the local sights and caught up on some jobs that needed to be done (posting boxes home for christmas, shopping the car around and making sure we had notified most clubs etc we had signed up for that we were leaving). We also scored ourselves a wonderful treat from Starbucks (see photo).
Taking in a movie Sat night (Tropic Thunder) we enjoyed a few beverages then hit the hay, knowing Sunday was a busy day.
With the weekend fast disappearing, we had arranged a guided tour at the Royal Canadian Mint - where all the commemorative coins of Canada were made (Winnipeg makes the coins that go into everyday circulation). Lucky for us we had our own personal tour guide, normally 40 mins, but over an hour for us - which enabled us to ask questions regarding the mint and have a friendly / low key tour of the mint. An informative guide was very helpful to us. We were even allowed to hold a gold bar (28 pounds!!). After wandering through the mint itself, we were surprised to find out that the mint has supplied / created a few coins for Australia (20c & 5c) in the past 10 years, when the mint in Canberra couldn't cope with supply/demand. The other notable mention was the $1,000,000 coin - which weighed 100kg OR 220 pounds. It was 99.999% gold - and valued at $4,000,000 - a collectors item. Only 10 have been made, with 5 already being sold - amazing (it was HUGE!!!)
The coins were great to view - with a number of different styles - holograms, colours, designs etc - just wish we could afford some of the more expensive ones - they looked great!!
After the mint, we headed outside to take a photo of the "spider" (which was located in London, England prior to Ottawa). Wandering around the streets for an hour or so allowed us to take in the beautiful, but chilly day (before the bad weather comes in the next few weeks - snow / ice)
A nice quiet and relaxing weekend - before it gets hectic. We've thoroughly enjoyed having dinners with friends etc over the past couple of weeks, which has kept us busy! There are many more to come!
