Day 6 of Folklorama - canadien-français

 Winnipeg, MB

It looks like I am trying to keep Donna hidden but I am actually trying to hold my ice cream and take a selfie with both of us, both of the ice creams, and the pedestrian bridge.  We kind of got there.

BDI (Bridge Drive-In) Ice Cream

Today we braved the Winnipeg rush hour, which is terrible because all of the road construction has to happen during the summer, to pick up BDI Ice Cream before our Folklorama Pavilion time slot.  BDI is right next to a pedestrian bridge and they are famous for having giant elaborate ice creams. On the drive there the radio traffic reporter described the construction as "chronic" and they aren't kidding.  Just about every major highway has a lane closed somewhere but the drive was worth it.

You have to walk up to the drive-in

They have some crazy ice creams like a half a pineapple filled with ice cream and other stuff.

And a half a cantaloupe filled with ice cream.

I got the Cookie Monster.  It had half a cookie and was rolled in 5 different kinds of crushed cookies for a topping.

Donna got the "Biggie - Smalls".  A big Ice Cream Cone topped with brownies and chocolate shell with a smaller cone on top topped the same way. 
The family you see in the back asked, "What does she have?, Yea I'll have that."

A close up of "Biggie - Smalls"

We walked the bridge and ate our ice cream.  

Well I ate mine and Donna ate about half of hers.  It was so big and so small at the same time.

Folklorama

After our ice cream stop we continued on to our Folklorama event for the evening.  Tonight we chose canadien-français.  It was noticeably more sparsely attended than the others we have been to but it was a Tuesday so who knows.

We started out with a Manitoban which is 2 pours of Rye Whiskey and 1 pour of Caribou which is a fortified wine that is associated with the French Canadians.

The Menu

This is what the bottle of Caribou looks like.

The music and dancing tonight was TOP NOTCH!  I learned that apparently there is an element of tap dancing within most western cultures.

They played a song that they said was about alcohol.  They wanted us to buy more Caribou for the song but we resisted.  The audience partication included them singing a line in French and us saying "Oui, Oui, Oui!" and then singing another line in French and us saying. "Non, Non, Non!"  I assume the lyrics were, "Do you want more fortified wine?" and then "Haven't you had enough?"

After about 20 minutes of song and dance I realized that the canadien-français people are just hipsters.

This woman was incredibly good on the fiddle or violin (I looked it up and they are the same thing).

It turns out she was born with a fiddle attached to her chin.  Here you can clearly see her clapping and not holding the fiddle so it must be attached at birth.  I'm not sure if it started out that large or grew with her as she grew.

After the show we Sortie'd through the gift shop and headed home.  

Before and after the show we talked to an older couple that was planning on going to Belgium that same night.  They asked how the show was and I noticed I paused for a long time and then said, "It was pretty good but I don't want to spoil it for you." After the show the woman asked Donna how the show was at Belgium and Donna mentioned that after this show, she should temper her expectations. 

That was it for today.  It was a fun day of exploration and ice cream.  If you missed Day 5 of Folklorama - China check it out.