gimli, manitoba

Photo by: AgentMagenta

I believe the first time I became aware of the existence of a place named Gimli, Manitoba was in first-year j-school when it appeared on a copy editing test.

And besides its existence in the vastness of this country, and its unusual name and spelling, I knew no more of it until last week when the town and some of its inhabitants made a guest appearance on The Great Canadian Food Show.

Now, I feel like a want to make a cross-country trip to see this community.

The show filmed there on one of those glorious, crisp autumn days and Lake Winnipeg whipped against harbour walls. The community is descended from Icelanders. The people all look Nordic, have Icelandic names, and carry on the language and culinary traditions of their ancestors. One man, a breadmaker, stood tall and fit, with a beer in hand, at the active age of 90.

I still find this amazing -- that on the edge of the great prairie people from a tiny, frozen near-Arctic island made a new home. The southwest area of Lake Winnipeg was actually the independent state of New Iceland for 12 years before becoming part of the Dominion of Canada.

And you can see Gimli's port on webcam 24-7.

Oh, and the distillery there is the sole distillery making Crown Royal Whisky.