 | Regina Flights and Airline Tips | Tips 1 - 10 of 10 |  |
 | |  |  | A 'Musical Ride' Without Horses | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
We preceeded our visit to Regina with a few days visit further west in Alberta, flying Air Canada for the whole trip from eastern Canada. Regina is a spread out place, like almost all Prairie towns and cities in Canada, so we pre-booked a nice Chrysler rental car from the airport. The price was reasonable and you will need your own wheels if you really want to get around the city with freedom.
Of course another form of transportation is just walking. Here, we were watching the practise marching drills of the members of the graduating troop. They basically perform all the intricate manoeuvers of the world-famous horseback 'Musical Ride' performed by the RCMP. Marching to music, the 32 troopers execute a variety of intricate figures based on cavalry drill as they wheel, break into formations which pass through each other before assuming another formation. Demanding utmost control, timing and coordination, these movements are really amazing to watch - I was very impressed! The first Musical Ride with horses took place in 1887 as a way for the members to display their horse-riding skills while entertaining both themselves and the public.
One little thing which visitors to Canada may not know is, when you see an RCMP officer, it is highly unlikely he will be wearing his scarlet jacket, stetson hat, brown boots or riding pants. Those are only used for ceremonial occassions. The everyday uniform consists of straight legged trousers and shirts in the colours seen here, along with a dark jacket and regular police cap with a yellow band around it. Leave a Comment Theme: Other
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Saskatchewan is desolated. So unless you want to stay in town you need a car! Buy one or rent one. Leave a Comment Theme: Car/Motor Home
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| | | | Visit the RCMP Museum | Tip Rating: | | | | |
While in Regina, you should visit the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Museum, located on the grounds of their Training Academy Depot. There are many interesting artifacts and exhibits regarding the history of this famous force down through the years.
This organization was formed in 1873, just a few years after Canada became a country in 1867, as the North West Mounted Police. With the lawlessness and Indian troubles of the American West starting to creep into the Canadian Prairies, the government decided that a 300-man paramilitary force was needed in the West to maintain Canadian sovereignty and to uphold the law. One of their first law enforcement actions occurred in 1874 when Americans trading whiskey to the Indians were forced out of their Fort Whoop-Up in present day Alberta. Later, as the Sioux nation under Chief Sitting Bull (victor over Gen. Custer and his troops) were gradually driven off the lands that had been deeded to them by the American government, the first remnants of the tribe arrived (in 1876) at the 'medicine line' dividing Canada from the USA. A small contingent of the scarlet-coated Mounties met the thousands of Sioux and assured them that they would be protected in Canada as long as they kept the peace and did not raid into the USA. The Sioux kept their word and stayed in Canada until 1881 when the decimation of the herds of migrating bison in the American west finally deprived them of their food supply. Gradually they returned to the USA to live on reservations as they gave up their nomadic way of life. By gaining the trust of the Canadian native tribes during their early years in the west, before settlers arrived, the NWMP avoided the sort of Indian Wars that plagued the United States. The NWMP officially became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920 since, by then, they were carrying out policing duties across the country. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Tour the Legislative Building and Grounds | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The Legislative Building, built for the Saskatchewan provincial government, is no small structure - in fact it is larger than those for Ontario or Quebec. This strange fact arose from the fact that they building was designed based on a provincial population explosion that was taking place at the turn of the century in 1900, later to be dampened by the Great Depression.
Today, this English Renaissance-style building, completed in 1919 with its 53-m (174-ft.) high dome, presides over a province whose population boom did not continue. Nevertheless, it is quite an imposing structure and well worth a visit. The exterior consists of Tyndall limestone quarried in nearby Manitoba while the interior features various types of marble from all parts of the world, including the main stairway (Quebec, Canada), floors (Vermont, USA), baseboards (Ireland), walls (Italy) and pillars/columns (Cyprus). The 2nd and 3rd photos show some of its beautiful surrounding grounds and were taken in June, 2008. Leave a Comment Address: 123 Legislative Building, 2405 Legislative DriveDirections: On the outskirts of the city, in Wascana Park
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If your timing is right, you might just have the chance to see visiting British Royalty while you are staying in Regina. In our case, it happened that Prince Charles was on a cross-Canada trip (Ottawa, Reginia and Yukon Territory) to stress the values of volunteerism and to help cement the 'royal' bond between Canada and the UK. Of course this was during the devastating outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK, so the Prince had to first wipe his feet on a disinfectant matt when arriving in Canada!
Here, we were standing on a city street bridge, near the Legislative Building, spanning the stream that flows out of Lake Wascana. Located around the Lake and along the sides of this stream are very nice walking trails which pass through pleasant parklands. While in the city, get your feet moving and enjoy some to the city's nature delights up-close! Leave a Comment Directions: Rotary Park on the corner of Regina Avenue and Albert Street South
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on June 26, 2005
on July 1, 2004
on September 8, 2002
on August 15, 2005
