Day 2 Yellowknife

The weather was overcast and cold; -32°C with a feel like of -40°C.

We started the day with breakfast at Birchwood Coffee ko. Great coffee, good tea and we had a good breakfast.  Great way to start the day.

Our first stop is the Legislative Assembly Building, they have tours at 10:30.  The tour was very interesting, the guide took us through the history of the NWT, how they formed their government, which is a government of consensus which is unique to Canada.  The building is impressive.  Constructed from materials that are native to the NWT and represent their form of government.  We also got a chance to sit in the gallery during a session. 

Second stop is the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center, a local museum of the north.  It was very good, the exhibits take you through from pre-historic times through to today. Demonstrating how the people of the north lived and how things changed with European colonization. Well worth the time. 

Next stop undefined: We just explored Yellowknife, new town for a while then went looking for some lunch. We stopped at the Black Knight and grabbed a quick drink and some food. Tried the local beer, had a Kick Sled from NWT breweries. 

After lunch we walked to the NWT Diamond and Jewelry Center.  This is not just a jewelry store, they first give you a quick tour demonstrating where and how the diamonds are mined. The people here are very knowledgeable and passionate about the diamond mining industry here in the NWT.  The diamonds are beautiful, and we got to look at them in fine detail through the microscope. Krista picked up a beautiful white gold pendant with a diamond imbedded. 

After the diamond center visit we went back to the hotel to take a break. 

Later, around dinner time we got a cab out to old town, the first section of YK.  We stopped in at Bullocks Bistro for some dinner, theyboast having the best fish and chips so we had to check this out.  The bistro is very cool, the building used to be the trading post.  It's a small place with only a few tables, and a bar.  To get a table you would need a reservation so we sat at the bar, where we got to watch the show.  The decor is great, the walks and ceiling are signed with marker, money and business cards stapled to all surfaces and funny bumper stickers plastered everywhere. 

The fish was quite good, we both had the white fish, I had it pan fried and Krista had it deep fried.  It's not haddock but still good.  

After dinner we took a walk and found the snow castle. This thing is huge castle, walls of snow 8 to 12 feet high. Ice slides inside the castle, and the castle can easily have 100 people inside. All carved from snow and ice.  

It was getting late so we headed back to the hotel.  Tomorrow we start hunting for Aurora.