Yours truly and my game-for-almost-any-adventure husband Kim, that's who! I've always dreamed of seeing the aurora borealis, aka northern lights, and when we received a promotional mailer from one of our favorite travel companies Natural Habitat about going north to see them, we jumped at the chance.

Okay, truthfully I jumped. And Kim followed me, like the true adventure partner he is.

Our trip began with a 2-night stay at the beautiful historical Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada...where the temperatures were a balmy -15 degrees with plenty of wind. I say "balmy" because we would be getting a whole lot colder later in the week... Winnipeg is just 100 miles north of the US border.

We had one full day to explore the city of Winnipeg, so after breakfast we started walking...

Just a couple of blocks away is the working train station, designed by the same fellow that designed Union Station in New York City.

Gorgeous interior, but hardly any travelers...very quiet compared to its east coast counterpart.

I would say there was 18-20" snow cover on the ground. With temperatures so cold, the snow accumulates all winter without a chance to melt off until spring.

The top of the Fort Garry Hotel...looks like a castle!

Winnipeg has some very unique architectural structures...

The Forks is one of Winnipeg's landmark areas...where the Red River and Assiniboine River come together in downtown. Long before Europeans came here, this has been a meeting place for ancient peoples to come together for trading, celebrations, and festivals, and that tradition continues to this day. Except not in February's sub-zero temperatures.

A nice concert area with an ice-skating rink in front of it...

We did see several ice skaters on the skating trail...

Of course, this time of year the rivers are frozen over and snow-covered...this will be a totally different scene in the summer.

The iconic Forks bridge...

If this Children's Museum building looks wonky, it is...on purpose. I was afraid to go inside lest I get dizzy and fall down!

Reproductions of native huts...I cannot even imagine surviving these temperatures in those huts....

I'm always drawn to ice cream shops, but somehow I just wasn't feeling the ice cream urge that day...

Inside the Forks Market are lots of shops and eateries.

And an opportunity to warm up my frozen face and fingers...

When we were frozen purt-near to the bone, we walked back to the hotel to warm up and take a midday nap. Because that's what free days are for.

Kim saw on TV that there was supposedly a huge ice sculpture display downtown, featuring ice sculptors from all over the world. So that afternoon, we struck out into the cold again, in search of ice sculptures.

I don't follow hockey, but this guy must be a local hero.

A whale...

And I thought MY fingers were frozen!

A pouncing wolf...(I think...)

A couple of street musicians that look like Frosty's band...

Then we came across an area where the artists were still creating their sculptures...

Tools of the trade...the ice chunks were harvested from the river.

Incredible detail!

A work in progress...but we were too wimpy to stick around and see the end result.

Back to the hotel for dinner and a good night's rest before the true adventure begins the next day.

In cold Canada.