On the way back from that lovely snow on the Arctic's edge, the train I had to take back froze.

There is no road to Churchill, only a train and tiny, tiny planes. So instead of the two day train trip down to Winnipeg (Capital of Manitoba province), I have to get on a little propeller plane. Good thing I read The Easy Way to Enjoy Flying to get over my insane fear of planes.

(I used to look like this for entire flights. After a few hours it gets very uncomfortable, and it freaks the flight attendants out. Now I just feel a bit like this )

So I say gooodbye to...'

..

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...and get on this tiny trembling plane (called, funnily enough, Calm Air), which gets me to Winnipeg a day early for my next overnight train to Toronto.

Canadian friends later ask if the plane was painted bright orange, because they are easier to spot when they crash in the middle of snowy nowheres. Gulp.

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Coming back from somewhere that is so cold and pristine can make being in a city very jarring. The noise is suddenly really intense and you can smell coke spilled across the street. Wolf senses.

A woman from Greenland, also a volunteer from the research center and one of the frozen-train-switch stranded passengers is a welcome companion in this strange new city. We decide to take a walk and find that there is a film festival in town.

So we walk down to the cute area next to the river, at the Forks , and lo and behold there is a screen made of ice, ready for a night of short films.

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The introductions are made from a podium made of ice and we sit next to lit fires, overlooking the people skating on the frozen river, with free hot chocolates in our hands to watch some very good short films.

One of the films deserves a special mention since it is really mind-blowing.

It is called Showa Shinzan which is the name of a mountain. I really have no idea how to describe how staggeringly beautiful and well crafted this mixture of animation, real footage and digital puppetry is. I don't usually go for films like that but this one is just a must-see.

By the time the screenings are over we are covered in beautiful snowflakes and have smiles plastered on our faces for hours.

Talk about making lemonade out of cold weather lemons. That is a happy society for you.

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Further reading

The World of the Polar Bear

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Northern Lights: The Science, Myth, and Wonder of Aurora Borealis

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Arab Cooking on Saskatchewan Homesteads: Recipes And Recollection

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The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World

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Trans-Canada Rail Guide

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Manitoba