Canada

Last year in July our small family went on vacation to Manitoba. The place we went to is unique in its own way: it is an island in Lake Winnipeg, where a village established by Icelandic settlers is located. You ask me, how did I know about this place? I watched the YouTube channel of the guys from Ukraine who are living in Manitoba now. Their channel is dedicated to life in Canada: immigration, adaptation, culture, recreation, sports, work and much more. Last June they visited Hecla Island in Lake Winnipeg and filmed a video about their vacation. After watching the video, I realized that I would like to visit this place too.

Hecla Island is one of the islands in Lake Winnipeg, the only one inhabited by people. This place is called Hecla / Grindstone Provincial Park, and it is a series of islands between the east and west shores of Lake Winnipeg.  Hecla Island was named after one of the most famous landmarks in Iceland, the volcano Mount Hekla. A couple of years ago the whole world has gotten to know and begun talking about this volcano: after a long time of silence, the volcano "loudly" declared of itself, reminding us about its existence with a powerful eruption. Due to the release of ash into Iceland’s atmosphere, the movement of aircrafts across the Atlantic was paralyzed for few days; many flights were canceled because of the lack of visibility.

However, the island with the similar name is peaceful and harmless. On the contrary, it is a place of unity with nature. Forest, glades, sand and pebbled shores of the lake, the lake itself, which in some places resembles the sea, make holidays unforgettable. You feel pacified and relaxation.

An interesting tourist landmark is the old Hecla lighthouse on the furthest point of Gull Harbour, but to get there you need to overcome a distance of 11-12 km walking or riding a bicycle through the forest and glades, so then without good physical preparation it  couldn’t been done! But having reached the goal, you will be rewarded with views that will open to your gaze, and silence which is disturbed only by rustle of rolling waves. But sometimes it's so necessary for us to listen to the silence, the sounds of nature and birds singing instead of the daily urban cacophony! We are placed in the information age, surrounded by hundreds of technological appliances and gadgets, living daily in our routine and forgetting that, in fact, we are also a part of nature.

Besides, there are also modern recreational facilities: restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, hiking and bicycle trails and a golf course. Also the island itself is interesting with its history of settlement by Icelandic people and people who are still living there. Of course, these are already the descendants of those settlers who arrived to the island and gave it its Scandinavian name, but they try to keep the traditions of their ancestors. This can be seen through the interior of old fashion houses, the building’s style and food. The surnames of the residents end at -son: Sorenson, Solmundson etc, which is typical for Icelandic and other Scandinavian surnames.

We stayed at Solmundson Gesta Hus bed & breakfast family hotel. The hostess inherited her guest business from her parents, now her daughter and granddaughter help running it. Pleasant interior, cozy rooms, Icelandic breakfast, nice little garden predispose to a time for rest. A variety of home-made jams, the hostess makes from berries grown on in her garden, just conquered my heart and sweet tooth nature. You will have the opportunity to relax in the hot tub, enjoy spa treatments, make a barbecue and chill out on the terrace in the evening, admiring the setting over the lake sun.

I can talk much about Hecla, but it's better to go there once and see everything yourself.

Here it's easy to be busy, but even easier to relax.