The City
Most of Saskatoon's principal sights are on or near the Meewasin Valley Trail , a circular, nineteen-kilometre walking and cycle route that follows the narrow strip of park along both banks of the river between the Idylwyld Drive and Circle Drive bridges. At the start of the trail, the Meewasin Valley Centre , 3rd Avenue South at 19th Street East (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10.30am-5pm; free; tel 665-6888), provides a useful introduction to the region's history and geography with the aid of maps, old photographs and a video film; a well-stocked gift shop is part of the centre, and there's also a tourist information office (same hours as centre). A few minutes' walk from the Valley Centre, along the west bank, the Ukrainian Museum of Canada , 910 Spadina Crescent E at 24th Street East (May-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; Oct-April closed Mon; $2), is the more interesting of the city's two Ukrainian museums, representing the Orthodox as distinct from the Catholic tradition. Displays cover the history of Ukrainian migration, traditional textile design, festivals and Easter-egg painting, the most appealing Ukrainian folk art. The Mendel Art Gallery , overlooking the river from Spadina Crescent, just north of 25th Street East (daily 9am-9pm; free), features temporary shows of modern Canadian and international art. The gallery is named after local magnate Fred Mendel, whose personal collection includes paintings by many of the country's renowned artists - Emily Carr, Lawren Harris and David Milne - and a good selection of Inuit sculpture, a small sample of which is always on display. The building also has a delightful conservatory heaving with plants, a snack bar and an excellent gift shop. Across the river from the Mendel Art Gallery, over University Bridge, the campus of the University of Saskatchewan , with a number of dignified grey-stone buildings in Gothic Revival style, occupies a prime riverbank site just to the north of College Drive. Departmental collections include a Museum of Antiquities , in the Murray Building (May to mid-Aug daily 9am-4pm; Sept-April Mon-Fri 9am-noon; closed mid-Dec to mid-Jan; free); and the small Kenderdine Gallery (Mon-Fri 11.30am-4.30pm, Sun 12.30-5pm; donation). Neither of these draws as many visitors as the Diefenbaker Canada Centre , a museum, archive and research centre at the west end of the campus, beside the river (Mon, Fri & Sat 9.30am-4.30pm, Tues-Thurs 9.30am-8pm, Sun 12.30-5pm; $2). Prime minister from 1957 to 1963, John Diefenbaker was a caricaturist's dream with his large flat face, protruding teeth and wavy white hair, and the museum's high point is its assortment of newspaper cartoons. He was buried just outside the centre in 1979. One of the finest views of the city, across the river, is from the grounds of the centre. Cruises along the South Saskatchewan River, with its weir, sand bars and fast-flowing currents, are organized by Shearwater Boat Cruises on its ship, the Saskatoon Lady (May-Aug daily at noon, 1.30pm, 3pm, 4.30pm, 6pm & 7.30pm, additional cruise at 10.30am in July & Aug and at 9pm in May & June; 1hr; $10; tel 549-2452 or 1-888/747-7572); the boat departs from the wharf at the Mendel Art Gallery.
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