Historic Nonsuch ship gets pop-star treatment
Pop stars Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez made a whirlwind trip to Winnipeg this past weekend, but they packed a lot into their time in the Manitoba capital.
Gomez performed on Friday at the MTS Centre, then on Saturday the young celebrity couple caught the NHL's Winnipeg Jets win against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Earlier, they had a private candlelight dinner aboard the replica sailing ship Nonsuch at the Manitoba Museum.
Museum CEO Claudette LeClerc said anyone can book the museum for a private function but she didn't tell the guides or security personnel who their guests were until the last minute.
'New York cool' required
"They did not know who was coming until about 15 minutes prior to their arrival," LeClerc said.
"I had to confiscate their phones. And it was at that time I told them who the guests would be and that we needed to be New York cool."
She says Bieber and Gomez were delightful and seemed very interested in Manitoba history. The Nonsuch is a replica of a British ship that sailed into Hudson Bay in 1668-69.
On Thursday night, fans of Bieber and Gomez staked out a St. James cinema on reports that the couple had rented out one of the theatres for a private screening of Reel Steel.
The couple was seen rushing out of the cinema to a waiting SUV, while fans screamed and scrambled to follow them.
Gomez adopts puppy
Bieber's father is from Winnipeg and the young pop singer spent time growing up in the city.
But Gomez now has her own connection to the city, with a husky cross puppy she adopted from D'Arcy's A.R.C., a local animal rescue centre, over the weekend.
Animal shelter owner D'Arcy Johnston told CBC News he is convinced the singer did not adopt the puppy on a whim.
"After showing her all the puppies, she sort of honed in on this one here and crawled into his kennel and the puppy was all over her," Johnston said.
"When she had the puppy in her arms, she wouldn't let him go," he added with a chuckle.
Johnston added that Gomez had "no problem sitting down on the cold, dirty ground" to play with the puppy and let it "chew her hair and lick her face and play with the toys."
But even with dog-ownership experience, Johnston said he made sure Gomez could prove she could provide the puppy with a stable home.