Quebec & Toronto...Goodbye Canada

Bonjour Quebec
Our train trip from Montreal to Quebec was relatively painless, with the exception of a 15 minute walk – up a massive hill!!! The main part of Quebec city, the old town surrounded by the wall, is on top of a hill. With a backpack on my back, a day pack on my front, my handbag over my shoulder and dragging our third bag, my lungs and quads were burning. It felt good to be alive! HA! (Mike – I would just like to clarify that I had a backpack, day pack and the laptop and also that the third bag has wheels. I think you should have all the info before you judge me.)

So, the hostel was great. Cosy and we met some really lovely people here. A few frenchies, one of which was Antony who could speak English relatively well, another three, 2 of which were the “crazy Fabios” as Antony called them, and another guy from Indooroopilly, Liam. This made it a lovely place to stay. However, due to the weather, being winter and all, there were a few things that were either closed, or had limited hours. And it wasn’t really the weather you could wander around for hours. No, definitely not. However, I’m sure we did enough for me to ramble on for a few paragraphs.

Our first expedition was lunch. It was at a crepe place recommended by the Lonely Planet. We had to line up in their doorway and then finally got a nice “cosy” seat (we were all squished in there) and then served by a young lass who barely spoke English. Well, we were definitely in Quebec! FYI – a quick geography lesson – Quebec city is a city of the province of Quebec (a province is like our states). Montreal is also in Quebec, and although English and French are spoken in both, Quebec city is almost soley French. Hence, all the museums had a lot more French than English in their exhibitions.

Our first day was spent wandering around the Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica-Cathedral (it’s only a minor Basilica – whatever that means). The Notre-Dame de Quebec parish is the oldest parish in North America, has been destroyed twice by fires (when will these people learn! Everything has been destroyed by fire!) but always rebuilt on the site of the original church, which was originally built in 1647. We then spent some time in the Musee de l’Amerique francaise. This is the oldest museum in Canada, and was really good for getting and understanding of “french culture in North America”. Seriously though, it was a great history lesson but we don’t remember a lot of specifics. However, the poor frenchies had a lot of fighting to get where they are now. It’s amazing how they have managed to keep the French language and culture, despite being invaded/taken over/surround by the English. It really made us understand why Quebec people are so passionate, to the point of snobbiness, about their French heritage.

The other interesting thing with this museum is that it’s in a building that makes up part of the Séminaire de Québec site, founded in 1663 – lots of religious stuff but what I remember is that the priests were big on education. In fact, students are still taught in the various buildings of the Seminaire.

The next day we wandered around and looked at various things (see photos). The most interesting thing would be the Citadell, which is a military get up on top of the highest point in Quebec City. On one side is a massive old cliff and the other is not one wall, but two. It was cold and we missed the tour (there’s only one a day in winter) and decided not to bother the next day. The citadel is part of the the fortifications of Quebec city. It’s the only city in North America that still has city walls. Honestly, the wall was a bit of a let down because it was covered in snow so we couldn’t really walk on it. However, we did manage in the end.

That day we also headed up the Observatoire de la Capitale, which was a big old lookout from the top of a building. It was pretty impressive actually – very informative. We finished our day at the pub with the 3 Frenchies, Liam and Antony (who was trying very hard to talk to both us Aussies and the French dudes) having a few drinks and watching an ice hocky game. How Canadian!

And yet another cold day. However today had warmed up slightly and I don’t think there was any snow. You see, the last few nights, we’d come in and it would be snowing late in the afternoon/early evening. Got to admit, it’s damn pretty watching it snow outside while you’re all warm and cozy. Different thing when it’s swirling in your face with the wind when you’re walking back from the grocery store. Anyway, today we wandered around some dodgy markets where we had a maple cone each. Mini ice-cream cones filled with, you guessed it, maple syrup! Pretty sickeningly sweet, even for me. Then we hit La Rue Petit-Champlain – the oldest street in North America. Along the way we found a funky mural painted on a wall (again, see pics). I’d tell you about it, but the sign was in French. Now, the warm weather was good, but not for my poor feet. You see, snow turns to slush when it gets warm. And slush is wet. This is not good especially when you are wearing Sketches (not really snow-melt proof) that you’ve had for a good year and worn almost every day. So, my feet were soaking around lunch time and continued to be all day until we got home. That was the beginning of the end for my old sketches (you’ll be pleased to know I finally got rid of them a couple of months ago – YAY!). We then left the oldest street (big deal!) and went up the Funicular (Aus needs to get one of theses – it’s a guaranteed tourist money maker – they are everywhere in Switzerland!).

Because it was cold, we were bored, and we didn’t know/weren’t that interested in a tour of the la Chateau Frontenac, we headed to the St Ursulas Convent Museum. We should have gone to the hotel. No, it actually wasn’t too bad – quite interesting really. These chics were pretty hardcore with what they put up with, but also managed to make a bit of dough with a lot of different craftwork and skills such as painting (lots of flowers I think), tapestry, cross-stitch, and gold leaving everything in sight. The stuff was pretty impressive and you’d be hard pressed to find some of the skills around these days I think. We then headed to a 100 years celebration of some park/battle at said park in Quebec City (it’s this year) in some park amongst a hell of a lot of snow and checked out the Stanley Cup (again). Mike has seen the bloody thing 3 times now. Apparently there are two, but we were told in Montreal the other one was in Afganistan, but miracously it was in Quebec when we got here as well…..hmmm….anyway, we hung around there for like 5 seconds and then went and stood on the damn wall (check out photos to proove it). And to end the day (with my wet feet) we then decided to walk along the Promenade des Gouverneurs. This boardwalk goes along the cliff in front of the citadel, and gives great views of the Saint Lawrence River (check out the photos). The best thing was the beavertail at the bottom – it’s like a wholemeal, sweetish bread, covered in banana and nutella – YUM! And it was warm! And then finally we got back to the hostel and I got to take of my shoes!!!

Our last day was pretty uneventful. We checked out Quebec City’s Parliament Buildings (Hotel du Parlement), which had a FREE tour. It was actually very interesting. We then went to a chocolate shop in town for a snack (probably lunch) and then did a little tour of their mini museum and then had a few cheap samples of their dark chocolate (a quarter for a small cup). We then went out for St Patty’s day! It was bizarre, we were in Quebec City, a french speaking town in Canada, celebrating an Irish holiday, with a Frenchman, in Irish pubs, with French/Canadian bands singing AC/DC. We then met an Irishman, who doesn’t drink, and was in Quebec to learn French because his countrymen no longer speak Gaelic! It wouldn’t happen in Australia!

Toronto
I will be honest up front – I didn’t like Toronto. Now, it may be because it was cold, covered in snow and I was ready to move on to Europe. Or it may be because it was a big old city, with rubbish everywhere, including a million cigarette butts (honestly, I thought it was dirtier than New York, but we were staying near China Town, which can sometimes be a little grubbier than other parts of a city). However, I would be willing to say that in the summer it might be a completely different city. The hostel was amazing though – one of the friendliest.

We only had a few days here and it consisted of the Royal Ontario Museum (Ontario is the province that Toronto is in), the Hockey Hall of Fame (one reason we came to Toronto) and Niagara Falls (the other reason we came to Toronto).

An interesting thing to note with the ROM – they had “The Black Star Sapphire of Queensland”. Now, we were thinking, surely that’s not OUR Queensland? But is there another Queensland in the world? Geography has never been either of our strong points. Low and behold, there is a little old picture of Aus and what do you know, it’s from Rubyvale (yep, know it intimately)! Now, if you want anymore proof that it’s an Aussie stone, listen to this story. Old Roy Spencer, then a young lad in the 1930s, found the stone, showed it to his dad – old Harry Spencer, who then, and I quote “threw (should be “chucked”) it down by the back door for use as a doorstop”. Rightio – only in Australia. Now, the little plaque says that neither realised the value of the thing until it was sold to the Kazanjian brothers (whoever the hell they are) and cut to reveal the star. Now, the fact that it is rather vague about the sale of the diamond, makes me believe that perhaps the Spencers were shafted? And either gave it up or sold it for very little. Let’s hope not, for little Roy’s sake. Check out the photos – the actual Sapphire itself is pretty cool.

Ok, so the Hockey Hall of Fame. Well, there was a lot of hockey. It was actually pretty interesting and we included some photos so you can appreciate what I went through. I mean, how great a sport is and how amazing the Hall of Fame really was. Interesting thing, it was in a shopping centre! Weird man. Weird.
MIKE – Ok so Bec has left this part to me for obvious reasons. The place is fantastic and I could have spent days in there. It has a whole bunch of things from game worn jerseys and gear to hockey sticks and pucks used to register various records. There are glass cabinets dedicated to each person inducted into the hall of fame, and other things scattered around all over the place. There are theatre rooms showing movies and another section that has all the trophies awarded to teams and players at the end of the year. The last part is an interactive section where you can do things like choose which camera to broadcast on (Bec was good at this), commentate a piece of footage (Bec was not so good at this) and have a go at shooting a few pucks at a goalie on the screen. We thought we would give this a shot and I must say I was a little worried given the fact that I there were a lot of people waiting to have a go and I thought they would assume I at least had some idea because what male in Canada doesn’t, right? Good thing was I didn’t do to badly. Bad thing was Bec scored with her first two shots and generally made it look very easy and impressed everyone. Good thing I’m not competitive!

Ok, now Niagara. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. I think I was spoilt by the Grand Canyon. The falls are not overly tall so they seem so much smaller than what you think they are going to be, and standing from the top takes away some of the impact (it’s too cold in March for the Maid of the Mist that takes you in a boat around the bottom of the falls). However, they are quite beautiful, especially surrounded by the ice, and are very wide and the amount of water is amazing. The other thing about Niagra, is it’s just a touristy town, with Casinos and expensive hotels etc. The American side is much less touristy (believe it or not) but their view of the falls isn’t as good. Two really interesting things (we did a tour – this is how we know) is that 1) the falls have progressively been moving back because the volume of water eats away the rock it’s flowing over and 2) they cut the water flow at night (by diverting the river elsewhere) to make electricity which has meant instead of the falls eating away 1.16m a year (3.8 feet), it now eats away about 30cm every 10 years. The Niagara region is Ontario’s, maybe even Canada’s largest wine producer, and based on our drive along the river, it would be beautiful to come out during spring and summer. However, I’m not sure I could handle the crowds, because we were there on a Friday and the weather wasn’t perfect and there were people everywhere! I think I would seriously hurt someone if I was there in the middle of summer.

Alright, so now it was time to say farewell to North America. It was an amazing year and even now, I look back incredibly fondly of not only Canada, but America. I know everyone loves to bag the country, and the people, but honestly, we didn’t have any real problems, and actually had some of the friendliest customs officials around! However, it’s time for some serious culture, so off we go to Europe – YAY.

p.s. in case you didn’t know (I doubt I would have), the capital of Canada is Ottawa, not Toronto or Vancouver.

Oh Canada....

The Wonderful Amtrack – “QR doesn’t have these issues” (Mike's bit)
Before we get to the actual trip, lets set the scene. We planned to spend a quiet night in New York for our last night since we had to be on the train at 7ish meaning leaving the hotel at around 5:30am. We decided to get on the free Staten Island ferry again for a view of the NY skyline and Lady Liberty at night. This went pretty well but we missed the return ferry by minutes. You see you need to get off the ferry and then get back on. The one going back wasn’t the same one that went across and the unfortunately they didn’t wait. Next ferry… 1 hours time! So we get on that at about 10:30pm. Rebecca is yelling cause she wanted to be asleep by now and the whole thing is obviously my fault. When we get back across, the Subway is closed for track work and we need to get a bus. Things are getting better!! Furthermore, NY is in the midst of a windstorm that is bordering on cyclonic (I mean hurricanic?!?!) and we are standing outside waiting for the bus. We got home ok and went to sleep at about 1am. The thing is, daylight saving also kicked that night so we actually went to bed at 2am. That’s a good 3 ½ hours, who needs more? We got to the subway, and no trains came for about 15 minutes, which is weird for NY. The one that did turn up went one station and then decided to stay stop since someone’s NY commute had got the better of them and they decided to pass out. Maybe they were on the Staten Island ferry last night? So we had to get the next one while the paramedics came down. Just kick the person off and keep moving people! We got to the station to find a massive line for customs, and no baggage check. Hence we were only able to secure a seat either side of the isle from one another which was better then most people could muster.

Now the train ride itself wasn’t that note worthy. The scenery was good, lots of snow covered fields and the like. A few hours in and we had to stop for an hour for the track ahead to be cleared of fallen trees or something. Looks like the hurricane winds were not only in New York. All I can recall is that the train stopped within sight of a Macca’s and a lot of the passengers where wondering if they would have enough time to make it there and back. Eventually we where on our way. A few more hours and another stop. With little to no communication on what was happening we sat there waiting. An hour later they informed us that the track could not be cleared and we would be swapping to buses which had been called about 1hour ago. Ok so they knew to call buses but not let the passengers know. Good customer service that! People being the impatient types that they are decided to go collect luggage and wait in the snow. Even though the staff told us the bus would still be another hour, and 6 where on the way, they thought they would miss out. Three hours later we got on a bus. Smooth sailing now, yes? NO!! The Canadian border crossing thought it would be a good idea to get everyone off the bus, unpack the luggage and get you to line up with your luggage to speak to a customs officer, at 11:30pm. Did I mention that it was about –10 outside the bus? Got to the customs officer, she asked about 5 questions and that’s it. So what did I need my bags for? Back on the bus. I felt so sorry for the poor bus driver who had to unload and reload the bus in the freezing cold. We eventually got into Montreal about 12.30am, a 17 hour journey that was supposed to be 9 hours.

Montreal (Bec's bit)
I have to say that being on the train and seeing all that snow….everwhere…was kinda a little freaky. I remember thinking, “what the hell have we gotton ourselves into?”. We arrive at the station, with like $5 CAD so after we frantically look around for an ATM we set of through the snow (it’s cold, like real cold, and there is snow all over the footpath) to find a taxi. Amazingly we found one, and it was only a 5 minute trip, if that. However, you know it’s bad when we has to stop about 5 meters away from the front door and tell you he can’t go any further because there is a big pile of snow that hasn’t been cleared. Hhhmmm. So after waking up our dorm mates at 1am, we finally got to bed!

Just a comment on the hostel – one of the best we have stayed at….warm, cosy, friendly, good brekky, and a cool dorm buddy from Germany. Anyways, what we first noticed was how “French” Montreal actually is. We knew it was bilingual, but it’s really more French than English. Anyway, it was a great novelty going around and saying “oi” and “bonjour”. HAHA – I speak french! So our first day was just spent wandering around and gawking at all the snow. The next day we headed up Mount Royal – and the weather was perfect! We walked up the mountain, on snow, surrounded by snow, and the views were amazing. This place was like a winter wonderland. Then we kinda got lost and ended up at an ice-skating rink – well, a pond really. We figured we might as well skate – badly mind you but we didn’t fall over once. However, I did learn that “watch out you old bat, you’re in my way” is “Attentione!!!” in French. He was a whimpy little kid anyway. Check out the photos – they do this place more justice than my descriptions.

That night we headed to the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montreal. For $5 you went to this light show at night, which included a kind of educational video. However, it was the tackiest thing ever! It was professionally done technical-wise but the acting was terrible. However, the drama of when they drop the curtain and reveal the church is pretty impressive. The actual church itself, although amazing, was pretty tacky….lots and lots of gold. Again, check out the photos.

Our next day was spent at the Biodome, which was originally the velodrome for the 76 Olympics. This place has four ecosystems – a tropical forest (it was so nice to feel humidity again!), a Laurentian forest (? Think north American wilderness), a marine ecosystem and the Artic/Antarctic. It was pretty cool – the highlight being some monkeys running around the walkways changing cages and the penguins were hilarious. Right next to the Biodome was the Olympic Stadium, which has a tower thing – the weather wasn’t the best but it cleared up enough to see (we picked the worst day to go up!). Again, check out the photos.

Our final day was spent wandering around again and then checking out the Musee d’archeologie et d’histoire de Montreal – otherwise known as the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History. This place was pretty cool because the basement is actually an archaeological dig, where you can see the remains of some of the first structures, like stone fortifications, and other stuff like a cemetery.

Well, that concluded our trip to Montreal. I was surprised how much I liked this city and would love to go back and see what it had to offer in the summer. Oh, one more thing to note, on about day 2/3 of like 4, we finally found how to get to most places through the underground tunnels – seriously, if you need underground tunnels to go somewhere in winter, is it really worth it?

Next…Quebec!!!!