Friday, February 10, 2006
Quebec City
Travelled to Quebe
c City for the opening of the winter carnival, an annual event in Quebec. We had to get to Toronto and catch a bus at 10.30pm Thursday night. This bus travelled the 10 hours or so to get us to Quebec for breakfast at 7am. We toured through the old road to Quebec coming up the St Lawrence River, then onto the St Anne de Beaupre Basclica in which Jenny was dumbstruck by its size and majesty. A tour then of the old Quebec City which has very narrow streets and old buildings surrounded by a high stone wall to protect the
city from invasion, built during the British/French conflicts. We then attempted to check in to our hotel. The Hilton is right smack damn bang in the middle of all the sights (and sites) we wanted to see but took us some time to get in. Once in, the views from our room and on the observation floor were spectacular. We also planned to take advantage of the heated pool. A walk around the old city also include a tobbogan ride (very scary as the toboggan lifted out of the track a num
ber of times threatening to capsize and went particularly fast considering it had all three of us on board) and a lift back up the hill on the fanicular railway (a bit like the railway at the 3 sisters in Katoomba).
Because of our thrillingly comfortable bus trip up we were completely worn out by 5pm but revived ourselves to meet Bonholme, the festival patron and fireworks at 7pm. So we rugged up (it was very cold) and trudged to the festival sta
ge and jumped up and down to the music to keep warm whilst waiting for 'the man in white' to show. It was really a great experience even though we didn't understand a word (Quebec is a french province remember) of the introductions, the music and the celebrations were a blast even though the fireworks did not eventuate. I forgot to mention, we were told that all of the activities are outside at the festival and it gets very cold in Quebec City so make sure you wear plenty of clothing. They were not wrong, it was bitterly cold, even though Quebec and Canada have been going through a warm spring spell of weather, we Aussies, fresh from warm balmy 30 deg days, absolutely froze. Until we discovered Caribou, the local drop, and the fact that it is served heated!
Saturday was spent exploring again and included a trip to the falls and a visit to the Ice Hotel. The ice hotel is a hotel made from ice. It opens in the depths of winter for a few months and you can stay in it for about $300 a night. Guests are kept warm on skin underlays and
warm thermal blankets. Everything else is kept below freezing. The bar was an interesting highlight. We of course had to taste a local brew made from maple syrup (tasted a bit like Baileys) served in an ice glass.
Back in Quebec
City we arrived in time to see the end of the dog sled races which ran through the middle of town. Overnight, workers laid snow on the streets so the race could go through town. We were able to see the end of this event which had huge crowds creating a fantastic atmosphere rivalling any cricket match.
The rest of the day was spent looking at ice sculptures, riding tyre tubes down snow
covered slopes or rafting down the slopes or watching other events and activities. We came back out at night and while Alex and another daughter of an exchange teacher went tubing we hit the ice bar and tasted the hot Caribou. By the time we got around to having a swim in the heated pool it was closed. Previously people were jumping out of the pool and rolling in the snow before getting back in.
All in all it was a wonderful weekend and we meet some terrific people from all over the place coming from England, Scotland, South Australia and even Queensland (yes they have terrific people their too). We found out that some of these folk live right in Kitchener/Waterloo so we will be meeting up soon I hope.
c City for the opening of the winter carnival, an annual event in Quebec. We had to get to Toronto and catch a bus at 10.30pm Thursday night. This bus travelled the 10 hours or so to get us to Quebec for breakfast at 7am. We toured through the old road to Quebec coming up the St Lawrence River, then onto the St Anne de Beaupre Basclica in which Jenny was dumbstruck by its size and majesty. A tour then of the old Quebec City which has very narrow streets and old buildings surrounded by a high stone wall to protect the
city from invasion, built during the British/French conflicts. We then attempted to check in to our hotel. The Hilton is right smack damn bang in the middle of all the sights (and sites) we wanted to see but took us some time to get in. Once in, the views from our room and on the observation floor were spectacular. We also planned to take advantage of the heated pool. A walk around the old city also include a tobbogan ride (very scary as the toboggan lifted out of the track a num
ber of times threatening to capsize and went particularly fast considering it had all three of us on board) and a lift back up the hill on the fanicular railway (a bit like the railway at the 3 sisters in Katoomba).Because of our thrillingly comfortable bus trip up we were completely worn out by 5pm but revived ourselves to meet Bonholme, the festival patron and fireworks at 7pm. So we rugged up (it was very cold) and trudged to the festival sta
ge and jumped up and down to the music to keep warm whilst waiting for 'the man in white' to show. It was really a great experience even though we didn't understand a word (Quebec is a french province remember) of the introductions, the music and the celebrations were a blast even though the fireworks did not eventuate. I forgot to mention, we were told that all of the activities are outside at the festival and it gets very cold in Quebec City so make sure you wear plenty of clothing. They were not wrong, it was bitterly cold, even though Quebec and Canada have been going through a warm spring spell of weather, we Aussies, fresh from warm balmy 30 deg days, absolutely froze. Until we discovered Caribou, the local drop, and the fact that it is served heated!Saturday was spent exploring again and included a trip to the falls and a visit to the Ice Hotel. The ice hotel is a hotel made from ice. It opens in the depths of winter for a few months and you can stay in it for about $300 a night. Guests are kept warm on skin underlays and
warm thermal blankets. Everything else is kept below freezing. The bar was an interesting highlight. We of course had to taste a local brew made from maple syrup (tasted a bit like Baileys) served in an ice glass.Back in Quebec
City we arrived in time to see the end of the dog sled races which ran through the middle of town. Overnight, workers laid snow on the streets so the race could go through town. We were able to see the end of this event which had huge crowds creating a fantastic atmosphere rivalling any cricket match.The rest of the day was spent looking at ice sculptures, riding tyre tubes down snow
covered slopes or rafting down the slopes or watching other events and activities. We came back out at night and while Alex and another daughter of an exchange teacher went tubing we hit the ice bar and tasted the hot Caribou. By the time we got around to having a swim in the heated pool it was closed. Previously people were jumping out of the pool and rolling in the snow before getting back in.All in all it was a wonderful weekend and we meet some terrific people from all over the place coming from England, Scotland, South Australia and even Queensland (yes they have terrific people their too). We found out that some of these folk live right in Kitchener/Waterloo so we will be meeting up soon I hope.
# posted by Dibbo @ 11:28 am 
