So I feel that before I leave this
frozen land of Canada for the sunshine and beaches of Cuba, one must be
informed of my various activities of the past few weeks (which have gone
outrageously quickly and have brought me to a place where I am three quarters of
the way through my year abroad. Ridiculous).
My final weekend trip away was my
furthest afield yet. A solid eight hours
of travelling for two days. In England,
that would be a crazy concept. I rarely
make the five hour journey home during term time because it seems so epic. But anyhow, when on a year abroad, one must
commit to exploration of the nation one is visiting. As
such, it would be rude not see one of the main cities of Eastern Canada. And
with that, the most beautiful by far. We
were transported to a European city with its Old Town walls, its little town
squares, its gothic-style buildings and its grand parliamentary buildings. A treat for the eyes indeed. Québec City.
We timed our visit with the start of
their world-renowned Winter Carnival.
Think ice castles, DJ concerts at night, ice sculptures everywhere, and
hundreds of people trudging through the snow, ice and slush to get in line for
the ice slides or for a stick of maple taffy. They say maple taffy is something one simply must
try when out here (and it is true indeed). Think a patch of
(clean) snow, a wooden lolly stick and runny maple syrup.
Stick. Roll. Lick. Beautiful. And then your
teeth feel like they will fall out due to the amount of pure sugar, but it is
worth it. The carnival also meant that
it felt like Christmas all over again as decorations were all up still - trees, tinsel, snowflakes and everything. (Though the slightly terrifying Carnival Snowman took the place of Father Christmas)
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| Maple Taffy Production Line |
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| Carnival Snowman |
So the days were spent exploring the streets
and alleyways, having impromptu snowball fights, gazing at the views across
the frozen river, wandering along the city wall, cooing at little children so
wrapped up they looked like walking candy floss. If we thought Montreal was French, Québec City
is on a whole new level. But, one must
embrace. And that we did. There was also
a photo (or ten) taken of the most photographed hotel in the world. The Chateau
Frontenac. Well, surely it would be rude not to?
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| The Chateau Frontenac |
The ‘champagne moment’ of the trip would
be the trip to the Hotel de Glace. It is
the ‘first and only true ice hotel in North America’ (thank you Wikipedia). And it was amazing. Rather cool and fresh as one would
expect. Lots of ice. Sculptures (some incredible ones at
that). It was also a bucket list item
ticked off when we had an ‘ice-cocktail’.
Some kind of exciting cocktail shot in a glass made entirely of ice.
*Gloves were found to be essential items when trying to drink it, so take note.*
Overall, a stunning city and an
excellent weekend excursion.
Various 21st celebrations
peppered the next few weeks with meals out in DT (downtown) Ottawa. Despite feeling that I may not have made the
most of what Ottawa has to offer, in a fortnight I’ve been to three restaurants
and a number of new bars and clubs so there is hope yet.
Finally.
What I mentioned in a post when grass still existed in my life, where
snow seemed worlds away and my feet
never felt cold: skating the canal from Carleton to Downtown. This
was achieved yesterday. I had a trial
run last week, seeming to have forgotten everything I ever learned and shocking
people with noises that apparently sound like a Canadian goose (at least I fit
in then). However, 7.8km of ice were later
dominated with no crashes or falls. Basically a professional now. The moment of relief my ankles and calves
felt when the spires of Parliament came into sight was immense. It’s a situation similar to that of skiing
when little children are speeding about past me... I also don’t think I overtook
a single person, but in my eyes, that’s not the point. Practically being born with skates on is a
slight advantage that every single Canadian on earth (well in Canada) seems to have over me I’d say.
However, moving on from this cold talk...within a matter of hours, the
sight of white shall be replaced with that of bright, sparkling blue and
green.
Snow for sea.
Slush for sand.
Canada for Cuba.
Come at me.
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