Last Day

Last day at the hotel. Oh how I'll
miss these beds.  Twas a very large
room but only with one sofa bed
and one queen.  We had to alternate
days where one of us would sleep alone
on the sofa bed and two of us would
sleep in the queen.  The original thought
of sleeping in the same bed with another
guy was very unappealing.  But we
improvised and made a pillow wall
between the two of us and it was all
good.

Also, we weren't given a kettle, so
we warmed up water with the microwave.
It proved somewhat difficult when we
made cup of noodles.  Good times

Ice Hotel

Ice hotel on second last day. Not too cold, but somewhat desolate inside. If you get a room in the ice hotel, you also get a room at the Sheraton across the street. Just in case you get freaked out by being inside a giant room made of ice.  Unfortunately, we did not stay in the ice hotel, but we did get a free tour.  According to the tour guide, the cups at the bar are also made of ice.  Unfortunately you can't order hot chocolate (for obvious reasons).  The hotel only uses the cups once since they can't be washed.  Then they're put outside so that they will eventually melt away.
Then they're put outside so that they will eventually melt away.  If I remember correctly, prices for the rooms start at $1000 a night.  Since the trip cost around $1000, we would have only been able to stay at the ice hotel for a one meager day (the price is wrong Bob).  I suppose the idea of the ice hotel is meant for posh rich people who can throw their money around freely.

Lunch

Croque Monsieur at Casse-Tête Café. Interesting place with menus written in Chinese, Korean and Spanish. The owner told us that his menu was meant to be suitable for tourists who want to eat for a low price.  All in all pretty good food, but as you can see they gave me a lot of ketchup.    Nice guy and he spoke perfect Chinese to us.

Mural

Beautiful mural in Quebec showing important figures in French-Canadian history. In the middle you can see the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain.

Human Foosball

Human Foosball at Carnaval. Reminded me of something right out of a Japanese gameshow. We were cut short on time and unfortunately were unable to take part in the game. Make sure you stay frosty. One guy slipped and fell almost 5 times.

Chateau Frontenac

Me standing in front of the Chateau Frontenac. A beautiful view of the St. Lawrence River. The Chateau opened in 1893 and was meant to be a luxurious hotel for rich tourists using the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was used in 1943 by Churchill and Roosevelt to discuss WWII strategy. Apparently there are over 6 miles of hallways inside, so it's pretty easy to get lost. If zombies attack Quebec, I'm staying here.

Snow sculptures

Looks like the tables have turned.  Runaway grooms are the new in thing

Two of my favorite snow sculptures at Carnaval. I think most couples can relate to the first sculpture. I guess everyone feels trapped with commitment every now and then.

The other snow sculpture is a little bit odd.  Kind of looks like a cannibal apple proud of eating another one of its kind.  I thought only Gene Simmons could stick his tongue that far.  I will never look at apples again in the same way. 

You see people around the Carnaval carving out ice sculptures everywhere. They have this ice sculpture contest with people from around the world (Korea, France and the US specifically). I have no idea how they do it.  Kind of sad when you think that all of their hard work eventually melts away.

Giant Cannon

Interesting picture of Mr. X, Ms. Y and Ms. Z riding a giant cannon on the Plains of Abraham. Later on I saw a sign that said do not climb on cannons. Deep sigh.

Here's a video that will give you some background on the Plains of Abraham. The battle basically ended the French rule in Canada.

Ice Sculpture

An ice sculpture in Quebec. If you look closely, you'll notice the bottles are Smirnoff.  Plenty more of these on the street, almost one outside every restaurant.  I suppose it's a good marketing tool.  If I remember correctly, this one is outside of a bar close to the Citadelle.

Its beauty is deceiving

Good day so far, but still pretty tired from jet lag.  We also had poutine today which was pretty tasty.  If you somehow don't know what poutine is, then I deem you unpatriotic.  Every good Canadian should know the beauty that is poutine.  The concept of french fries drenched in gravy and cheese curds will make any grown man cry.  It tastes really good for the first couple of bites, but then it gets less and less tasty.  It's a good idea in theory, but in reality it doesn't quite work out that way.  Kind of like communism, a good idea in theory, but history proves communism to be quite a horrid concept.

D-Day

My friends and inside YVR.  Left for Quebec yesterday. Long flight and we had to transfer at Toronto.
Believe it or not, Pearson Airport  is very nice and similar to YVR.  Three hour difference is taking its toll on us. Curse you jet lag! Most of us found it impossible to sleep on the flight since there was so much turbulence.  Plus we took Air Canada so we got to watch movies for 5 hours straight.  I watched Date Night and an Episode of The Big Bang Theory.  I should probably have been studying for my Chemistry Test, but I like to procrastinate.

 On the plus side, we got pretzels on the flight.  Everyone knows that pretzels are the greatest snack you can get on a plane.



We went to the Musee du Fort to cap off the night where we had an interactive quiz on the military history of Quebec.  It was 8pm, or around 11 pm in BC.  We took our seats and were presented with a detailed diorama of the plains of Abraham.  The lights were dimmed and the temptation to sleep was too much for all of us tourists.  Weary from our long journey, most of us got some nice shut eye during the presentation.  Turns out I failed the quiz at the end.  For me The Musee du Fort will be forever remembered as a place of solace and of rest.

D-Day -1

Only one more day until my trip to Quebec with the school.  This is a picture my family took in 2009.  As you can tell, we have great photography skills.  Probably the best picture you'll ever see of Quebec.

It's a very beautiful City with ancient architecture.  Kind of like going to Europe without the long flight. Most people inside the walls of Quebec speak English very well.  However, they do appreciate it when you try to speak French.

Founded by Samuel de Champlain in 1608, the site soon became a successful French colony. Quebec was important to France because of the beaver furs around the City.  The furs would be sent back to France where they would be transformed into beautiful beaver hats. Obviously PETA wasn't around back then.

The city came under British rule after the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.  The battle was quick and brutal, the generals on both sides died during the battle. The city proved to be quite resistant with its fortified walls and canons overlooking the St. Lawrence River.  The City was able to resist attacks from America during the American Revolution.

I'd add more, but I'm sure you could find most of this information on Wikipedia.