US/Canada 2018

Quebec 11th September, 2018 Today we woke to light drizzle, but that was the forecast, so we drove to the Levi Ferry terminal on the south-side of the St Lawrence River and right across from Old Quebec Lower Town. The car ferry travels back and forth every 20 minutes from 5am to 2am. Much quicker than driving into the old city as we did yesterday. We knew it would be damp, but after our walking tour yesterday we wanted to check out more of the Lower Town shops and building. (These images have had a slight tweak to enhance the shot and adjust the levels - in some way making up for the overcast day.) We found a dry place to eat our lunch (the Starbucks inside the Fairmont Chateau Hotel) and then went underground to look at the archeological site under the boardwalk. There you can see the store rooms, pantry and latrine from the late 17th Century. Tomorrow we leave here early to drive three hours back to Montreal to fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia where we will spend our l...

Quebec 10th September, 2018 Today we left Montreal at 7.30am, braved the morning peak and arrived in Quebec around 11.30. We had a 1.30pm walking tour booked from the centre of the old city, so I took the advice of the tour organisers and parked under the Quebec Town Hall, right in the heart of the old city. Six hours - $18! Amazing. The walking tour started right outside the Chateau Frontenac Hotel (now a Fairmont Hotel) on the long wooden terrace and over two hours, our guide Louise led us slowly down into lower Quebec. Everywhere you turned there were beautiful sights. We learned about the history of Quebec, its architecture and why it was built where it was. It is on the banks of the St Lawrence River which gives it access to the Atlantic Ocean one way and to the Great Lakes the other way. The river narrows here and is also the deepest. A great location for a port,  It's history includes some prisoners transported to Australia - something I didn't k...

Montreal 9th September, 2018 Today we headed back into Old Montreal to see more of this 375 year old city. We had booked a walking tour, something we first did 16 years ago in York, UK and we have always found this is a great way to get to know a city. We spent an hour and a half with Pierre and 16 other people and learnt a lot more about the history and the various wars and battles fought over this 'croissant' shaped island. It was first settled by French Catholic missionaries who set out to 'convert the natives'. It has been through English and French ownership and now of course is part if Canada. After our tour we went back to some of the shops we had passed and then visited the Montreal Museum, which is built over the ruins of the first settlement here. As you walk through the building, you go up and down, over the ruins and in one case, walk through an old sewerage tunnel, made of brick. It is very well done. We had hoped we'd fi...

Montreal 8th September, 2018 Bonjour. Bienvenue à Montréal. We are in Paris - well no actually, but there is so much about Montreal that reminds us of Paris. We are staying in an AirBnB right near a Metro station, so we can be downtown in about 10 minutes. We left Ottawa this morning and stopped on the way at a gorgeous little community called Montebello. This is also the home of another Fairmont Hotel, this one is like a giant log cabin. There is also a Mansion which is open to the public. We walked around downtown, had dinner and then lined up at Notre Dame Cathedral for an 'Immersive Experience'. It was truly mind-blowing and awe inspiring. Using the same technology which Sydney Vivid uses to 'paint' patterns and designs on our buildings, this event 'painted' the inside of the cathedral and it was stunning. The audio track was classical music, probably composed for this event. Using light, patterns, shapes and incredible colours, the show used...

Ottawa 7th September, 2018 Today we set out to explore Ottawa some more. We had intended to take a walking tour of the Byward Markets, but the scheduling wasn't quite right, so Catherine gave us a personal tour - hitting the highlights. These included the Ottawa sign, the Sussex Street Courtyards - one with an original metal front of a shop mounted up on a wall and a good recommendation for coffee. Then we headed to see the Impressionists Exhibition at the Ottawa Museum and Art Gallery - a magnificent building looking over the city. We spent quite a few hours there and saw some Matisse, Gauguin and Van Gogh's 'Iris'. (No, not the one Alan Bond tried to buy, that was "Irises'. Subtle difference.) We went back to the Byward Markets for lunch. Then we came across three boats navigating the locks in the Rideau Canal, so that was fascinating and kept us occupied for an hour or so. We ended the day with a boat cruise on the ...

Ottawa 6th September, 2018 This morning as we woke to a slightly drizzly Toronto morning, we headed off to the Thrifty office and picked up our hire car and headed for Ottawa - the nation's Capital. It was about a four hour drive and once we got out of the Toronto city and suburbs, we could have been driving back home in Australia. Apart from being on the other side of the road and car, that is. What made it more like home were the familiar names of the towns we passed, Newcastle, Kingston, Nepean, Picton, etc. Seems like the British had a hand here as well. We've moved out of the hotel accommodation now to Air BnB and the single room apartment we have here is great. Ten minutes from downtown, so no need to use the car, which is parked out the back. This afternoon we had a quick walk around the old city, checking out the Rideau Canal (amazing engineering feat) and another Fairmont Hotel. Tomorrow, we'll head off and explore some more.

Toronto 5th September, 2018 Today we set out to explore some more of Toronto. First up we ascended the CN Tower - seems every US/Canadian city we have been to has a tower. The CN Tower has a glass floor, but it's quite small and doesn't turn - like the Seattle one. Then we took a harbour cruise which headed out to the offshore islands. It was around 30 deg today, although those clouds in the city shot show that there's a change coming tonight. After lunch we headed out to Fort York, an historic settlement on the shore of Lake Ontario, although in the past 200+ years, the shore has moved away from the fort, so it no longer has a lake frontage. The immersive experience of a battle in 1812 here was amazing. After this we stumbled across an Aussie barista in a Lavazza coffee shop who understood how frustrated we were with the local product. Thanks Natalie. Tomorrow we are off to Ottawa - the state Capital.