Oh Canada: Quebec - Part One

Ok, so this post is way, way late, but with a chain of hectic events we've had in the past couple of weeks, it had to wait. Having close to 500 pictures to look through also didn't help. We finally narrowed them down and split them into two separate posts, so you don't fall asleep looking through what could have been the world's longest blog post. Anyway, off we go to Quebec!

Enjoying the only hour of clear skies we had in the city, before the rain clouds rolled in. It rained nearly the entire time we were there. But we made the best of it, regardless. After all, we weren't going to waste this opportunity to explore one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

{ The view from the upper town. }

{ The old city walls. }

{Welcome to the Old City.}

{ Thirsty anyone? }

Wandering through these narrow, winding streets reminds me so much of Europe, and my native Lithuania. It's rare to find this in North America. 

{ I spy something delicious in there. }

{ The famous Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. }

No, we did not stay there (with prices starting at $300 per night it's way out of our budget), but we did take a little peek inside, since it's open to tourists. 

{ Stopped to admire a beautiful flower arrangement in the lobby. }

{ Look up! }

{ Cameraman's assistant and a very fuzzy store display, that unfortunately said, "Do not touch!" }

Half the stores we popped into while in Quebec carried a wide variety of fur accessories and woolen garments (due to the cold climate in this neck of the woods). I was even contemplating on getting a fur hat after seeing them over and over again. Instead I went with a tiny woolen sheep from one of the shops inside the Chateau - a palm-sized version of these two fuzzies in the picture above.

{ Saint Lawrence river and the continuous cloudy skies. }

{ And the downpour begins... }

{ The best bowl of poutine I had, at Le Chic Shack }

I was quite hesitant to try this infamous French Canadian dish. French fries topped with gravy and cheese curds did not sound particularly appealing to me. Don't get me wrong I love fries as well as gravy, but the two combined together seemed like the heaviest, artery clogging concoction. And the cheese curds... that word alone makes me cringe, but once I tried it I was hooked. Was it heavy? Yes. Calorie packed? You bet. And it was dope! I had it for nearly every meal, two days in a row. I must have eaten a week's worth of calories in just a couple of days, and I didn't even care. Let's just say suddenly a phrase on one of the graphic tees we saw at a gift shop made a lot of sense: "cocaine, heroine, poutine".

Stay tuned for part two!