2018-12-24 Quebec City
Getting there
So wanted to be all clever and "pop by" Canada, since we've never been and we were nearby anyway in the USA. Unfortunately it was still a stupidly long trip. The original plan was:
- Hawaii
- Newark
- Quebec
But United Airlines decided to shuffle us to
- Hawaii
- Dulles
- Newark
- Quebec
Two transfers is unprecedented for us and we were completely wrecked by the end. Also sucks that as we were heading to the gate for departure we passed by the flight we were *meant*to be on.
By time we were waiting for our last flight, we were both falling asleep in our chairs. The flight was also delayed by an hour or two because of snowstorms in Quebec. So we had to wait even more time in the waiting room and unfortunately we both fell asleep. They had to do a personal final boarding call for my name and that shocked me awake to get onto the plane.
Once we did get there, it was all very smooth. As soon as we exited the airport we were smacked in the first with snowfall and high winds. We managed to get into an Uber within maybe 2 minutes of being outside but even that was long enough to terrify us with the cold.
Am there
Quebec City is a quaint little town in the French area of Canada.
Our accommodation is a nice homely apartment just outside of Old Quebec.
Before starting our day, we went to Chez Ashton (a fast food franchise) for some poutine, a popular Canadian dish. Its basically chips + gravy + cheese curd (which tastes like haloumi). Good stuff but we also discovered that "regular" size means large. It goes bébé -> mini -> regular.
The salad was also gigantic.
The exchange rate was pretty good, at 1.00CAD to 1.05AUD.
How cold is it, really?
Yeah its pretty cold. Like stupidly cold. Basically you have to run from building to building, desperately looking for shelter to protect you from the cold. You know in those video games where you if you're in the cold for more than 10 seconds you start losing health? Basically that.
Because of this, I found a lot of things are setup here to facilitate that. Things such as almost all buildings having a sort of buffer/airlock section in the entrance to keep out the cold, but people can take shelter in there also. Quite common in snowstorms I imagine.
Our taxi driver tells us that its actually nice and warm today. That its -8 and not -30 like it usually is. And that the sun is actually up and its not a blizzard/snowstorm.
Dogsledding!
We went with the guys at Expedition Mi Loup for dog sledding. We tried to go dog sledding ages ago in Switzerland but transport was way too difficult (it was in the middle of a mountain somewhere so a taxi wasn't ideal).
We're glad we got to go this time! It was fun.
We got picked up at Old Quebec, and shuttled over to the neighbouring island. Got changed into snow gear (optional, but it was so cold so basically mandatory), then went to meet the dogs.
They were chained and hooked up to the sleds, ready to go.
It was really noisy, as you had 50 or so dogs getting really amped up and restless.
Driving is pretty straightforward. Lean left to turn left, lean right to turn right. Step on brake. The problem is that the dogs have their own minds, so they take off and poop randomly.
A random white stray dog was running alongside us during the run as well.
The team in front of us had really slow dogs, so we were constantly having to stop. Also our mid-point changeover section was poorly communicated to us, so we didn't get any photos and Steph didn't get to swap into the driver's seat with me!
We got to meet the puppies later.
And grown dogs acting like puppies.
And puppies being vicious.
Unfortunately it was pretty icey, as there hasn't been too much recent snowfall. So snow angels weren't possible... yet.
Toboggan-ing!
During Christmas there is a large toboggan track setup near the river. A tiny cafe sits on the side, and you buy your tickets from there. Because its so cold, people also huddle inside there and take shelter there. We got two tickets then waited in line for a toboggan. I couldn't stand the cold so I dashed inside the cafe for a minute to defrost but Steph the champ stayed outside the whole time.
There was also an ice rink nearby. We didn't have ice skates though.
Some stairs were snowed over, I wonder how the tenants get out once more snow starts coming down!
We found a hot water system exhaust pipe and was using it to replenish our HP before moving on.
Old Quebec
We explored the Old Quebec area. Just basically the old town with nice architectures. Got some popcorn (not sure why there's a shop that just does popcorn that isn't in a cinema), ran from shop to shop (still cold).
The german style christmas market was actually pretty small and disappointing even though it was meant to be one of the highlights of christmas here.
This gourmet popcorn was really good. Who knew that mixing caramel and cheese popcorn would actually work!
We also grabbed some Italian dinner at Sapristi near the train station. The s'mores fondue was way too big!
Carols were being sung and lanterns were being waved (not sure why) near the train station.
Leaving
The views from the airport.
Its good to see Bitcoin ATMs in the wild! Its not dead yet!
Leaving Quebec City was a very pleasant experience. The airport was vast, clean, modern and empty. Staff were friendly, food was good. Once we landed in NYC it was pretty different.
