Ohhhh, Canadaaaaa

[Katie]

Mon 9 Dec

Another epic travel day. Miss 13 was bummed we would not be going to Niagra Falls today, but there just wasn't enough time for it.

We left the cabin by the lake at around 10am; it was snowing! Mrs A told us later that a lot of snow fell, very limited visibility and heaps of perfect snow for snowman making. We've asked that our snow fall requests be taken into more consideration next time we visit in winter.


The deck and cars before we left the cabin.

The TransCanada Highway between the cabin and Sudbury - and -3C, oh how we thought that was cold that day!! What little we knew …

We drove back via Sudbury and Parry Sound, and stopped in both locations, as well as at a Trading Post to look at trinkets. Of course, we also stopped at Timmy's for a double double, and White Hot Chocolate. No Reindeer donuts for us, but we thought the use of Timbits for a nose was clever.



Outside Sudbury some new mobile phone towers have been built - can you spot them? There's one in this picture, and it's disguised as a pine tree:

(OK, pic taken from moving car didn't help - that big stickyuppy thing in the middle of the photo is the mobile phone tower. At least three times taller than all surrounding trees ... some disguise!)

The highway between Sudbury and Toronto had been formed by carving into many rock faces for a flat ride. It was fascinating to see the ice waterfalls that had been created from snow melt or dripping water. In some of the rock faces, the water was discoloured (yellow or brown), I assume leeching something from the rocks. Mr A told us that sometimes you can walk behind such ice waterfalls.

We made it back to their home by about 4pm, and then Mr A took us to the Vaughan metro station for us to catch the subway back into Toronto. The weather was bad, a very strange fog/mist that really reduced visibility. We ended up running quite late to meet friends in Danforth at 6pm for dinner (made it there at around 7pm).

I was amused by this sign on the subway back to our hotel:


In the smaller print under the car image, kids are encourage to "make all your mistakes online" rather than drive under the influence. While I agree with not driving under the influence of drugs, I'm not sure I'd exhort kids to make mistakes online instead!!

 

[Katie]

Mon 9 Dec - accommodation

We stayed at the Novotel Toronto Centre, which is about two blocks away from Union station, so that we'd have an easy walk to the station in the morning for our ViaRail trip to Quebec city. A much more modern room than the Hilton, with power and USB plugs on both sides of each bed. Also with fancy lighting switches all over the place, and some time to figure out what switch is where.
Plenty of space for us for the night. No recognition of my ALL Silver/practically pleb status (no welcome drink), but I wasn't too fussed about it. We arrived, checked in and grabbed a cab straight to Danforth as I mentioned in my previous post, and this really just was a place to sleep for the night.


Nice bathroom, good lighting, though you did have to get half in the shower to turn it on.

After sending Mr Katie to LCBO for a bottle of vino, and belatedly asking him to get some water, too, I found these bottles of complimentary water in the fridge.

We didn't eat at the hotel; there was a pantry space with some snacks and soft drinks. I have vague recollections of there being many health snacks there - chick pea chips and kale things. Not my kind of snacks. The Old Spaghetti Factory was right across the road, and there were other pubs and eateries nearby.

Overall, the room was well appointed, didn't feel too crowded with three suitcases on the floor, and had considered modern requirements for powering up multiple devices.

 

[DC3]

Thanks, @Bundy Bear. I'm getting better, but Mr Katie is sick ....He will not be popular to sit near on the flights, as he has a very loud cough.

Were you able to put him way up the back somewhere. It wouldn’t have helped him but you would have had have a more peaceful flight.

 

[maia200]

Hello.....been following this.....you have left us hanging......

 

[Kangarucci]

Enjoying the read.

 

[Katie]

Hello.....been following this.....you have left us hanging......

Just taking some time to get it all together - and I'm mostly on AFF during lunch breaks at work!

 

[Katie]

Tues 10 Dec

Another travel day - this time it was by train. We travelled with ViaRail from Toronto to Ottawa, then Ottawa to Quebec City. All up, it was about 12 hours of travel, with an hour in Ottawa where we "changed trains". Which meant disembarking at Ottawa, lugging our gear into the train station, hanging around there for 30 or so mins, then getting back into the same train and the same seats for the rest of the journey. Ottawa ViaRail station is nowhere near downtown or anything, so it was a quiet stop.

We walked from the Novotel to Union Station in Tronno. We had splurged on Business class tickets, so had access to the ViaRail lounge. Somewhere to sit and wait, with wifi. There was a coffee machine and juices in a fridge. We then made our way to the platform - we were concerned by the big queue of people for our train. As we were dithering about joining the queue, and remembering my friend Mr A had told us something about boarding the train, but I couldn't remember exactly what, a boarding announcement for Business class was made. Aha! No need for us to line up; that was for the economy class passengers. Our suitcases were weighed (must be under 23kg), but not our hand luggage. The staff put a sticker on each case confirming they were weighed and within the limit.

We boarded, and had a table for four people to the three of us. You can't choose seats when you book your tickets; they're assigned to you. Luckily we received two forward facing seats and one rear facing seat; the two of us with motion sickness could face forwards, and Mr Katie would be fine facing backwards. I noted with interest that the table for four was "reserved for groups of three or four".



Curiously, you can only board and disembark from one door per carriage, except in emergency situations.

We didn't eat before the train trip; I think we had it in mind that Union Station would be like Berlin Hauptbahnhof or even Victoria station ... it was not. Luckily, we were served breakfast on board.




Sights from the train - some views of the river, and a shed that's bigger than its house!

Sometime after breakfast, there was a (n alcoholic) drinks service. Probably around 11am-ish.

Basic spirits, wine is available, as well as soft drinks, water, tea, coffee. These snacks were served with each drinks service.


Mr KAtie enjoying the spare seat next to him - or maybe Miss 13 was taking up the legroom under the table!!

After we disembarked at Ottawa.

We were amused to board exactly the same train and have exactly the same seats for Ottawa - Quebec City. There was a staff change in Ottawa, with two new attendants serving in our carriage. I think on this leg Mr Katie was asked to assist with safety in the event of an emergency, and given the instructions on how to open the window. I was given instructions on how to lock the carriage door open and put the stairs down if needed. I didn't realise we'd booked the "emergency exit" row.

We were served a light-ish lunch, with a drinks service beforehand. I had a sala and Mr Katie had the cheese. Miss 13 chose not to eat, though we found a ham and cheese toastie at the cafe at Ottawa train station which she ate a few bites of.


In Montreal, we stopped for about 20 minutes, and the carriage really filled up (I think we left Montreal at about 4:30pm). Mr Katie finally had a passenger sitting next to him; based on his lanyard, he worked with the Quebec Finance department. He had a colleague sitting in a single seat across the aisle from him; he was going to ask Mr Katie if he'd mind swapping with his colleague, but then he realised we were a party of three. The man and his colleague talked for a fair bit of the journey to Quebec city, but not loudly. And in French, so I couldn't really listen in.

From Montreal to Quebec city it was completely dark, so not many views out the windows. I was able to do some knitting on the train, but at times it was too bumpy for knitting or my crossword. So I either read or just sat there if I was feeling a tad queasy.

We had issues with the wifi all the way to Ottawa, but one of the staff kicked it in the pants properly after leaving Ottawa, and it worked well. It's not good enough for streaming, but was fun to check where we were on Google maps.

We had a dinner service between Montreal and Quebec (oh, and another staff change in Montreal). This was allegedly Korean beef. It certainly was beef, but not sure where the Korean bit came in . Tasty enough that we didn't need to have dinner after we finally arrived at our hotel after 8:30pm.

There was an interesting change in Ottawa - along with the staff change, the announcements also swapped over, from English first then French, to French first, then English. Our first taste of heading towards Francophone Quebec!

It was bloody freezing in Quebec on our arrival, and we caught a cab to the Hilton. We had to wait for a cab for about 10 minutes (last in the queue), but the cabs came through quickly. Later in the trip I realised why it was so cold - the train station is near the ports and the river, so the wind was coming at us straight from the water. I think I regretted not putting on thermal long johns that day - but only while waiting for the cab!

 

[Katie]

Tues 10 Dec - part 2


Quite the temperature difference between home and our arrival in Quebec city!

We caught a cab to our hotel - we stayed at the Hilton Quebec, which is just outside the old city and near the provincial parliament building and a large conference centre. I'd noticed on the Hilton site that the Exec Lounge had been relocated from the top floor, and the hotel's Level 23 restaurant had closed in November. I realised while we were there that the entire hotel was shutting from 1 Jan 2020 for a full refurbishment. Various activities were already underway, including closing the top floor, a crane on the roof, etc.

Pretty standard room with two Queen beds, though I feel the Canadian Queen beds are just a touch smaller than an Aussie Queen bed. I didn't measure, so this is just my feeling. Mr Katie and I weren't cramped like we'd be in a double bed, but it just a tad less room than our standard Queen bed at home.

Fairly standard two Queen room - Mr Katie annoyed by the single side table, as Miss 13 "baggsed" the bed closer to the window, and he had to put his book, etc, on the floor. Poor thing.


Just like almost any other Hilton bathroom all over the world ... hopefully it'll all be looking nice in 2021 when the hotel re-opens!

Coffee maker above the fridge near the main door.

 

[Katie]

Weds 11 December

We had a little sleep in, and brekky in the Exec lounge, temporarily located in a large meeting room on the ground floor. The man at the welcome desk, Martin, was an absolute delight and I hope he remains employed by the Hilton during the hotel closure (staff told me they were being released from their contracts) - if not, another hotel has the opportunity to grab him. He was really helpful and pleasantly chatty after realising how far we'd travelled. He helped with a phone call to a tour company on Thursday morning to pick us up rather than have us walk to the meeting point, and also in calling a pharmac_ on Friday morning to see if they had slings in stock before I walked down there. He was really lovely.


Remember how last night we though -2C was cold??!! Oh, how we laughed at that memory. I managed to lose my fleece beanie between checking in and getting to our room the previous night, so we would be hunting for a new beanie for me asap given these temperatures.


Christmas decorations on the tables in the exec lounge. Brekky on offer was continental bread, pastries, cheeses, some meat, fruit, yoghurt. My favourite - Pamplemousse juice, and teas and coffees. Miss 13 wasn't eating a lot at this stage, but I made her a strawberry jam croissant and she relented to eat it.

View from our room of Quebec city - we were not facing towards the old city.

After breakfast, we met up with a friend of mine through my professional association. She took us around the old city to see a few sights.

First we walked past Palain Montcalm and Place d'Youville - there was an ice rink set up, but the Zamboni was out and had been working on the ice. You can see the Hilton in the background of that pic, and maybe just see a crane on the roof!


We wandered along Rue St Jean into the old city. I picked up a darn expensive beanie (CAD60 or so), but it has a fun faux fur pom pom on the top, so that's a nicer look than my old (warm) plain beanie. I think maybe I have a big head, as I'd appreciate the beanie being just a bit longer. Or maybe most others don't want their ears fully covered.
First tourist stop was the Notre Dame Basilica, which had a lovely Nativity scene spread throughout the church.


We lit a candle for my Grandad

Part of the nativity scene - there were also life size animals and wise men statues throughout that side of the church.

We then walked up to the Chateau Frontenac. They had an amazing display of Christmas trees - I guess various companies/people had sponsored and decorated the trees. Mr Katie was loving all of the Christmas decorations around all over, and the Chateau was great. After stopping here, I wished I'd contacted the Virtuoso TA and booked at this hotel, as it's a Fairmont and they're usually in Virtuoso. Next time!





There was also a gingerbread house replica of the hotel!

 

[Katie]

Weds 11 December - part two

After some general wandering around the old city with my friend, we returned to Rue St Jean to have crepes at a Breton-style creperie.

Filled with virtue, Mr Katie and I opted for the Buckwheat crepes.


After lunch, we parted ways with my friend.

Mr Katie had seen there was a fort museum (The Fort Museum) he was interested in, so we all visited. We encountered another lovely, chatty man at the ticket desk, happy to chat with us and give us ideas of what to see. The Fort museum is basically a diorama show that takes about 20 minutes. The show starts each hour, and the hours alternate between French and English narrations. There's a book and gift store as well, but that's all there is to the museum. The book store shares some of the history of the man who founded the museum in the 60s.


We continued just wandering around, heading down the breakneck stairs to the Petit Champlain area under the Dufferin Terasse (next to Chateau Frontenac).

I was inappropriately amused by this sign. A Canadian friend educated me on its real meaning after I posted this picture on Facebook.


The stairs didn't seem to be too bad to be called "break neck".

Maple taffy - only four left! We three shared one, and could not finish it between us, even with two sweet tooths.

Miss 13 met the "real" Santa, who told he was a climate refugee (not in those words) from up north. Luckily I revealed all to Miss 13 the year before, otherwise she might have been perturbed by his revelations of helpers and other Santas. Even knowing the truth, she was impressed with this gentleman's real beard.
They had a good chat, and Santa gave her a wee bear ornament that we put on the tree when we got home.

Petit Champlain is full of shops, including a cider shop, a shop with local undyed yarn and hand made wool products, andone clothing store that amused Miss 13 - Fu*klamode (no asterisk in the actual name). As we had nothing better to do, we wandered through the shops. There was also a Beaver Tail restaurant, but they were under refurbishments. So, we hoped to find one in Montreal, all efforts for beaver tail being thwarted thus far!


Reader, Rue du Cul-de-Sac is not a cul-de-sac. It may have been once, but it is just a regular rue now. Do not be tricked by its name!

View from the Royal Battery across the St Lawrence river - the moon was rising, and looked so large.

View up to Chateau Frontenac from the Royal Battery

Notre Dame des Victoires, which we learned about at the Fort Museum. Love the way the French name churches; there's two Notre Dames within 1km of each other in Quebec, the basilica and this one!
Much to Miss 13's horror, as she doesn't like lifts at the moment, we took the funicular up to Dufferin Terasse. She did not appreciate her parents singing "funicula, funiculee" on the ride, either. Luckily there were no other people in the funicular.

We stopped at Starbucks at the Chateau Frontenac for a hot drink -we had wanted to get a mulled wine in the Petit Champlain, but discovered we could not bring Miss 13 with us into a pub/bar. There were 18+ signs on the door of the pub advertising mulled wine; Mr Katie went in to check if she was OK when accompanied with her parents, but it was a flat, no-one under the age of 18 rule.

 

[VPS]

and what is the real meaning of the sign?

 

[defurax]

and what is the real meaning of the sign?

Siamese connection fire hydrant

 

[kookaburra75]

Much to Miss 13's horror, as she doesn't like lifts at the moment, we took the funicular up to Dufferin Terasse. She did not appreciate her parents singing "funicula, funiculee" on the ride, either. Luckily there were no other people in the funicular.

If you can't embarrass your children, what else is left in life. She will recover from it

 

[Katie]

Siamese connection fire hydrant

Ahh! My friend told me it was for a non-freezing fire hydrant, but he seems to be not quite correct. Thanks!

 

[Katie]

Weds 11 Dec - part 3

We walked back to the Hilton, let Miss 13 in the room for a little bit to read (yes, I worry anytime we do that), and popped down to the Exec Lounge for a cheeky adult beverage and to read. In what I assume is another curious part to the Quebec liquor laws, while there were beers, wine, and some spirits available, guests were asked to not pour their own drinks, but to order them from one of the staff in the lounge. Mr Katie had a G&T and I had a vodka & soda, each cost about $CAD12 with taxes - being North America, no free adult drinkies in a Hilton lounge!

At the hotel, we stumbled across their one decorated elevator - done up to resemble an ice fishing hut! What fun!




The elevator controls were also quite modern, given the hotel was about to be fully refurbished. I don't recall investigating how accessible they were. A friend who happens to be blind is quite an independent world traveller, and some of her comments make me consider these kind of issues at time. I know she came across some hotel elevator in Melbourne where there was no way for her to request her floor!

Anyway, I diverge. Due to photo restrictions and me not combining pics, today will have a part 4.

 

[drron]

That law is not everywhere in Canada though.They did have it in the Hilton Toronto but it was an honour bar with no attendant present.let's just say there were no honourable lounge guests whilst we were there.
But last year in the lounge of the IC Montreal the wine and G&Ts were complimentary.The attendant kept our glasses full but you could pour your own.

 

[Katie]

Weds 11 Dec - part 4

Mr Katie made a 7pm bookings at Aux Anciens Candiens in the old city - he'd researched and found it recommended for game meats, as well as Quebecois food. A little touristy,but not too much. One of their claims to fame is that they have been operating for over 300 years (or a restaurant has been operating on that site for that length of time). Part of the restaurant is like a little two storey house with a red roof - so cute!

We arrived shortly after 7, got undressed - well, took off most of the layers required for dealing with sub-zero temps outside, but not in a cozy little restaurant that's well heated. Our waiter was local, but had great English.I keep commenting about the English skills because through my work and other associations, I expected to encounter some Francophone Quebecois attitude to our lack of French. In our experience, apart from one or two small interactions, we've had far more attitude issues in France from not speaking French - we can do the basics, Bonjour, Merci, and I can point and order. We always try to use what little language we have anywhere.

We ordered a local wine with dinner (yes, sorry to my dermatologist and naturopath for drinking red wine. Ooops):

We assumed we'd be paying too much for it - we confirmed this at the SAQ the next day where this bottle was selling for under CAD20. But, that's restaurants! Not much skin off our noses, and only just a bit extra $$ to supporting the hospitality industry in Quebec.



We shared an onion soup for entree.

Miss 13 had the most friendly for her thing on the menu - salmon.

I had canard - yummy!!


Mr Katie had the bison bourginon. He approved.



Some chippies with our meal.

This was my dessert, which I think was something like a bread and butter pudding.


Mr Katie had this -again hazy on the details, but we think it was a butter tart. Like a pecan pie without pecans - so very sugary!

As we left the restaurant after dinner, it was snowing! How fun! How exciting for three Queenslanders! Miss 13 started twirling on the footpath, and almost bowled over a local lady walking along. Luckily, she didn't. We reminded Miss 13 to say sorry, and apologised for being excited Aussies. The lady responded with "It's OK, I was looking, even if she wasn't" with a slight French accent. We took that as a scolding.

Walking along the wall down to near Rue St Jean. So beautiful.


Hiding panda, smiling father - for now.

On the walk back to the hotel, on the top side of the Palais Montcalm, Mr Katie decided to walk down the side of the Palais to see if the ice rink we'd seen that morning was open. Rather than walk on the snow covered path/driveway, he veered near the snow covered garden bed.
Reader, he fell on his bottom and his right arm went out to support him/took much of the jarring of the fall.
Reader, I did not realise how badly he'd hurt himself, and am very lucky he was in so much pain he didn't start divorce proceedings there and then for me being doubled over with laughter trying to control my bladder.

I calmed down, realised he was not OK, and from then onwards all thoughts of ice skating were out of all of our minds. Even the wee girl didn't ask about it again, bless her socks.

Back to the hotel, ice, voltaren, ice leaking in the middle of our bed when Mr Katie put down the ice bag, and all the fun of trying to work out what the heck has happened. I was in touch with a physio friend, took their advice, and we didn't seek medical attention. Maybe we should have, will find out more in the next hour or so when Mr Katie finally sees the orthopaedic specialist (thanks to the Xmas holidays).
As I think I mentioned earlier, he tore one shoulder tendon and partially tore another; the other two tendons hurt after the fall probably from the shock of it (as suggested by the physio who reviewed the MRI he had at home on 20/12).

This put a bit of a damper on the rest of our trip. I was very grateful that Miss 13 can wheel her own suitcase, and generally enjoys it, and that I'm strong enough to be lugging our suitcases on to and off of things. We didn't have too much either, even with one suitcase each. though I'm astounded at the weight of Mr Katie's laptop bag. Far out, carrying that through airports later in the trip felt like I was on Biggest Loser carrying my lost 15kgs around - but it was just an extra 15kg for me!!

So, we recommend this restaurant.
We do not recommend men wearing Doc Marten boots not made for snow walking down icy snowy paths.

 

[Katie]

That law is not everywhere in Canada though.They did have it in the Hilton Toronto but it was an honour bar with no attendant present.let's just say there were no honourable lounge guests whilst we were there.
But last year in the lounge of the IC Montreal the wine and G&Ts were complimentary.The attendant kept our glasses full but you could pour your own.

True - we mostly noticed it in Quebec city, so maybe it was just the city and not the province?? Or I read too much into it without checking with a local. In Toronto, we did pour ourselves some very full glasses, but did fill out the slips for each glass. I think.
In Montreal, at the Doubletree we were given drinks vouchers to redeem at the bar, the lounge was closed.

 

[Katie]

Weds 11 Dec - part 5

The hotel was quite busy aroudn the bar/restaurant on Tues and Weds night - due to a Porc show (pork show) at the hotel and/or convention centre next door.
Welcome to the pork show! For some reason, the signs gave me a smile.


Watching the snow from our room was lovely, and a slight distraction for Mr Katie from the pain. At one stage, we couldn't see the steeple of the church to the far left due to the snow, but it wasn't like that for long.

I worried about the car you see with its lights on outside the conference centre - it was sitting there with its lights on for over an hour. It was gone by morning ...

 

[Katie]

Were you able to put him way up the back somewhere. It wouldn’t have helped him but you would have had have a more peaceful flight.

Unfortunately not - a full Y+ cabin!