Andrea and I woke up around 5:15 a.m. to go run a 10K around Acadia National Park. We drove through Bar Harbor and found the local YMCA which was hosting the race.
The race wasn’t timed; there was really no real start line; we didn’t get shirts as they ran out; and we didn’t get medals, but it was a pretty race. It was hard though. There were so many hills. It was very hilly. The previous night we were driving around the national park and saw the half-marathon signs. The half-marathon would have been impossible.
After the race, we went shopping in Bar Harbor and then, we drove down to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. It is one of the iconic places of Acadia.
After leaving Acadia, we stopped at a Lobster and BBQ road-side restaurant. The BBQ was really good. We drove back into Canada. Northern Maine is really beautiful. We made it to Montreal last night and flew this morning.
We went through customs together. I have experienced that before in Ireland where it actually says, “Welcome to the United States” before leaving the country you are in. We went through U.S. border control in Canada, but after getting through, we still paid in Canadian dollars and saw signs in French. I sat with them for their Minneapolis flight and then, I made my way to my flight. I bought a dozen Montreal bagels – 6 for the team meeting tomorrow morning and 6 for the Canadian who lives below me in my apartment.
I am back in my apartment in Orlando. Andrea is already back at work.
Yesterday, we left Gaspe for Perce. We made the 9 a.m. ferry to the island. The boat went to the Perce rock and then, we took the boat around Bonaventure Island. We saw so many birds. I guess the majority were gannets, but there were small penguins and puffins (though we didn’t really see those too closely).
Upon arrival to the island, we walked to the bird colony and saw so many birds (gannets).
We drove along the coast the rest of the day. Andrea spotted a moose and Dad spotted another moose. We made it to Cavendish, PEI really late, but our cottage was ready for us and was lovely.
I think our trip should be two trips: 1) Cities of Montreal and Quebec and 2) PEI and Nova Scotia. We are doing a lot. I was so tired last night, I didn’t have time to update much.
Today, we woke up and left our cottage. It was a really nice cottage. It was nice to have a change from hotel rooms.
We went to the house that inspired Lucy Maud Montegomery’s Anne of Green Gables on Prince Edward Island. We arrived with a Chinese tour group. I heard that the site is like in the top 3 places that Japanese tourists want to visit as they love “Anne of Red Hair.” I think Dad would like to live there too. We saw Lover’s Lane and Balsam Hollow Trail too. There were gift shops everywhere. You could also see more history on Lucy Maud Montegomery if you wanted to.
We drove through the Red Cliffs area of the Prince Edward Island National Park. We had a nice lobster lunch at a restaurant where the tour was also eating. Then, we drove to Charlottestown. After seeing not too much civilization for a few days, we were back in a populous area. Charlottetown is about 34,000 people and had all major stores. Cruise ships also dock there. We stopped at Cow’s Creamery for probably the best ice I have had in a long time — if ever.
Then, we made our way to Nova Scotia. Upon entering Nova Scotia, we were greeted by a bagpiper at the rest area. Nova Scotia is very Scottish. There is quite a mixture of people up here: French, British, Acadian, Scottish, etc. We drove through Baddeck and saw a museum dedicated to Alexander Graham Bell as he lived here in the latter portion of his life. “Bell” is a popular phone carrier here.
We arrived at a house/cottage in North Sydney, Nova Scotia. We went to a grocery store and bought a whole bunch of food we could cook in our cottage. Andrea made dinner consisting of salmon, haddock, asparagus, rice, and potatoes. We are right on the water. We can hear the ferries to Newfoundland coming in and out of the docks.
These picture updates might not be perfect, but they give you a good picture of the trip.
Today, we went to Fortress of Louisbourg off the coast of Nova Scotia. It is very significant in Canadian history. Two sieges were important turning points in the Anglo-French struggle for Canada. It was captured in 1745 by the British. It was returned to the French in exchange for border towns in what is today Belgium. It was captured again in 1758 by British forces in the Seven Years’ War, after which its fortifications were systematically destroyed by British engineers. The British continued to have a garrison at Louisbourg until 1768. Today, it is a living history museum (Wikipedia).
Afterwards, we drove to Halifax which is the capital of Nova Scotia. It has a metro population of 414,000. We drove to the waterfront and walked around. We bought some more of the Cow’s Creamery ice cream and poutine. We also saw the citadel which sits upon a hill at the top of the city.
From there, we drove to Peggy’s Cove. It is a very small tourist destination as it is picturesque. It has been a fishing village, but it is now very touristy.
Afterwards, we stopped at Lunenburg. The historic district is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has been designated this due to it being the best example of planned British colonial settlement in Canada. We mainly stopped there though to see the Bluenose II. It is a replica of the original Bluenose which is on the Canadian coin that is worth 10 cents. The Bluenose was a fishing and racing schooner built in 1921 in Nova Scotia. It was a celebrated racing ship and fishing vessel that became a provincial icon for Nova Scotia and an important Canadian symbol. The Bluenose was later commemorated by the replica built in 1963 and rebuilt in Lunenburg. The bluenose originated as a nickname for Nova Scotia from as early as the late 18th century (Wikipedia). You can see this ship in the Canadian movie at Epcot.
I didn’t delete many of the pictures, so there are quite a few near duplicates.
We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel. It was a really good deal. We also got $7 off each for staying at the hotel. Tax at restaurants is 13.5% plus tip.
We drove outside of Quebec to see the Montmorency Falls. We parked at the top and walked over the falls. You can even zipline over the falls. I don’t think I would like to do that. Good thing it wasn’t open.
The rest of the day we drove around the coast along the St. Lawrence River. We stopped at a boulangerie to get some bakery items for lunch. We are now in Gaspe, Quebec.
After visiting a bagel shop in Montreal, we left Montreal and headed to Quebec City.
We stopped at a Tim Horton’s and bought a maple glazed doughnut and some cafe au laits. We stopped at another IGA (grocery store). We didn’t make it to Quebec too fast as the speed limits seem pretty slow here. We arrived around 1 p.m. and drove to Old Quebec. We went to the Plains of Abraham also known as the Battle of Quebec during the French and Indian War. The battle was fought between the British and the French with the British ultimately winning. We also went to the Citadelle. It is the oldest military building in Canada and one of only two cities in North America still surrounded by fortifications. During the American Revolutionary War, the United States tried twice to capture Quebec as it is an important port city, but it failed at both attempts. Churchhill, Roosevelt, and the Canadian Prime Minister met at the Citadelle during World War II.
Later, walked through Old Québec. It is a beautiful, small city. We went to the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. Wikipedia says, “overlooking the St. Lawrence River, this grand, castlelike hotel is a 3-minute walk from Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec and 8 minutes’ walk from boutiques in Quartier Petit Champlain”
For lunch, we had good bison burgers and classic poutine. We went down some stairs to a lower shopping street and found a shop that was making maple syrup taffy. It was the best 2 $CAN ever spent. It was cold taffy and melted as I ate it. Andrea doesn’t like sugar and she wanted one.
We went to see the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec which was in a square that looked so neat; it looked fake. It was great. I love Canadian cafe au laits and lattes. Andrea and I both got a latte and sat and watched people in the square. Afterwards, Dad went up on the Funicular and we drove to the hotel. Andrea and I walked to get some food from a really neat grocery store. I turned a corner and moved out of the way from a man who said, “Perdon. Merci Mademoiselle.”
(If you didn’t see pictures in the post from Montreal, there are pictures posted now.)
Yesterday, I left Orlando and headed to Miami to catch a flight to Montreal. Security took less than 5 minutes at OIA. The flight took about 40 minutes. In Miami, I jumped on the sky train and barely made my flight to Montreal, but I was able to go to the bathroom and buy a slice of pizza. Miami is always big. The airport had so many cargo planes. The airport was massive. Orlando is really a baby.
I landed in Montreal at 11:20 p.m. Customs was really nice, but asked me why I was alone. I said there were people coming Chicago to go on a road trip. Dad and Andrea arrived around 12:25 a.m. We took a taxi to a hotel and picked up our rental car this morning. We have a quite large Dodge Durango. I drove it into downtown Montreal and parked it at our hotel.
From our hotel, we took a metro (it was slightly hard to find as much of Montreal in under construction) and walked to a famous bagel shop. The bagel was interesting. It almost seemed burned, but it was really good and about 80 cents U.S. Andrea noticed how little sugar it had in it.
We took a taxi to Jean-Talon Market. It is a famous market. They had samples of the fruit and vegetables and I still managed to buy some unripe apricots. Andrea and I did buy the best Cafe au lait I have had in a while. Andrea also bought some really good tomatoes.
After the outdoor market, we went to the Olympic Park of the Summer Olympics in 1976. This is where Bruce Jenner won the decathlon and Nadia Comăneci won 3 gold medals in gymnastics. I absolutely LOVE Olympics sites and shopping in foreign grocery stores, so I had a good day. However, the Olympic site did not live up to others. There was not a museum. Directions were very hard to find – almost non-existent. The gift shop was the museum the cashier told me. I did buy a hat and a shirt. Some of the venues were being used for other purposes which is good. There was a movie theater and a planetarium. It was very fun to see though.
After the Olympic site, we went to Old Montreal. We saw the Basilique Notre-Dame, Jacques-Cartier Park, and Marche Bonsecours (once housed the Parliament of Canada). March Bonsecours is now a shopping area. I bought some maple cookies for $4 compared to $18 at Disney! We walked along the Old Port. We saw where the first Cirque du Soleil is housed. Then, we just continued to walk around rue St-Paul.
After walking the few short blocks that was Chinatown, we went into an IGA and looked for groceries. We came back to our hotel to check-in around 5:30 p.m.
Andrea and I went back out to visit the underground city, but it was pretty much closed. We were able to see it though and understand that during the Winter, it would be quite fun and nice to shop there. We went back down to Old Montreal and walked around at night.
Tomorrow, we head to Quebec. I don’t think Quebec City has as much to do as Montreal. The people I have interacted with in Montreal have been extremely nice. I have attempted to ask if they speak English in French. I haven’t found many that do not speak English. I think Quebec City will be different.
Montreal has some downfalls as a city. Their metro is behind many in terms of technology. They don’t have alerts as to when the next train is coming. The train pulls into the station way too fast and the train does not alert you in writing what the next stop is. I don’t think the city is very tourist friendly for non-French speakers. The people are nice, but it is hard to figure out where to go by yourself. There is also a major homeless problem.
All in all, it was a tremendous day – how could it not be when there is an Olympic site in the picture?!?!!?!
I last posted on Monday? I am trying to remember what I did last week. On Tuesday night, I met the Iowans at Wolfgang Puck Express in Marketplace at Disney Springs. I had the Insalata pizza. It was interesting. The pizza begins with house made dough and basil pesto. Then it’s topped with roasted garlic, burrata cheese, red onion and farmers’ market greens. I ate the greens separately. It is always nice there except they no longer have the creme brulee.
We went shopping afterwards. There is a new store in the co-op that is all about travel, so it was interesting to see. I took a spin on Cindy’s scooter and almost tipped over. It was fun, but people began to look at me when I ran into some green, heavy chairs and started dragging them with me. I stopped driving after that.
On Wednesday, we went to Boma for dinner. I don’t know how the pictures from Mayor Jacobs’ Dubai trip got in between the Boma pictures. Anyways, Mayor Jacobs was able to meet with the Dubai delegation when she visited a few weeks back, so that was neat to see. Boma was very good. I could eat there forever. But since I don’t eat much meat, I would recommend breakfast at Boma, but dinner was quite good. It actually had a lot of the same selections as at breakfast though the zebra domes are only at dinner.
On Friday, we had dinner at Chefs de France. It was really nice. I would encourage people to splurge on it when going to Disney World. I chose: selected greens with house vinaigrette dressing, diced smoked bacon, tomatoes, and house made croutons, the broiled salmon with rice pilaf, asparagus and dill beurre blanc sauce, and the daily assortment of fresh sorbets with a madeleine. The dill beurre blanc sauce was really really good.
I spent the night with the Murphys on Friday night at French Quarter. The room was nice. The major difference between a moderate and a value is the bathroom area. The bathroom is larger and there were two sinks in the French Quarter room. They had a nice river view too.
On Saturday morning, we went to breakfast at Trattoria al Forna. I had the frittata with roasted red peppers, prosciutto, onions, potatoes, and pecorino romano cheese topped with arugula. I didn’t think it compared with Kona Cafe. The places I would recommend would be: Boma and Kona Cafe for breakfast, Wolfgang Puck in Marketplace, and Chefs de France for dinner. Not in the same day, of course. These are all reasonable places and only take 1 dining plan credit. The French pavilion is really nice with their new quick-service and their newer ice cream place. I should probably try more table-service restaurants – like 1 a month or something.
I thank the Murphys and Pam for their generosity this past week.
Yesterday, I went to Epcot in the afternoon and walked around World Showcase with the Murphy’s.
Last night, I went to Wide World of Sports to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Invictus Games. The games were founded by Prince Harry and are supported by the Bushes and Obamas. 14 coalition countries of wounded warriors marched into the baseball stadium. They will compete in games until Thursday here in Orlando.
It was interesting to see people I know from my current job mixed with chefs I know from my past life. It was a great event. James Blunt, a singer from the U.K., was really good. He performed 3 or 4 songs. I also saw Prince Harry, former President George W. Bush, First Lady Michele Obama, and Morgan Freeman.
It was an inspiring night of over 500 athletes from around the world. There was extra effort to highlight invisible illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder.
Today, I woke up early and had breakfast with the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and learned about the Brazil crisis. I also attended a luncheon for a mayor from a province in Saudi Arabia. Then, tonight, I went to a dinner for the Federal Asian Pacific American Council. I am tired, but I am fortunate to only have 1 more event the rest of the week and that is tomorrow morning. I have to go in early and then, I hope I get enough done in the afternoon to leave to meet Murphy’s at Disney Springs tomorrow night.
The best pictures that I edited are towards the end here:
