7 Hours in Quebec City

Quebec City is a city more European than most European cities. It really is just like a Christmas fairy tale with the massive amounts of snow, kitsch decorations and gorgeous stone architecture. Of course, I didn’t know this when I signed up for the business school trip – I just thought it was going to be an old, albeit interesting, historic town.

The trip to QC is three hours but it was an uncomfortable three hours in an unheated, typical-looking American school bus. I still managed to drift off to sleep though since I had been out quite late the night before.

Having spent most of the morning on the bus, I spent what time we had wondering around the festival grounds of the city’s Winter Carnival. All throughout the city there were hidden pockets of stalls and pavilions devoted to poutine, axe-throwing, pretzels, mechanical bull riding, Beaver Tails, sausages and EDM. It was great to just wander around and soak up the atmosphere.

I successfully managed to hunt down a Beaver Tail – a Canadian national treasure that is essentially a flat cinnamon donut covered in different toppings. My favourite was Nutella and banana although the maple butter gave it a run for its money. After wandering around some ice sculptures and castles, we headed down to old part of Quebec City.

The day was pretty balmy by QC standards (somewhere between -2 and -8) but with a heavy snowfall. All in all it was great weather but one did have to be careful not to fall from the slush even when wearing snow boots. We wandered through some gorgeous stone streets and spied a great deal for $5 poutine in a cozy little restaurant. A few beers, a few hours and a wonderful conversation later, we re-emerged buzzed and eager to continue exploring the old city.

We made our way to the Terrasse Dufferin which overlooks the river and is overshadowed by the iconic Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. If I ever return to Quebec City, I’d absolutely love to stay in that grand old hotel.

After sussing out a way to breach the city’s defences and go to the lower town, we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, watching parades and posing with various landmarks. The snow was really coming down that day so it really added to the traditional European Christmas vibe. Except I doubt any European city gets as much snow actually at Christmas time.

As we explored the different alleyways of the Old Port we decided to have some shots of Fireball Whiskey. I had never had it before but boy was it the perfect drink at the right time – a delicious cinnamon kick to warm me up in the frigid weather!

We stumbled upon this great old Cathedral which was absolutely gorgeous inside. The curious thing was that the inside looked near exactly like my high school Chapel back in Brisbane. Quebec has a very strong Catholic tradition; both QC and Montreal are full of ornate churches and cathedrals.

Getting into the late afternoon, we were torn between ice skating on a frozen fountain or heading inside for a few bevvies. As soon as we sat down at the ice skate hire place, we all felt how tired we were and decided to tap out. We headed to the nearest and most Canadian looking pub.

More chats and several beers later we hurriedly made our way back up the hill to the bus departure stop. We had probably stayed at the bar too long so we knew we needed to hurry back. Let me tell you trying to walk uphill in ankle deep slush is a challenge as is but trying to powerwalk up a hill in ankle deep slush is a killer.

We didn’t stay long enough in the city to see the Main Parade that marked the end of the Winter Carnival but we did see all the preparations for it – closed streets, squadrons of marching bands, and people in various costumes.

We left the city about an hour later than scheduled since the departure point had moved which complicated things for stragglers (like me). I would have enjoyed sleeping on the way back had it not been for the heater under my seat. While this morning the heater had been too cold, now it was too hot! I had to take off all my layers but even then I felt the backs of my calves burning.

Still that was a minor downside in an otherwise magical day. I would have loved to stay in the city for a bit longer to explore a bit more but I don’t think you’d need more than two days in Quebec City.

*Pics used in this post are a combination of my phone and stock images. My GoPro files from the day were corrupted :(

#travel #canada #exchange