The Train

Quebec City - Train route, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

From Quebec we went east to the Maritimes. Can you believe none of us had been there? The train ride was really relaxing and awesome actually.
We opted for the excellent "Easterly class" which included meals, sleeper cars, a park car and tour guides and naturalists.. well worth it.

VIA Rail through the maritimes, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

VIA Rail through the maritimes - salt marshes, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

OK, I'm going to geek out a little. I just found this really interesting.
These are some of the salt marshes of the Bay of Fundy. The Acadians settled here and constructed dykes with system of one way valves called aboiteaux, that allowed fresh water from the marsh to drain out but preventing salt water from entering. But here is the really cool part.. on the opposite side of the track (the area I didn't take a picture of) there was all these tall thin poles.. Radio towers! the salt in the ground made for excellent conduction and amplification .. This is the site of the Radio Canada International broadcasting! cool.

Quebec City - Day Two

Quebec City - Family pic!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

The second day we took to go to the Citadel and the Plains of Abraham. I had no clue that they would be so integrated within the city.

Quebec City - gates of la Citadelle, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

The day started with a tour of the Citadel home of the Van Doo's. With Canada being at war in Afghanistan we had all heard of the Van Doo regiment what we didn't know was that Van Doo is a anglophone pronunciation of the regiment number Vent Deux (22). From the citadels top wall you could see all of the plains of Abraham as well as the St. Laurence and the city.

Quebec City - Plains of Abraham, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

The rest of the day we wandered though the Plains of Abraham. Most (ALL) Canadians should know about the battle(s) fought here and really everyone should visit them. It was one of the most memorable places of the whole trip. Seeing the spot where Wolfe received his mortal wound, imagining what the battle must have been like. The plains are rightly now a national park, but did you know that the plains of Abraham were named that because a guy named Abraham rented them to pasture his animals?
I would have never guessed!

Quebec City - city tour

Quebec City - Chateau Frontenac, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

I love Quebec City. Love it. It has enough Europe flair to make me feel chique being there and enough Canada to make me feel at home. If I spoke French even a little bit better I would move there. The old city is tight knit and comfortable. Lots of hills (not surprising) and views of the water. We did a few things in the city but I think the best thing we did was a walking tour. The tour started at Chateau Frontenac, once the governor's residence and now a luxury hotel. We then wandered down through the Seminaire de Quebec. It was full of school kids and so quite loud and full of echos but really beautiful.

Quebec City - Seminaire de Quebec, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We wandered down outside the city walls and into Place Royal. Almost all of the land beneath the city walls is reclaimed land. The area we wandered into was built to recreate what the city would have looked like in Champlains time. This was a requirement the city fulfilled in order to receive UNESCO world heritage classification.

Quebec City - Rue Petit-Champlain, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We ended with some shopping (of course) the main tourist-y shopping street was directly below the chateau and was extremely busy.

tweedy ballerina

its coming along! the neck is pretty wide & big though, so will likely cut it out and re-knit it tighter. i'm not 100% on this knit - it's feeling a bit chunky. however i love the yarn, Rowan Soft Tweed! why oh why has it been discontinued? (hint... if you see Soft Tweed on sale keep me in mind!)

christmas gifting - so hard not to share

ooooooooooooooooooh you should see what i'm knitting at the moment. my camel/silk cowl is on hold right now as well it is december - which might not be news to you but took me by suprise/shock earlier this week. this fact put into focus a few gifts that need to be finished!

but that also means i can't share in case i spoil it. but maybe a few tibits?? it is a deep beautiful teal with matching tiny seed beads ........... so lush and beautiful! ok i broke down and added a photo - isn't it pretty? i need to get moving on the knitting ... i'm almost done.....

latest project .... made with camel

yes that is right ... silk and camel yarn ..... it is positively yummy - so soft and cozy
this will be a neck warmer/cowl - so less bulky under my coat (i think this will be for me as it is so luxurious i can't resist it!!)

ps: in case you want some: Handmaiden Camelspin

Montreal!

Altar in Notre Dame Basilica, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Man my updates about our trip are pretty lackluster .. few and far between. Party I blame my sister. but that only can go so far as.. well... the first group of pictures were taken on my camera and it's my job to upload them.
This is the altar in Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. Mom and I ducked in here after wandering around in the morning checking out old Montreal. It was one of the only days that was overcast and rainy. We were just so lucky.

Expo 67 site, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We also did a little wander down by the waterfront and checked out the old expo site. I think the last time my dad was in Montreal he as attending Expo 67... Crazy!

candles in Notre Dame Basilica, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

also on a side note... found Montreal's Trudeau airport highly confusing and the airport shuttle very vexing.