Squeaky Cheese in Quebec City

We arrived in Quebec City around midnight on Thursday, October 18. We were exhausted when we got to the hotel and went straight to bed! 

I woke up around 8am on Friday and Kevin slept until about noon. Our hotel had free wi-fi so I did some research and activity planning while Kevin slept. I found a toy/bookshop that I wanted to explore that was only about 4 blocks from our hotel so I got ready to go out. Kevin decided to join me and we briefly explored the neighborhood around our hotel. The toy shop was awesome, although I was a little disappointed with the book section. I was hoping there would be more English books, but I guess I should know better being in a French-speaking city. We grabbed some Thai food to go and ate lunch in our room. The afternoon was very rainy so we hung out at the hotel until we got hungry again. Once we were hungry, we began our search for Poutine! We decided to go to a restaurant called Ashton's. This is a fast food chain restaurant but it is only found in Quebec. We saw great reviews online and the gal at the front desk recommended it, so we gave it a try. The order was huge! It was big enough for Kevin and I to share and both get full. The product on the other hand, was less than desired. Poutine is a bowl of french fries covered in brown gravy and curds of cheese. The cheese is similar to mozzarella but more dry and "squeaky." It is hard to understand squeaky cheese unless you have had it, but I can describe it as being a bit rubbery and squeaky against your teeth. It was a very interesting sensation. Apparently the gravy is supposed to be hot enough that it melts the cheese but that was not the case with this Poutine. We were happy to have tried it, but determined to continue our search for good Poutine. We went back to the hotel around 9pm and crashed!

Outside the toy shop. The banjo playing frog is their mascot.

Out take-away thai food lunch in the hotel room.

Our first taste of poutine - french fries covered in cheese curds and brown gravy. Good, but still searching for better!

We woke up around 7am and were out of the hotel by 9am on Saturday. The rain had cleared, but it was expected to be rainy again later in the day, so we decided to get an early start. Our initial plan was to go to Montgomery Falls and the vineyards on Orleans Island but we found out it is very difficult to access the island without your own transportation so we decided to go to the falls on Sunday and explore "Old" Quebec City instead. We walked about a mile to get to the "old" part of town. This part of Quebec City is the only place North of Mexico that still has a fortified wall surrounding the area. The area was full of shops, restaurants, pubs/bars, museums, and famous landmarks. It was so fun to explore. We journeyed back to the hotel around 3:00pm and I got incredibly sick. I think it may have been related to something we ate because it passed about as quickly as it came on. Needless to say, we had a low-key afternoon. We walked across the street to a Vietnamese restaurant and ate a bowl of soup, which was just what my body needed.

One of my favorite Canadian shops. This is a chain that is very well known throughout Canada. Their mascot is a beaver...how can you go wrong!?!

Self-photo overlooking the river. 

Our delicious crepe breakfast! Unfortunately I think this may have been what made me sick. I am not sure that the eggs were cooked all the way. But it sure was tasty!

This is the Chateau Frontenac hotel. It is one of the best known and most photographed buildings in Quebec City.

The Chateau Frontenac from the backside.

We found this cute little French square and had to take a photo. 

On Sunday we went to the beautiful Montgomery Falls. The weather was a bit rainy again, but we decided to go out anyway. We were able to take a city bus from our hotel all the way to the falls (about a 45 minute ride). We got to the falls around 10am and were excited to explore! The falls are located inside a public park so you don't have to pay an admission fee. We walked over to an incredible viewing area. We were on the top of of a big hill and had the option to walk down to the bottom of the falls, but decided to only go about 1/3 of the way down. This proved to be a very smart decision as we had to climb back up the very steep steps to get back out! We walked across the bridge and over the falls to the visitor center and it started to pour! We waited out the storm and then got some Poutine at a restaurant near the falls. This Poutine was so much better than the Poutine at Ashton's! We went back to the hotel around 1:00 and relaxed until dinner time. We walked around the area near the hotel to find a place for dinner, but nothing seemed to be open on a Sunday, so we walked back to old town. We ate at Pub St. Patrick and then walked back to the hotel and crashed.

On our way down to the first pavillion. 

This was inside the first pavillion from the top. We were so glad we stopped here and didn't go down further when we were walking back up!

My husband is a great photographer!

The full view. It was beautiful!

Another self-photo. I love this one!

Don't stray from the path!

These nuts and bolts were part of the bridge over the falls. They were some of the largest nuts and bolts I have ever seen!

Our second taste of poutine. This was better than the first, but still not as good as it gets. 

On Monday we went to work. Since we have never been to this port before, we took a taxi to the ship. We got to the ship around 10am and were back at the hotel around 1pm. We ordered Indian food for takeaway and ate lunch in our room. Unfortunately the food was not very good. It tasted like they added maple syrup to the sauce and it ruined the "Indian" flavor. We walked back to Old town and did some last minute shopping before heading back to the hotel to pack our bags. We went out around 8:0O to sample our last taste of Poutine, and it was the best yet. There was a little hole in the wall diner about a block from our hotel that we were very disappointed we didn't find earlier in our trip! Everything was made fresh right in front of us and was delicious! Our flight left at 6am the following morning so we called it an early night. 

The view of Chateau Frontenac from the ship. 

This fly landed on Kevin's hand while we were out shopping. He became our new friend.

Our Indian lunch. Not great, but it should still be documented. 

The best poutine of the trip! This was at the hole in the wall place near our hotel. So sad we didn't find this place earlier in the trip. 

Ciao Bella

On Thursday, October 11 Kevin and I flew to Europe. We arrived in Malaga, Spain on Friday around 2:00 and flew to Rome on Saturday evening. All we did in Malaga was sleep, so I won't bore you with a post about our short stay. We got to Rome around Midnight on Saturday, went straight to sleep, and woke up around 8am on Sunday for work. We stayed at a new hotel so instead of figuring out the public transportation we took a taxi to Termini Station where we caught the express train to Civitavecchia. We finished work and were back at the hotel around 5:00. We decided not to go into the city again so we ate dinner at a restaurant near our hotel. We took some sleep aides and fell asleep around midnight.

We skipped breakfast on Monday and woke up around noon. It was raining when we first woke up around 9am but had cleared up by the time we left the hotel around 1:00. We took the city bus to the Vatican and spent the afternoon in the Vatican Museum. Kevin and I went to the Vatican Museum on my first visit to Rome, but we decided to go back. The main attraction at the Vatican Museum is the Sistine Chapel, but in order to get to the chapel you have to go through the rest of the museum. The first part of the museum is beautiful and exciting, but eventually you get to the point where all you want to see is the Sistine Chapel, and once you've seen the Sistine Chapel the rest of the art work is "boring." Our visit was fun and the Sistine Chapel was exquisite, but I don't think I will have the desire to go again. We grabbed a quick dinner and then went to St. Peter's Square. It started raining again while we were admiring the Basilica so we sought cover for about 15 minutes until the rain stopped. We took the bus back to the hotel around 8:00.

This was already about 1/2 way through the line to get into the Vatican Museum. Fortunately it moved pretty quickly!

The sculpture at the end of the museum. 

The cupola of St. Peter's is behind me. 

A very cool sculpture inside the museum.

This was a long and narrow hall full of statues. I thought this picture was cool.

You are not supposed to take photos inside the Chapel, but everyone else was doing it, so I joined in. It is absolutely exquisite!

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel! You can see the very well known painting of The Creation of Adam (the two fingers touching) located almost in the very middle of the photo. That is my favorite! 

At the end of the museum you walk down an incredible spiral walkway. This is on one side of the walkway. 

St. Peter's Basilica all lit up. I love this photo! 

We woke up around 10am on Tuesday and packed our bags so we could switch hotels. We had two ship inspections the following day so we decided to stay in Civitavecchia on Tuesday and Wednesday night so we didn't have to waist time on the train. We checked-out of the hotel and stored our bags so we could go back into the city to do some shopping and send some postcards from Vatican City. We went back to the hotel around 2:30pm, grabbed our bags, hopped in a taxi to Termini Station, and boarded our train to Civitavecchia. We got to the  hotel around 5:00 and immediately went out to get some food! The restaurant we wanted to eat at was closed so we grabbed a snack, went back to the hotel, and then ate dinner around 9:00. The food in Civi is amazing and much cheaper than in Rome! We had happy tummies!

Filling our our postcards. 

Mandatory photo before the postcards were mailed.

The drop-off. These postcards were sent from the smallest country in the world: Vatican City!

We woke up on Wednesday around 8:30 and were on the first of 2 ships by 9:30am. We finished work on the first ship around 12:15 and were on our second ship by 1:00. We did some staff training and routine maintenance and finished work around 5:30. It was a long day! We went back to the hotel for a little while and then ate dinner around 9:00 again. After dinner, we went to an Irish pub for a quick drink and called it a night.

We got to watch the sunset both nights from our room. 

This pizza is a single serving and almost 3x the size of Kevin's head!

Delicious gnocchi pomodoro. It is a good thing we don't live in Italy...we would weigh 300lbs!

We left the hotel around 10:30am on Thursday. We took the train to Termini and then took the Leonardo Express to the airport. Our flight to Quebec City left at 3:30. It was another great visit!