Green Tea Cheesecake

Sameri Sushi in Quebec. It's a strange but delicious combination of flavors.

Last dinner before heading home Saturday.

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The Wall Around Old Quebec

This is the gate in the wall aroung the old city - we must have passed under the arch 20 times! Our hotel was only 100 yards away.

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Lunch @ St. Patrick's Pub in Old Quebec

We we're led down the stairs past the keg strorage and into the cellar where a warm fire was blazing. The room had a arched ceiling and was just big enough for the 8 or so tables.

Good sandwiches and excellent home brewed stout!

The best was the fire - outside it is brutally cold and windy and we'd just hiked up the cliff from the lower old city.

Old Quebec

Quebec is a very cool place. After being here for a few hours you forget you're in North America! The narrow Cobblestone streets are lined with shops, bakeries, cafes and pubs.

The snow does not seem to slow anyone down. There's about 6 feet of it along the streets and anywhere the plows can't reach. It's been falling almost continuously since we arrived. I heard today that this year they have had the most snowfall since the mid-1960’s and it should top 7.5 meters today. For the metric limited out there, that’s well over 20 feet!

Here's Allie near the ramparts of the fortification that surrounds the old city. The French started building it to keep the British out, then the British continued to keep the French out. By the time it was complete the wars were over.

We had dinner at an asian place - we had trouble finding the door because the snow was so deep!

The Hostel in Montreal

Hostel International in Montreal is a fun, safe, clean place to stay in Old Montreal, but you have to be OK with being close to strangers. Allie and I had nice roommates for the night, a young man and woman from the UK who had just arrived from Toronto. They were not into the bar scene - at least not last night!



Allie and I decided that under the right conditions staying in a hostel could be a blast, but for this trip it really doesn't match our needs. We'll be reverting to "plan B" for our three nights in Quebec and wllne staying at the Courtyard Marriott.

I'll fill in details on the hostel later. Here's Allie having tea in the hostel cafe.

Here's another photo of the cafe i the holstel in Montreal

Dinner last night was an Indian Food buffet down the street from the hostel.

Border Crossing by Train: not a great idea.

Border crossing by train was a new experience for us.

The stone-faced Canadian immigration police boarded the train and we were ordered to turn off all electronics and stay in our seats. They started at the front and worked their way back. Each person or group was grilled by one guard while another watched:

Why are you traveling to Canada?

Who are you meeting while you are here?

Do you have reservations?

What do you do for a living?

How long will you be there?

Where do you live?

Do you live together?

What gifts are you carrying?

What will you be leaving behind?

Do you have any food?

Are you carrying any alcohol or firearms?

Where is your mother?


Then they "randomly" selected several passengers for luggage searches. Racial profiling must not be a big deal here because we noticed most of the passengers selected were not white.

In all the process took well over an hour with six agents for just two train cars about half full - about 50 travelers.

I'd hate to think what it would be like when the train is full!




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An almost endless game of War

We had an hour-long game of war at Ticonderoga while waiting for the southbound train to pass.
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On the Train to Montreal

The train is running a few minutes late, but so far things are going smoothly. The conductor says there is heavy snow on the tracks south of Montreal, so we'll have to wait and see.
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Hmm....I Wonder What the weather will be like?

Since we're doing the urban backpacking thing, efficient clothing selection is a must. I was wondering if I should take one short sleeve shirt?

A quick trip to weather.com answered that question - DON'T WASTE THE SPACE!

We arrive in Quebec Wednesday along with the snow and cold.

Here's Our Plan for Sping Break in Canada

The Poughkeepsie, NY Train Station - Our Starting Point








Here's our schedule:

Tuesday - Train Poughkeepsie to Montreal, arriving 7:30 PM
Wednesday - morning in Montreal, afternoon train to Quebec, arriving 1530.
Wed PM to Sat AM - in Quebec City
Sat noon - fly Quebec to Newark 2:45 to 4:30 pm, then drive home


Where we're staying:

In Montreal: Hostel International, 1030 Rue Mackay, 1-514-843-3317

In Quebec: Auberge Internationale, 19 Rue Ste Ursule, 1-418-94-0755

I'm not sure if our cell phones will work, but we'll have access to email in the evenings, and there's wifi on the Via Rail in Canada.