Saturday, March 17, 2007

::day 6 (20 feb 07) - montreal/quebec::
we had to leave for quebec that morning! much much thanks to sylvia who very kindly offered to let us stay in her apartment while we were in montreal - that lucky girl was enjoying herself in cuba;) i really love the walk-in wardrobe of her cosy apartment!

us on the road with jon behind the wheel - en route to quebec!

snowing in vieux quebec, the old walled city of quebec - with its characteristic euro-influenced winding cobblestone streets aligned with old stone houses

doesnt it feel like christmas time?


along rue saint jean - a lively street with many interesting shops and boutiques!

just outside the wall of vieux quebec - this high stone wall extends for more than 4km and surrounds the old city!

beyond the walls - after walking through the gate, it seems as though u had been transported into a different sense of time and place eh?;)

mich and i - trying maple taffy, a traditional snack in quebec. it is something like a high-class ice-kacang coz it is made from concentrated pure maple syrup poured over lightly packed snow . we then removed it from the snowbed when it hardened, and it was ready to be savored;)

a closer look at our maple taffy! it was soooo sweet but v yummy:)

quebec is even more french than montreal! it's easy to imagine that u have arrived in france. bonjour!

it was one of the coldest nights i have ever experienced:( maybe that explains why we were like the only ones out in the streets? haha. but we needed to have dinner - so we were finding our way to the restaurant that was recommended by the caretaker of the hostel! it was sad that our trip was kinda wasted coz the dinner was not too good - which explains why we didnt take any photos:/

walking through the gates back to vieux quebec, where our hostel was very conveniently located;)

the musee du fort - a military musuem


i never knew a hotel could be a tourist attraction itself. but if u see the fairmont le chateau frontenac in all its grandeur and opulence, u can definitely see why so many consider this a must-go attraction in quebec. this well-known railroad hotel dominates the skyline of vieux quebec and overlooks the st lawrence river! it's the ultimate romantic hotel - we all thought that it would really be the perfect venue to hold a wedding. haha

random shots in le chateau frontenac - the photos don't really do it justice though!

mich and i - at the hotel lobby. they are still using those antique telephone sets!

venturing outside - to enjoy the night scenery of old quebec:) u can tell how cold it was by looking at the river which was partially frozen :/

jon n i - in front of le chateau frontenac

to make up for a terrible dinner n to treat ourselves on this very cold night, we headed to a very nice italian restaurant for desserts and coffee:)

mich n i - with the charming italian resturant-owner/manager. he made fun of me though:( coz when i told him we wanted the chocolate cake, he proceeded to serve me the whole entire chocolate cake - when it was quite obvious that we wanted a slice!!?

the best tiramisu i have ever tasted!! it really melts in ur mouth - sinfully delicious:) and the chocolate cake was very good too!