Settimana 4 - Statu di Quebec meridionale

Hi there, dear ones,

We're back again :) Four weeks of the journey have passed and we're no longer in eastern Canada.

But what happened in the past week? :)

In the last report, we left off with our overnight stay in Lyster, in the southern part between Montréal and Québec. From there, we continued driving southwest in very modest weather, to be about an hour and a half away from Montréal. The village where we ended up is called Richmond. On the way there, we stopped in Val-des-Sources, a rather inconspicuous place, also known by its former name 'Asbestos'. The name is not without reason, as it used to be the largest asbestos mine in the world. Due to the negative associations with the term asbestos, the town was renamed three years ago. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily when we were there, so we couldn't take a photo. But we can definitely confirm that the pit was really huge :D

By the way, about Richmond, you can say that the 'fat years' are over :D nevertheless, we had a super nice accommodation, so we decided to stay there for two nights. Especially since we were well on time for our arrival in Montréal and the accommodation was really cheap :D

So that we could see at least a little bit of the desolate surroundings of Richmond, we got in the car the day after our arrival and drove about ten minutes to Windsor. There we spent a few beautiful hours in the really super beautiful Parc historique de la poudriere de Windsor. The choice of this place for a walk was not without reason, because firstly, we could still see some remains of Québec's oldest black powder factory here, and secondly, there was not really much choice :D :D In addition to the beautiful park, we also spotted a beaver, which made us very happy. In general, we can say that since we have been traveling through Canada, we have had a lot of great sightings of animals. Which is somehow always fascinating to us and makes us happy :)

Back in Richmond, we finally treated ourselves to poutine and hot dogs again. That was a treat for the palate :):P

The next day, we finally headed to Montréal, our eagerly awaited final destination in the east. Upon arrival, we decided to return the rental car one day earlier. But only because we didn't feel like paying exorbitant parking fees and we didn't really need the rental car in Montréal itself anyway. After returning the car, we were able to get a first impression of Downtown because we had to go back to the hostel with our belongings from the car. Once checked in, we got to meet our nice roommate in the room. A very relaxed and sympathetic Italian guy and an older lady from Arizona, I don't know. This woman would give us some trouble later. Her biggest hobby was heating up the room to 26 degrees. Or rather, heating it up so much that there was absolutely no trace of water left in the air... well, maybe more about that later :D

We then went to Old-Montréal (Old Town) again to see more of the city. The old town is really pretty, with some boutiques and restaurants. Otherwise, to be honest, it is similar to Québec. The facades look the same, there are small side streets here and there, and a market hall, which, however, did not have anything for our budget. The big city flair doesn't really come across, even though there are already some high-rise buildings. However, you don't really notice it that much, so it's hard to imagine that over 4 million people live here. Back at the hostel, we ended the evening with good food and a beer in the hostel bar during happy hour.

What can I say, the first night wasn't great. Everything seemed fine. However, as mentioned in the penultimate paragraph, we had our 'hot air' lady in the room. When we entered the room the evening before, she had actually created a small sauna without any humidity. Fortunately, she was already peacefully asleep, so we opened the windows and turned off the air circulation system. However, it didn't work properly with the controls, so Martin just pulled the fuse :D However, it didn't really help for a good night's sleep, especially for Christina, who woke up with a completely blocked nose and a sore throat. Now she's also caught a cold.

After breakfast and a nice hot cup of tea for Christina, we went outside to get some fresh air. Luckily, it worked right away and felt good. Our goals for our city day were the Olympic Stadium, where Canada's first Summer Olympics took place in 1976 (by the way, right after the Games in Munich, which brought about significant additional precautions in terms of the safety of the athletes - such as underground entrances to the sports venues, etc.), and the Jardin botanique de Montréal (Botanical Garden).

When we arrived on the grounds, we got stuck at the Biodôme de Montréal. This is an interesting place that showcases five ecosystems of the American continents, including some animal species and plants. It is set up like a walk through the different climate zones. We decided to go from cold to warm and started in the polar cold. This area is divided into the sub-Antarctic islands, where penguins and other species find their habitat, and the Labrador coast, where many birds like puffins find their habitat. Then we continued to the St. Lawrence Gulf area. Here we could admire various fish species in large tanks. There were also other aquatic animals to see, such as starfish, anemones, sea cucumbers, etc. In addition, there was a great flora with various interesting bird species. After this area, we continued to the Laurentian Maple Forest, which we had already enjoyed during a hike the week before. This is a mixed forest, with typical conifers as well as sugar maple and yellow birch. Animal companions included lynxes, raccoons, and some rodents. Finally, we went to the tropical rainforest, where we could admire not only large and beautiful plants, but also animals such as tiny and colorful poison dart frogs, parrots, and various other fish species.

After this wonderful experience at the Biodôme, we continued to the Jardin botanique de Montréal. When we arrived there, we already suspected that it would cost another entrance fee to wander through the Botanical Garden. By the way, the formulation 'another entrance fee' is due to the fact that the ticket at the Biodôme looked like it could be used for the entire site with a single admission. We just walked through one of the entrance gates of the Botanical Garden and were immediately stopped. Of course, we didn't pay any additional entrance fee for a garden that we can also visit in any larger city with a university in Germany. But unfortunately, that's also a thing here in Canada, where you really have to pay for the craziest things.

Well, we strolled around the grounds of the Olympic Stadium again and then took the subway to the other side of Downtown to Parc du Mont-Royal. When we arrived there, we first got coffee from Tim Hortons because we needed internet for navigation :D Parc du Mont-Royal was really impressive because it's an incredibly huge park in the middle of the city on a hill. It's even possible to not just take a walk, but also to hike on proper trails. Mostly moderate, but still hiking in the middle of a metropolis with millions of people. It's kind of crazy :)

After we made our way up the main walking path, we walked to the Belvédère Kondiaronk. This is a really large terrace with a great view over the city. Especially over Downtown and the skyline of Montréal. We then walked down the city hill via a very good path system and quickly made our way back to the hostel as hunger was starting to kick in. After a delicious meal - gnocchi with mushrooms and peppers in a light sauce - we headed out for our highlight of the day. This was watching a baseball game (Toronto vs. Boston) in a sports bar that we had discovered the day before. Here we treated ourselves to a beer in Montréal and therefore in eastern Canada... unfortunately, the Blue Jays lost. Nevertheless, it was a very nice evening :)

Now the time has come, the last day in Montréal and Eastern Canada has arrived. And things are not getting any easier for Christina. She not only has a cold, but also a stiff neck and barely managed to get out of the loft bed (according to her, it took about 30 minutes). After a hearty hostel breakfast, we went to Old-Montréal to participate in a free walking tour early in the morning. A little side note: The great thing about this tour is that it's free and the tour guides are rewarded through tips. It's a highly recommended tour with a very sympathetic guide. Despite walking parts of the tour route in the previous day and a half, we were able to see new beautiful corners of the old town. Plus, a bit of historical input, which Martin always finds very interesting - who knows, maybe one day he'll become a tour guide himself :D :D...some of you who are reading this have already had the pleasure of a free tour through Osnabrück. The highlight of the guided tour was the underground of Montréal. It's worth mentioning that the entire downtown area can be walked underground in the main traffic zones. This is very practical for the people who live in Montréal, especially considering that winter temperatures here can easily drop well below -20 degrees.

After the tour, we spent the rest of the morning in a sunny spot in the city center until we finally collected our backpacks from the hostel and took the bus to the airport. Comfortably, or rather until the point where we had to search for Voltaren for Christina in a mall...

We arrived in Calgary, the gateway to the Rocky Mountains, at 11:15 pm. Due to the late arrival and the outrageously expensive hotels within a 15 km radius, we spent the night at the airport. In general, it was a very good idea, as airports are usually well suited for overnight stays, even if it may sound a bit crazy :D...however, both the flight and the night were unfortunately not beneficial for Christina, so her cold reached its peak in the morning and she had breakfast with tea while feeling quite beaten. We had to stay at the airport until 11 am, which was not a problem at all, until we could pick up the rental car. We used the time to have breakfast as mentioned above and to research and book a decent accommodation, where we checked in for two days just to be on the safe side and give Christina enough time to recover properly.

The accommodation turned out to be a real lucky find, despite very average reviews. On top of that, we had a huge TV and could comfortably search for sports channels :D

That's it for the fourth week :) We're sorry it's coming a bit later than planned. The last few days have been a bit hectic, but more about that in the next week.

We hope you had fun reading and found it somewhat entertaining.

Until the next entry :)

Warm regards - Christina & Martin