So, maybe I’m a bit biased, being from Quebec City and all. And maybe it’s just because it feels like home and home is where your heart is, especially for Christmas, but I have a feeling you will see it my way before we get to the end of this article.
The Snow
It’s the obvious reason and you probably don’t feel the same if you were born in Florida or any other summer paradise, but who has never dreamed of a white Christmas? Trust me, I would choose the beach and palm trees over snow-plows and leafless trees any day, except for Christmas. The snow just makes everything more magical and dreamy! The lights seem brighter, the Christmas trees seem greener and everyone is in a better mood when the ground is carpeted in white. Plus, snowmen are real fun to build! If you are worried about the cold, stop worrying: true, it can get pretty cold during Canadian winters, but while January is the worst time of the year to visit , December is pretty mild with the temperature staying around 0°C.
The Decorations
Old Quebec during Christmas season is my all-time favorite! The shops get all decked out for the holidays and the main attractions like the Château Frontenac and City Hall get covered in red and green lights. If you think the Christmas trees and the ornaments are pretty during the day, wait until you see them at night! My family and I like to get to Old Quebec at about 8 PM on December 24th. Most people are at home celebrating with their families so we get the whole place to ourselves to explore at our own pace and take as many pictures as we want. Most restaurants are still open late so if you get hungry, you can get some chocolate waffles as a midnight snack. The only place you will have to hit early is the Beaver Tails as this one closes pretty early (don’t go calling it animal cruelty, it is actually a delicious flat pastry that you can cover in pretty much anything sweet.) After you are done looking at the Castle and the upper town, don’t forget to go down the “escalier casse-cou” to get the best view of the lower part of town. This part is actually my favourite. The tiny walking streets sparkle with lights and the shops are held in 400 year old buildings that take you back to 1600s France.
The Activities
It may get cold, but winter never stops us from having the time of our lives! One of my favourite activities to do during the Holidays is visit the Quebec Aquarium at night. While most exhibits are closed, you can walk around the aquarium for the best light display in town. You can also see a polar bear, some owls, walrus and arctic foxes. It is a great activity for families or for adults. You can also go skiing at one of our many mountains or go skating. There is a skating rink in the middle of town at Place D’Youville, but my favourite is in Shannon. There are no buses that can bring you, but if you have a car or if a friend can give you a ride, it is totally worth it. It is completely free, you can even rent skates free of charge and it is open day and night. There is space to play hockey, but there is also a trail in the forest if you just want to skate around. Another popular activity is Valcartier Vacation Village where you can go tubing in more than 35 snow slides of all sizes. If you get tired of the snow, you can visit their brand new indoor water park. With a wave pool, surf wave and more than 14 slides, there is fun for everyone. While on the site, don’t forget to visit the Ice Hotel. Completely built with ice and snow, you can go for a visit or stay for a night or even get an ice drink at the bar. It is different every year!
The Price
With hostels in the Downtown area for less than 20 CAN$ and the dollar pretty low, everyone can afford a vacation in Quebec City. Most outdoor activities can also be done for free and you can get a good poutine for as low as 3$.
All you need is a good coat, some boots, mittens and maybe a warm hat and you are ready to go! And if you stay until New Years, don’t forget to come celebrate on Grande Allée for a DJ, good food, a big wheel and some fireworks.
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22/12/2016 0 Comments Weekend getaway in victoria, bc
We had driven through Victoria on our way to Seattle a few weeks ago and it had just left us wanting more. British Columbia’s capital is truly a beautiful city that we had the chance to visit during the first weekend of December. From its British architecture to its impressive garden, it certainly did not disappoint.
Day 1
We started our visit in Craigdarroch Castle. It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the inside had my eyes open wide as saucers as soon as we crossed the front door. No expense was spared in the construction of this castle; just the fireplace located right in front of the door probably cost more than my car. I had no idea what the castle had been built for or when it was built, to me it was just a pretty building that I had seen while looking at pamphlets on the ferry to Port Angeles, but as we made our way around and up the castle, we learned about its history through dozens of boards. It turns out the castle was built by the Dunsmuir family, immigrants who invested in the right things at the right time and became one of the richest families in Canada at the time. The castle was later used as a hospital during the World War and as a university later on. You can visit the Craigdarroch Castle website to learn more about the Dunsmuir family and the history of the castle.
After hours visiting the castle, we made our way to downtown Victoria to see the parliament and tourist shops. We were lucky and got to go on a horse drawn tour of the Downtown area. These tours were organized to celebrate Christmas and were totally free. It rained all afternoon, but it didn’t stop us from going to see the Fisherman’s Wharf. It is a very pretty and original neighborhood made of about a dozen houses that float on the bay. The houses are multicoloured and decorated in all sorts of styles. Since it’s wintertime and the weather was awful, no one was there, but the little booths, shops and restaurants make me dream of a hot summer day, eating ice cream while walking around the floating houses and keeping an eye on the water in the hopes of seeing a whale or a friendly duck or two. After dinner, we drove our frozen solid butts to Walmart to buy some more warm clothes. The rain had found a way into our coats and boots and the 0 °C weather had almost frozen our will to see any Christmas decorations at night. We decided to go for a movie and walk to town after the film, when the streets would be mostly empty and we could feel our fingers again. We saw Disney’s latest animated film, Moana! I could talk about it for days, but that’s not what you are here for. Just go see the movie! We kept our promise to ourselves and took a walk downtown at night and it was totally worth it. First, the rain had stopped so it was actually comfortable outside. Second, the decorations are absolutely beautiful! Being from Quebec City and having visited Disney World at Christmas time, I am kind of used to Christmas decorations being all kinds of amazing, but the lights on the parliament were just incredible. To make it simple, there were lights everywhere! I couldn’t have hoped for a better end to my day… except, maybe some Christmas music to put us even more in the Christmas spirit, but we took care of that! My singing voice may not be the best, but there was no one there to complain. Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree, Thy leaves are so unchanging!
We didn’t have a lot planned on day 2 because we wanted to take our time driving back to Comox to stop at the lookout points, but we had kept the best for the sunny day! We left early and arrived at Butchart Gardens at 9. We literally opened the park.
I had heard that it was beautiful, but I had not expected it to be so big. We spent more than four hours in the park, walking around, taking hundreds of pictures, and going on the Ferris wheel, of course. Unfortunately, the pictures don’t do it justice, but the cloudless blue sky with the bright green trees and the multicoloured Christmas decorations were simply gorgeous. My favourite part was the Japanese garden with its waterfalls and red bridges. I can’t wait to see it in the spring when all the flowers are in bloom! When we finally got back to the entrance of the park it was almost two in the afternoon and time to leave Victoria, but our visit wasn’t over. We stopped at every lookout point on the way back and it was one of my favourite thing about this trip. We got to take our time and look at the amazing view while enjoying the rare rays of sunshine at this time of year. We will have to go back to Victoria at one point before the school year is over, but for now, it’s time for Christmas break and a little vacation back home in Quebec City. I can’t wait to see where 2017 will take me! More Articles that might interest you
12/10/2016 0 Comments Staycation in Comox
Comox Valley may be my home for the year, but I had never been there before so a little exploring was required. From Cumberland to Courtenay and Comox, the Comox Valley is a vast area that offers beaches, nature parks, waterfalls, mountains and outdoor activities. Needless to say, there is something for everyone and numerous days of fun to be had.
For the weekend of October 9 and 10, I invited two of my friends who are on the same program as I am, but in different cities, to come and visit the valley with me. They both arrived on Friday night so we were ready for fun activities on Saturday morning. Day 1
No one says October without pumpkins! We started our day at a pumpkin patch a few minutes away from my apartment. It seems to be a local attraction since most of the city was there. Luckily, we got there early and were able to enjoy the different activities before it got too crowded. There was a corn maze, decorated pumpkins, pumpkin and cinnamon desserts, a huge pumpkin patch where we could choose between a dozen different kinds of pumpkins (I didn’t even know there was more than one) and Halloween decorations. Since Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, I had the best time looking at the pumpkins and going through the maze. The best part is, the sun came out just for us!
Our next stop was Goose Spit. It is a long arm of land that separates the strait of Georgia from the Comox harbor. It is also a long beach on one side and a bay on the other. The bay would be quite ordinary if it wasn’t for the Comox glacier behind it. The view is extraordinary! Our goal was to go on a paddleboard ride as neither of us had tried it before, but apparently it is too cold for that in October so we just took a little walk on the beach and some pictures. We also went to the marina to look at the seals and the boats. After a light lunch at my place, we went for a walk at Seal Bay Nature Park, which is a few minutes from where I live. The park has many trails, but my favorite is the one that leads to the beach. It is not a sandy beach or a large beach, but the view that you get of the mountains of the mainland on the other side of the strait of Georgia is absolutely gorgeous. The trees on Vancouver Island are as tall as the skyscrapers in NYC and the ones in Comox may not be the biggest ones on the island, but they are still huge. There were leaves bigger than my head. Before going back to my apartment, we made one last stop. 40 knots is a winery close to Seal Bay. I am not a wine connoisseur and I had never been at a winery, but I loved the experience. They made us taste all the different kinds of wine and explained the differences and when they were made. It was delicious and we were just a little bit tipsy when we left. Day 2
On the second day, I brought the girls to Cumberland, a small village about 15 minutes from Comox, inland. It is popular with snowboarders and skiers in the winter as it is close to the mountains and with mountain bikers in the summer. There is nothing much to do there, but I lived in the village for a few days when I first moved to the valley since it is home to the cheapest, but still great hostel of the area and I wanted to show them how different it was from Quebec City.
After a little walk on Dunsmuir avenue, we decided to visit Mount Washington. It is one of the two ski resorts on the island and it is absolutely enormous when compared to the ones we have in Quebec. I had visited it with my parents in September and had the chance to go all the way up to see the view, but the scenery was way different this time around as it had snowed! Do I need to remind you that the weekend before, I was on the beach in a bathing suit? I love it! The road to Mount Washington is quite long, but so worth it. You get a nice view of the glacier and the mountains all around and if you go on a clear day, apparently you can see the Pacific ocean from the top, but I couldn’t confirm nor deny it. I hope I get the chance to go skiing at least once or even to hike up the mountain before I leave the island. More articles that might interest you
When I first announced I was moving to British Columbia, everyone told me: You have to go to Tofino! I had never heard of it before, but when I heard the words sand and beaches, I was officialy interested. I later learned that Tofino is a small village on the west coast of Vancouver island. It is a popular surfing and whale-watching destination. Close to the village is Long Beach, part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and the main attraction of the region… At least for us!
Day 1
Amy and I left my apartment at about 6:30 AM as we wanted to get to Tofino as early as possible and it is about a 3-hour drive from Comox. We made a quick stop in Port Alberni to get Emma and arrived in Tofino at about 10. Unfortunately for us, it was raining pretty heavily when we got there, but it was supposed to stop in the early afternoon so our day at the beach got pushed back a few hours and we decided to visit the village for a while. We took our time looking through the souvenir shops, the bookshop and an art gallery and ended up at a restaurant for lunch as the last few drops of rain fell.
The weekend that we were there was Queen of the Peaks, an all-women surf competition. As soon as we were done eating, we left the village for Cox Bay Beach to see some surfing. Neither of us had ever tried surfing so we were very impressed. The weather was finally with us and the sun even came out. We later went to Long Beach to see what it looks like and it is probably the longest and largest beach I have ever seen, except maybe for Venice in California. The water was clear and it was beautiful. When the sun set, we left the beach to go back to our Airbnb for dinner. We mostly stayed in our room that night, drinking some cider and talking. Day 2
On our second day in Tofino, we woke up early to go on a Hot Springs boat tour. These tours bring you by boat to a national park where you get to hike through the rainforest to hot springs for a nice soak. On the boat ride you also get to see whales, bears, eagles and seals. Seems pretty amazing, but we had made no reservation and the many different tours available in the city were all full because of the wonderful weather.
Since we couldn’t go on a tour, we bought a body board and rented some wetsuits and went for a swim at Cox Bay. We played in the waves for hours, took some pictures and got a view of the surf competition from the ocean. For Emma and Amy, it was the first time swimming in the Pacific ocean! At 3 PM, it was time to pack up our stuff, bring back the wetsuits and drive back to Port Alberni and Comox. Even though the weekend didn’t go as planned, we had the best time just looking at what Tofino has to offer. We’ll be back for a long weekend in the spring to try the hot springs, and we’ll make reservations this time! More articles that might interest you
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