Canada Days (Pt. 2)

As we drove into Québec City, I was strangely quiet, since some part of me was worried that the city wouldn't live up to my cherished memory of it. I had only spent one evening there, fifteen years ago, but I spent it with the new friends with whom I had spent two weeks studying whales in the St. Lawrence river. The whole experience had been mind-blowing, and life-defining, for li'l 20-year-old Barbra, so it would not be a surprise if the City had been viewed through rose-colored glasses that evening. Still, I did cherish that rose-colored memory. Would reality get in the way and muck it up?

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The uneasy feeling in my stomach disappeared when we walked through the door of our room at L'Auberge Saint-Pierre and I saw that we would be spending three days here:



And this was the view out our windows:




I opened the windows and leaned my head out over the street, looking at the river, at the town of Levis on the other side, and at the buildings on our street, these lovely streets of Lower Town in Old Quebec. Breathing in deeply, I felt a relaxation, and then an energy flow through me. I was feeling so revitalized, so exhilarated!

Hand in hand, we headed out for a walk. Down the stony streets of Rue St-Pierre, turning onto Côte de la Montagne and then across at Rue Notre-Dame, which immediately greeted us with this mural:


I snapped photo after photo as we walked on, through Place Royal, up Rue Sous-Le-Fort, and wound our way through Quartier Petit-Champlain.




I ran down toward the waterfront, Eric laughing from behind me at my exuberance, and shot more photos looking back toward the old city, gasping at the sight of Upper Town perched atop the hill above Lower Town.


Even the public bathrooms are beautiful.



I needn't have worried; not only was the city as beautiful as I had remembered, it was more beautiful. I love to visit places where I feel transported - to another culture or to another time. Québec City does both! I can imagine what life was like in the 1700's as take in the scenery, and the town has 400 years of culture - descended from the French, but long ago transformed into something unique to this region alone.

That first evening of our arrival in Québec City, we stayed in Lower Town. We ate at Lapin Sauté on Rue du Petit-Champlain, and enjoyed our French fare of white sausage with apples, potatoes, and fennel and perfectly cooked duck confit. For dessert, can you believe this: maple syrup crème brûlée. Unbelievable...I can still taste it if I close my eyes and remember.

After dinner, we explored Place 400e at Vieux Port, the headquarters of the celebration for Québec City's 400th Anniversary (1608-2008), which is taking place all this summer. We talked with one of the young people handing out pins in honor of opening night of "The Image Mill" (Le Moulin à images). It is an enormous projection of images related to the city and its history, projected onto a row of grain silos across the water.

The next day, we walked all over. Up the hill and all over Upper Town, through the city wall at Porte St-Louis, past the Assemblée nationale and down Grande Allée (where we passed the most beautiful McDonald's I've ever seen), by the Armory that burned and collapsed this April, up the hill overlooking the Plains of Abraham, down the Terrasse Dufferin and through the shops of the Château Frontenac.







That afternoon, we were back at Quartier Petit-Champlain sharing a maple cone (maple-vanilla soft serve with maple-caramel swirl and maple sugar candy perched on top!). The evening saw us enjoying another French dinner, this time near our hotel in the Rue St-Paul area, after which we took the Funiculaire up the hill and enjoyed nighttime walks down the Terrasse Dufferin (watching the lightning upriver) and through the Rue de Buade area. There are street performances all over town, and we saw several large and small performances organized by museums and the 400e celebration. We don't know French, but we enjoyed the spirit!




I'll save the details of our next day for next time, but our last evening in Quebec found us on the Funiculaire to Upper Town once again, exploring the Rue St-Jean area, enjoying a street-side drink in a pub, spying on another (large) street performance at Place d'Youville, admiring the theatre (Le Capitole de Québec) where Les Misérables would be opening (shortly after we left - yes again), and saying goodbye to this town again, this place that I now loved even more than I had before! In my eyes, its beauty is unmatched, and this time I got to share it with my Eric!


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In the final chapter, we embark on some road trips (will bickering ensue?), and the old nervous worrying returns. How will Barbra handle it? Will there be bloodshed?

Canada Day

Today is Canada Day, so it is fitting that I reflect upon my trip to Canada today. It's also not-so-fitting a day for it, since we were visiting Quebec. Quebec's national holiday is the Feast of St. John the Baptist (La St. Jean-Baptiste), celebrated on June 24. The day we left. Yeah, that was some poor trip-planning research on our parts. It would have been nice to have been there on that day, not flying out of the airport in the A.M.!

We arrived in Montreal late the first night, walked from our hotel to find a bite to eat, and slept in! Umbrella in hand (and good thing, too), we walked down to Vieux Montreal ("Old Montreal") to have a look around.

We saw lovely old buildings and a stunning basilica. Basilique Notre-Dame has a main altar that, due to the sheer size, detail, and dramatic blue lighting, can't be adequately captured on camera.


There is also a newer chapel (where they hold regular services) that is made of different shades of wood. We took pictures of the stations of the cross to show Katie, since we thought she would be interested in the French.



What really struck me about the basilica were the stained glass windows depicting scenes from Montreal's history. I was unaware that Catholicism had played such a large role in the founding, and was really struck by it. They looked like the Pilgrims, but they were Catholics!

That day in Montreal, we also enjoyed a delicious lunch in a sandwicherie/cafe (smoked salmon sandwiches, homemade minty lemonade, amazing brownie, and "Jazz in the 80's"), hiding out from a rain squall (in a Starbucks-yeesh), exploring narrow cobblestone streets, historic structures such as the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), a nap back at the hotel, a delicious dinner back in Vieux Montreal at Gibby's (mussels, steaks, lemon sorbet for the palate, their famous pickles, and for dessert? Hot apple croûte with ice cream and caramel), and a nighttime stroll back to our hotel through both old and new sections of the city.





The next morning, we slept in kinda-sorta, found a bakery for a divine cinnamon roll and flavorful fresh squeezed OJ breakfast, and then headed out of our hotel and over to Montreal's Olympic Stadium area on our way to Quebec City. We wandered around in the Botanical Garden and Insectarium, as well as riding the stadium's funicular to take in the sweeping view.





Eric drove us to Quebec City, and I will admit to you that at this point, I was experiencing nerves.

You may wonder why. Why would I be nervous about Quebec City on my anniversary vacation? I agree, it's silly. I worry too much.

Some part of me was worried that Quebec City wouldn't live up to my memory of it from 15 years ago. It's a cherished memory, one I didn't want tarnished if the city was not quite as amazing as I remembered. Maybe I had built it up in my memory all these years. Maybe no place can live up to that standard...

And what if the reality made the fantasy in my head disappear and fade away? I couldn't verbalize it at the time, but I was uneasy during that drive that day.

Stay tuned to see how it turned out...

Big Day(s)!

Today was Julianna and Nick's first day at Camp Calvary! This was the first time Nick has been a Calvary preschooler!

He was nervous and did not want to let go of Mommy. Katie played with magnetic blocks with him for a few minutes, and then we showed him the toy cars. After a few more minutes, he was able to say goodbye!

When we arrived to pick him up, he was playing with a Monster Truck and did not want to leave. Ms. Belinda said he could borrow it and bring it back on Thursday, and he was very excited! He has been clutching the Monster Truck and talking about Ms. Belinda ever since.

His friend Sean was in the class too, and was having no trouble embracing his first day!


Eric and I leave Wednesday morning for Quebec! We'll be home Tuesday. This trip is our gift to each other for our 10th Anniversary (yes, we know this year was our 11th...) and we're looking forward to spending this time together.

The Secret Lives of Sisters

Every night at bedtime I read a chapter of a book (right now it's Ramona the Pest) and kiss two girls goodnight in two separate beds.

Frequently, the next morning I find this:



These sisters have a secret life. I have discovered that they sometimes read together for a while longer after lights out (I do sometimes hear the giggling), by the lights of the Disney Princess dolls that glow for a few seconds after you squeeze them. Can't you just see them together in the bed, squeezing their dolls every 30 seconds so they can see their book?

Daddy and I don't let on that we know about this. They think they're being sneaky, which I think adds to their fun!

This is just what I have found out about. I'm sure they've got other secrets together!...

...Isn't that wonderful?

Nick and the Beanstalk

At Parent Ed in mid-to-late-April, the special activity was planting bean seeds in a plastic bag. Nick planted his seeds in the soil against the side of the baggie, so that he could see them sprout. It was fun to watch their roots sprout, followed shortly by their stems. After a while, they looked like this:


Mommy figured they were probably too big for the baggie, and it was time to plant them outside. Since they were pole beans, Mommy had to first get them something to climb on. Soon, Nick and Mommy got to work:

(photos by Julianna)

Here is how they looked that first morning (May 7), right after the transplant from the baggie:


Then, they withered. I think I transplanted them too late; they really did not do well for a couple of weeks. I thought I would be buying a new climbing plant for that pot.

But then, things started looking better! On May 27, I could see that they were going to make it, so I fastened them to the trellis with red twist-ties:


They really responded to the trellis! They sent vines up the poles, as you can see in this photo from June 4:


I loved watching them climb up the poles. They seemed to really respond to the feel of the poles, growing around and around the poles as if enveloping them in an ever-tighter hug. Just like children, they flourish when their sense of touch is triggered. You can see it in this photo:



These next two photos were taken on June 10. They have grown taller than the trellis. Now what are they going to do?



And this photo was taken on June 12. The vines growing over the top of the trellis are even longer, and are growing around each other as if the other vines are the poles! Now they're hugging each other!


But where will they go from here?

Hey, Nick's Beans! It's time to stop growing up and start growing beans, whadda ya say?

The Dance Recital!

Last Saturday was the dance recital for the Vibe Studio, where the girls have been taking dance lessons since January. Since Ballet Petit's recital last June resulted in my needing a break from dance classes for six months, I for one was relieved that the Vibe only rehearsed during the regular class time... and allowed the performers to come into the audience and watch the show when they were not needed on stage. (I will admit that the show was nowhere near as professional as the Ballet Petit show)

The girls had a lot of fun and felt like stars, which is what we're going for at this stage! Julianna had a wonderful smile during her entire dance, and only had to look at her teacher in the wings a few times (in other words, she remembered the dance fairly well). Katie had to work harder to keep a smile on her face, as she tends to have a look of concentration. She identified that smiling was something she had to think about, and did so with tremendous success! She looked terrific. And, her class knew their choreography!

They were so honored to have many fans in the audience! It was so special to them to see that Darell & Kathryn, Wendy & Jon, and "Tall Katie" had come to see them!

Katie and Emma were in a tap number called "You Can't Stop the Beat" from "Hairspray," and Julianna and Sara did a ballet to "Beauty and the Beast." Just look at these faces! (The makeup sure makes them look older, doesn't it?)







Photography was not allowed during the performance, but I snapped these during the dress rehearsal on Thursday. They are a bit blurry, but I think they're fun anyway:

(Julianna is the far right dancer)

(Katie is second from the left)

(Katie is the left-most dancer)