O Canada!

Alex and I took a vacation to Canada as a birthday present to ourselves. We split our time between Quebec City and Montreal and it was fabulous. After a quick flight, we were ready to spend a week exploring.

In Quebec City, we took a walking tour of the city, spent time at the fine arts museum, visited the cathedral in town, and rode the funicular. We took a day trip to Montmorency Falls and hiked around the beautiful waterfall. We went on a historic tour of the Hotel Chateau Frontenac the dreamy castle-like hotel where we stayed. On a particularly warm day, we toured the Citadel and walked the boardwalk. The food scene in Quebec City was absolutely amazing. We ate at: Chez Boulay, Saint-Amour, Initiale (our favorite meal!), La Bouche, and of course a trip to Canada wouldn't be complete without poutine, which we devoured at the Snack Bar. We had beautiful weather most days, perfect for strolling the streets of the city, taking in the sights, and relaxing.

The train ride from Quebec City to Montreal was scenic and only 3 hours. And the train stations were cleaner than those in NYC by leaps and bounds.

In Montreal, we stayed at another historic hotel, Le Mount St. Stephen, formerly a gentleman's club. We spent a day walking the piers, checking out the markets, and sightseeing around the old city section of town. A tour of the Notre Dame Basilica was a surprising highlight of our time in Montreal. On a particularly rainy day we went to the fine arts museum. We also visited the Jewish Museum of Montreal, took a walking tour, and learned some history. We had two fun and memorable dinners: a decadent foie gras filled meal at Au Pied de Cochon and a fancy dinner at Toque! On our last day, we explored McGill University before our flight back to NYC.

It was fun spending time in two cities that are so close by and yet so different from the one we live in. Quebec City is mainly French speaking and looks more like Europe than America. And although Montreal looks a bit more American, it definitely feels Canadian with French alongside English on the street signs and friendly people at every corner. Now I should probably learn more words to the Canadian national anthem than "O Canada!"

A fun side note: it was Easter while we were there and Alex became totally smitten with the huge rabbit at the Hotel Frontenac.