Hi everyone
After arriving in Montreal, the first thing we do? Shop, of course! Montreal has a lot of underground malls that all are connected so we went to one of them before going out to a really nice Italian place for dinner.
On our first day in Montreal we went for brunch then walked to Old Montreal and walked through the cobblestone streets. It was a really nice area with lots of art galleries.
We then walked through Old Port down at the waterfront.
We went inside the Notre Dame cathedral which was really impressive.
We went back to the hotel in the afternoon. I had a really bad headache so I had a nap for awhile. So weird, I never take naps! That night we went to a restaurant in Old Montreal called Holder. It was so packed, we were lucky to get in without a reservation! My main meal wasn't that great, but my dessert was the most amazing thing ever. I had a butterscouth mi-cuit. It was like a half cooked butterscotch pudding, so it was runny in middle like a sauce with butterscotch icecream. I was pretty much in heaven.
The next day we caught the metro subway to the Biodome which is like an indoor zoo. They didn't have that many animals but I did get to see a sloth and a beaver for the first time! The penguins were so cute :)
Afterwards, we walked around the Olympic Stadium and were going to find the other metro subway station, but we got lost for awhile in the absolutely freezing weather. It took us awhile, but we eventually found our way and we caught the subway back. I got a s'mores hot chocolate which actually tasted like a s'more! It was awesome. After dinner Luke and I had a swim in the hotel's indoor pool. I hadn't been for a swim in so long so it felt so good.
On our last full day in Montreal we went shopping! Considering how much I normally buy, I was pretty unsuccessful, especially compared to Dad and Luke! I got nail polish (which I'm wearing now as I type and looks so lovely), a sweater, and black suede wedge ankle boots, so pretty! Dad and Luke left us to go back to the hotel and Mum and I shopped in The Bay, known in Montreal as La Baie, which is a big department store in Canada. Just as we were leaving we both noticed our beanies (or toques as Canadians call them) were missing!! We looked all over the floor but couldn't find either of them. I was so disappointed because that was my twin beanie with Clara! Either Mum and I lost them at the same time, or there was a beanie bandit/toque thief. I think it might have been karma because I was complaining how I looked the same in every single photo! We then went to Forever 21 and I got a bright pink beanie for $2.50 and a multicoloured scarf for $3.50! Such a bargain. I definitely looked different now. We went to a pizzeria for dinner and we had 75 pizzas to choose from! Montreal was a really nice city but a lot of the touristy things to do were closed because it was winter, so we struggled to find things to do!
We woke up to so much snow in the city!! It was so exciting. We checked out of the hotel and walked with all of our luggage the 2 blocks to the train station in the snow. It was such a struggle but it was a fun experience haha!
The train ride to Quebec was only about 3 hours. We were staying in Old Quebec. With all the snow and the lights at night, it was gorgeous.
The next day was action-packed! We had booked a package deal which including dogsledding, snowmobiling and either ice fishing or snowshoeing. We got dressed in our ski jackets, ski pants and winter boots and got a shuttle ride to the site. Once we were there we all decided to use their rental winter boots. First we went dogsledding! I was with Mum. She didn't want to drive, so I drove the whole time while she relaxed in the passenger seat. It was so much fun, but it was difficult trying to get the dogs to go faster! We were told they respond to high-pitched voices so Mum and I were yelling out any random words haha.
Afterwards we got to play with the husky puppies!!!! I was sooo excited and happy. They were absolutely adorable. I wanted to take all of them home with me.
We then had a break for hot chocolate before going snowmobiling. I was with Mum and she didn't want to drive this either. Our guide led the way and about 8 snowmobiles followed. We went so much faster than I did in Yukon. Too fast for me, and it was a different kind of snowmobile that was much more sensitive to how you lean your body on the turns. I ended up going off the track and crashing into a small tree... Yep, I did that. We couldn't get it out and the guide had to come back and get some of the men to help lift it out of the deep snow. I felt so bad! We kept going then went off the track again and tipped the snowmobile. Both Mum and I fell off into the deep snow which was pretty funny. The guide wasn't very nice about it though. I was so embarrassed and angry at myself. The guide thought Mum may have been the problem if she wasn't leaning properly so he made her sit on the back of his snowmobile and I went by myself. We had a break along the way and I decided to switch so Dad drove my snowmobile and I was the passenger. Mum was then Luke's passenger. I thought I must be a bad snowmobile driver but Mum thinks she's just a bad passenger.
We then went ice fishing. They had already created holes in the ice for us. We used little mini fishing rods and the bait they gave us was pieces of corn! So random. Luke was the only one to catch a trout. The snow around the lake was so fresh and powdery so I made a much better snow angel. Before we left the lake I wasn't watching where I was going, and I accidently stepped in one of the ice fishing holes and my foot went in the water. Yes, it really happened. I fell over and screamed and took my foot out straight away. We all couldn't stop laughing. Lucky I was wearing the company's waterproof boots! My socks stayed completely dry!
The next day we walked up to the Fairmont Hotel and looked at the view across the river.
They had a big slope for tobogganing but no one was doing it.
We warmed up with hot chocolate in Starbucks then spent the day walking around Old Quebec. It was really really cold so we were just bouncing between stores to keep warm. I got yet another Christmas ornament, and we stocked up on maple syrup products. Luke was bored and grumpy so he went back to the hotel. Mum, Dad and I had lunch and yet more Starbucks.
For dinner we went to a restaurant next to the Fairmont and had a trio of fondues. We started with swiss cheese fondue, then had a beef fondue. It was a lot of fun having to cook the beef ourselves. We then had chocolate fondue. It was all so good.
On our last day we went and had brunch. It was about -21 degrees that day, but with windchill it felt like -33! We spent awhile trying to decide what to do in the day. We decided to do the thing we do best, go shopping again! We caught a taxi to a shopping mall and strolled around looking in the stores. There was a big iceskating rink and a mini theme park inside the mall. Luke and I played some arcade games then went on the rollercoaster. We were the only ones on it. It was pretty fun.
In the afternoon I got to talk to Kurtis on the phone which made me smile so much. Mum, Dad and I went out to dinner while Luke stayed in the hotel room and had Subway. Our dinner was really nice.
Love,
Emily
