Winter Winds

La Vie Quebecoise! Yes indeed, we were now entering French-Canadian terrain. And this not only included a new language but a whole new lifestyle as well.

We took the Greyhound leaving for Montréal after our brief detour to Ottawa. The journey was pretty boring. Everything outside was white: the cars, the roads, the houses, there was snow everywhere! As soon as we got off the bus a freezing cold wind got hold of me. It went right through to the bones. Oh, I was cold! And I am not talking about being a little bit cold. I am talking about fingers being stiff and turning blue. It wasn´t far to walk from the bus station to the hostel but it felt like an awfully long walk. The pavements were covered in thick snow and ice, making it hard to pull along our little trolleys. Also, there was a biting cold wind blowing snow right into our faces. It was a nightmare! We were so relieved once we made it to our hostel. The hostel turned out to be a real gem. Normally, you would have a nice 4-star hotel in mind, when hearing buzz words like: en-suite bathroom, a bar and live music in the basement, a big spacious kitchen space, and a rooftop terrace with jacuzzi. You wouldn´t expect young, beer-loving and globetrotting people to be living in these quarters. Apparently, they do. This was one of the world´s best youth hostels. The hostel won several prizes as Canada´s and North America´s best hostel in the last few years. I have to admit, I was astonished at the quality of our rooms. The bunkbeds were screwed to the walls (no rocking back and forth when someone in the beds turned over) and there were even little curtains one could close when going to sleep early. Still, it wasn´t expensive sharing a room. In fact, this was one of the cheapest hostels we stayed at on the whole trip. Obviously, we did not come to Montréal to spend all of our days at the hostel. We put on another layer of clothes, wrapped up warm and stepped outside into the cold. Oh, and it was cold! We briskly hurried downtown to the nearest shopping mall we could find. There, we bought some extra warm gloves and fleecy face masks that would withstand the wind. Or so we hoped. Unfortunately, the weather was still the same the next day. Being that we wanted to do some sightseeing we were bound to be outdoors for quite a bit. With wind frost down to -34°C this was simply impossible. Therefore, we took quite some time exploring the famous Notre Dame of Montréal. Some famous people, like Celine Dion, chose this impressive church as a wedding venue in the past. It´s a truly beautiful church! The ceilings are covered in rich gold and the benches are decorated with beautifully carved ornaments on the side.

The Notre Dame is situated in the old historic quarter of Montréal. Normally, you can walk the cobble-stoned alleys and shop in fancy little boutiques. At this time a year, you are swept off your feet by horrible winds while climbing over huge piles of snow that are blocking the pavements. Seriously, I don´t think that I have ever been this cold in my entire life. There was a governmental weather warning in place advising people to stay indoors as much as possible and limit outdoor activities to 10 minutes maximum. Well, that wasn´t going to happen. We walked as far as we could, stopping off at souvenir shops and quaint little cafés every now and then to warm up. Even though we tried, we did not get that far. It was simply too cold. When returning to the hostel in the evening we were looking forward to a nice bath in one of the hot tubs. Obviously, we were devastated when we had to find out that they were closed due to the cold weather. It was even too cold to keep the jacuzzi hot! We attempted another try to withstand the cold right the next day. There is a volcano in Montréal which is inactive since donkey´s years. Nowadays, Mont Royal has a nice park where people go for long walks in summer or cross-country skiing in winter. Actually, the park was designed by the same guy who designed the Central Park in New York. Fancy, eh? On the hill there is also a cross, which was put there to thank God for bringing health and prosperity to the town. After enjoying the view over the entire city from the observation platform, Carly and I wanted to go and see the cross. Although we were told that it´s only a short walk from the visitor´s centre and the observation platform to the cross it seemed like a long long walk. It was a beautiful footpath, mind! Cross-country skiers were overtaking us while we walked on snow-covered tracks through the forest. Although we were wearing multiple layers of clothes and walking briskly we soon began to freeze. At one point Carly turned around and looked at me in utter shock, exclaiming that my whole face was frozen! And she was right. Not only were my eyebrow frozen but my eyelashes were covered with small ice crystals, too. Also, the cold wind made my eyes water while at the same time freezing the tears. It´s a horrible feeling having your eyes freeze shut, I tell you! The cross was really not very exciting, which is why we hurried to get back to the visitors centre and warm up. According to some travel blogs and travel magazines Montréal is a very young and arty city and is often highly praised. They are probably right, Montréal seems like a great city! Being that it´s one of the biggest cities in Canada (after Toronto and Vancouver) there are probably loads of things to do. Also, Montréal has an underground city including many underground footpaths and shops as an extension to the subway system. A great thing, when it´s cold outside! Still, we did not get to see a lot of things and enjoy the city as much as we liked to. It was just too cold. I guess I have experienced it all. During my stay in Tanzania I had to endure the belting-heat of the African sun, whereas here it felt as though the Canadian winter winds were ripping off the skin on my face. I am still not sure which one I would prefer. I used to argue that one could always add another layer of clothes when getting too cold, whereas there is only so much you can take off. Now, I feel like the cold can be a nasty little devil that creeps its way through your clothes, no matter how many layers you put on.

It´s funny how the weather changes in Canada. I can recall walking across campus wearing only a thin jersey dress and a pair of Birkenstock and still breaking sweats. Especially during the Invictus Games there were actually emergency tents providing free drinking water due to the extreme heat. I even got sun-burned! Now, I was surrounded by snow, in actual threat of having a frostbite and everyone was wrapped up warm in wooly jumpers and thermals. Those hot summer days seem long gone. This truly was an adventure!

We were lucky, though. As soon as we got to Québec there were no more ugly winds. Just big fat fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky. I could live with that! We went for a late-night stroll after spending all day on the bus. Québec was a beautiful little town! Narrow roads wound their way through town and up and down the steep elevations. There were little shops with big windows that were pouring huge floods of yellow light onto the fresh snow. It was ever so peaceful. With no cars to be seen you could just picture a horse-drawn wagon pulling up right beside you. You could tell that there was some history in this town. Whereas a lot of Canada´s history involve birchbark canoes travelling on the winding rivers of this country, this was one of the Canadian cities crammed with history. The word “Québec” originates from an Algonquian word meaning “where the river narrows” (meaning the Saint Lawrence River). The Saint Lawrence River played a major role when the first French settlers and explorers came to the area by seaway. What used to be a French settlement was then taken over by the British, all the while facing attacks by the Americans. This is why a big fortification was built in Québec, in order to protect the city. The city also played an important role in the 1944 D-Day which was planned and organized by people like Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Citadelle in town. Sensing that there was a lot to be learned here, Carly and I went on a walking city tour. Our guide was fabulous! He was very knowledgeable and gave us a really good overview over Québec´s and Canada´s history. Although the temperature was -6°C that day (heat wave!) my feet were really cold after the two hours tour. Therefore, we walked out of the Old Town and went to the Concorde Hotel. There is a restaurant located right at the top of the hotel which not only serves fancy food, but which is also rotating. Obviously, we weren´t prepared to pay for a whole meal at this posh place but it was an ideal spot to enjoy a nice cup of tea, warm up a bit and enjoy the view over Québec. There was the Old Town over on one side, with its narrow windy lanes and dingy little houses. And there was the castle Château Frontenac, which originally was one of many hotels built along the Cross-Canada railway line. Now, it’s a luxury hotel. On the other side there was the Lawrence River, most parts of it frozen solid. It was a beautiful sight!

We went on another tour the next day. This time we explored Québec´s surroundings. First stop was the Montmorency Falls just outside town. These falls are higher than the Niagara Falls, but not as wide. Being that the last few weeks were awfully cold the falls were mostly frozen. It was really impressive to see the falls like this. There was even a bridge we walked across, and the falls were right underneath. It reminded me a bit of Narnia, except that there was no lion and no wardrobe. After that we went to see a local copper museum. Apparently, there are still a handful of artists still using the traditional technique of embossing copper. It was interesting to see how a picture is scratched and embossed on to a piece of metal. The next stop was a traditional French bakery that not only baked their own bread but also made their own organic maple products. We had thick slices of fresh bread spread with maple butter. Oh, it was delicious! Our final destination for that day was the island of Orléans. This quaint little island is ever so pretty, and so small that everyone knows everybody. We visited a chocolatier that sold a all sorts of chocolates: chocolate bars, chocolate chips, chocolate with nuts, chocolate wit maple syrup (of course), etc. When visiting Québec, one really needs to like maple syrup. The province of Québec is the area where most of the “liquid gold” is produced after all! Canadians seem to add maple syrup to everything. Whether it is chocolate, whiskey or even baked beans - maple syrup does the trick. We spent our last day in the lower part of the town. This part of the city is especially pretty. There are no cars, since the streets are too narrow anyway. There are little shops and boutiques, cafés, pubs and restaurant on both sides of the street. Tiny lights and the Christmas decorations were still up, making me feel extremely Christmassy. There was so much to see! The houses were beautifully decorated, and the bakeries sold the most delicious looking pastry. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the town.

Although we were a bit unlucky at the beginning of our journey, it all turned out fine. Not only did we go to many places and we got to see a lot of things, but it truly was an adventure! I was a little bit sad, when I sat on the train heading back to Toronto. It´s always sad when an adventure comes to an end. Especially, since there aren´t too many adventures left on this journey to Canada. I am reading a book called “Beauty tips from Moose Jaw” by Will Ferguson at the moment. I thought it would be an easy read about a guy sharing his travelling anecdotes of his journey across Canada. But it´s quite the opposite! The book is packed to the brim with interesting background information and with the history of Canada. If you ever get hold of the book – it´s a very good read! In one of the chapters the author talks about Canada in the context of travelling. Canada has always been the country of the wandering, of freedom and of the wild. One thing the author mentions really got to me. He says, that a lot of people tell themselves (and others) that they travel to find themselves. But that´s not it. People travel to get lost. I think Will Ferguson made a very good point there. I feel completely lost at the moment. But I mean lost in a good way. This whole journey feels a like a dream to me. It feels as though I have been in Canada forever with all of the things that I did and experienced so far. But somehow, I don´t want this bubble to burst just yet. I really feel quite comfortable being lost. Therefore, I will value and treasure the remaining time of this journey.