quebec city was amazing, and a perfect end to my summer. celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, the city was kind of a Eurotrip Version 2.0 for me, and indeed my dad and i noted that it really was like being back in Europe, what with the cobblestone streets, narrow lanes, really good expensive dining....and horse poop everywhere.
but in Canada! nothing around here is very old (except Aboriginal culture, of course). i mean, one of Toronto's biggest attractions is the medieval wannabe castle Casa Loma which is ALMOST A HUNDRED YEARS OLD. WOW. but Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608, which is nothing to laugh at. Quebeckers claim it is the oldest city in North America, which is true as long as you don't count the Natives (and as the Air Farce clip goes, "nobody counts the Hindians...or St. Johns.")
at any rate, it was pretty exciting for various reasons:
1. my sister and i got to practice our french, which as it turns out, is still pretty poor.
2. horse poop! on cobblestone roads! how quaint!
3. Montmorency Falls, which the French never fail to remind us, is 30 metres higher than Niagara Falls (ie: les Anglophones suck)
4. the Plains of Abraham, where the British scaled the massive bluffs and fought the French, who put up a good fight for TWENTY MINUTES before celebrating.
5. if anything went wrong, we could blame the French. (see reason #4)
6. i kid. i love the french. i would gladly spit in Toronto's face to live in Quebec if only i could bear the cold winters. i especially love French food. so rich. so expensive. thankfully it was being paid out of daddy's wallet.
7. remnants Quebec City Summit of the Americas protests in 2001. i was in high school at the time, and all my friends were going to Quebec City to protest the FTAA, geared up with megaphones, scarfs, banners, and water bottles. i was all set to go - but my parents put their foot down. i went to class; my friends got arrested and made headline news. alas, i lost my chance to see the beautiful city until now, with my parents, with Dubya safely out of reach. but you could still see parts of it leftover, even though the city had worked hard to beautify everything. we saw graffiti along the concrete median that said BUSH CLAN #1 TERRIRISTES. clearly proclaimed by a French anarchist trying to express his anti-capitalist rage in english. or something.
8. most importantly, i got to spend some much needed time with FAMILY. which is always good. even if it means having my sister stealing the blankets all night. or having my father wake us up way too early in the morning "WAKE UP ALL OF YOU IT'S ALREADY SEVEN THIRTY AND WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO." i didn't realize that i was travelling with luke again.
and now, i am back in toronto again, looking forward to tomorrow, which brings....the first day of school. sob.
