From other Travel Blogs...

Copper Mountain

TRAVEL TIPS:
Less than a Shoestring has listed several safety tips for the solo traveler.

A list of 10 travel tips with a twist. Rolf Potts turns Sir Francis Bacon's "Of Travel" essay into a modern magazine article.

Vagabondish shares tips on How to Choose the Perfect Backpack.

TRAVEL DESTINATIONS:
Considering a trip to Quebec? A short guide to Quebec City can be found at Smarter Travel.

Read about Culinary Travel Across Italy. Mmmm... after reading this, I was ready to book my own flight to Italy.

Smarter Travel suggests skipping the crowds and visiting Yellowstone National Park in winter.

TRAVEL THOUGHTS:
Amanda at Vagabondish is starting a series about Dark Tourism. Brave New Traveler also has a good article on the subject, Dark Tourism: Bearing Witness or Crass Spectacle? by Eric Daams.

Should you give treats to local children when you travel? Some thoughts at Traveling Stories Magazine in A Question of Candy.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked From other Blogs in my sidebar.

Friday Photo Post: Rue Saint Louis, Quebec City

Walking and riding down rue Saint Louis.

Horse and carriage about to go through the Saint Louis Gate.

Ile d'Orleans, Quebec

If you go to Quebec City, consider visiting Ile d' Orleans, about 10 miles up the St. Lawrence River. Once you cross the bridge to the island, follow the 40 mile Royal Road. It takes you all around the outside of the island, with great views of old homes, vineyards, and farms.

We enjoyed lunch at Le Moulin de St-Laurent, a restaurant located in a renovated flour mill from the early 18th century. From there, we drove to a look out tower in St-Francois where we climbed the stairs for a great view of the island, and the hope that it would burn off the calories from lunch. The tower also gave us a view of Gross Ile, the quarantine station for the Port of Quebec from 1832-1937. Thousands of Irish immigrants were buried on Grosse-Ile during the typhoid epidemic of 1847.

Our last stop was at the cider house Domaine Steinbach in St-Pierre. We sampled ciders, including ice cider (like ice wine), vinegars, mustards and jellies. My favorites were the Thyme and Garlic Cider Vinegar, the Honey Mustard and the Apple and Cinnamon Jelly. The mustard and jelly went home with us, but I worried about the Vinegar leaking. I regret that decision now. We also tasted an incredible raspberry wine that made you think "chocolate" when you tasted it. I wish I brought some of that home, too. I would have paired it with some decadent chocolate treat.

We were on a guided tour, and while it can be nice to let someone else handle all the details, I missed the freedom of traveling on our own. I would have loved to stop and explore the small towns that we drove through. I enjoyed having a guide who shared stories about the island and answered our questions, but a guidebook would have been enough for me. We also could have asked questions at the local tourist office and shops we stopped in.

Montmorency Falls, Quebec

Montmorency Falls Park, or Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, is just outside Quebec City, near the bridge that takes you to Ile d'Orleans. We combined a visit to the falls with a tour of the island. At the park, you have the option of climbing 487 steps up to the falls, or taking the cable car. Once at the top, you can walk out on a suspension bridge right over the top of the falls.

Although not as wide as Niagra Falls, Montmorency is about 98 feet higher. Besides admiring the falls, you can take advantage of the hiking trails or bike paths, picnic tables and playground, shops, and a snack bar and dairy bar.

The park is open year-round, and pictures in the visitor center show an incredible ice wall in the winter. In the summer, the falls are host to an international fireworks competition, Les Grands Feux Loto-Québec. In 2006, the competition had 118,500 spectators. This year, five countries are competing from July 21-August 4, with the grand finale on August 8th.

Wall Murals of Quebec City

As we explored Quebec City, we saw several murals painted on buildings. It was fun to walk down a street, turn a corner, and be surprised by one of these beautiful trompe-l'oeil paintings. One of them was on a building on rue du Petit-Champlain and is called... the Petit-Champlain Mural. It illustrates the history of the Quartier Petit Champlain.

Another mural is the 5 story Quebec City Mural, on the corner of Notre Dame, at the bottom of Cote de la Montagne. It shows 400 years of Quebec history. Be sure to follow the links to more information about these two murals.

This last mural was on the Hotel-Dieu de Quebec, a hospital on Cote du Palais. Opened in 1639 by Duchess d’Aiguillon and the Augustines hospitalières de Dieppe, the Hotel-Dieu de Quebec was the first hospital established north of Mexico. The mural depicts the lives of the doctors and nurses on two sides of the building.

The murals reminded me of the trompe-l'oeil mural on the Caroll Creek Bridge in Frederick, Maryland, just on a much larger scale.

More posts about Quebec Ctiy on Rambling Traveler:
Walking Around Quebec City
Friday Photo Post: Quebec City
Friday Photo Post: More from Quebec City

Friday Photo Post: More from Quebec City

This little boy was quite entertained by the street performer. His reactions kept the rest of us entertained, too, although the busker was a lot of fun even by himself.

I liked the signs on this part of rue du Petit-Champlain. I wonder if that photographer has a photo of me?

Looking at art on rue du Tresor, otherwise known as Artist Alley.

Walking Around Quebec City

Doug and I decided not to carry a map while we walked around the old city, so before we left our room, we reviewed the map one more time, figuring out the general area we wanted to explore. Of course, by the time we got to the street, I forgot what was where. Add that to the reasons I won't travel alone. I have a horrible sense of direction. I need Doug to help me navigate, otherwise I'm that tourist on the corner with the map spread open. I don't know how he does it, but Doug can look at a map once and know exactly where to go and how to get back.

That talent came in handy, because we walked a lot during our four days in Quebec City. We had fun walking around the upper town, exploring rue Saint-Louis, Sainte-Anne, Garneau, Couillard, rue Saint-Jean and several other roads. On rue Saint-Louis, we walked by Maison Jacquet, the oldest house in Quebec City.

We also explored lower town, walking down Cote de la Montagne, then along rue du Petit-Champlain, Sous-le-Fort, and Notre-Dame. We peaked in the windows, but didn't go into many shops. Everyone else praised the shopping, but I was trying to avoid temptation and impulse buying. I kept repeating my mantra of simplify, simplify, simplify. If you are interested in shopping, though, there is something for everyone.

Throughout the city there are benches everywhere for you to sit and relax. We also spent some time at a pub, sitting outside on the patio, enjoying a beer and some chips. I practiced the very few French words I knew and was relieved when the waitress responded with a smile (of course, she could have been laughing). It's such a beautiful language, I wanted to sit there all day, listening to people talk.

If you go, be prepared for walking up and down stairs and hills. You can just wander around, shopping and enjoying the architecture, but if you are interested in the history, I recommend getting a good guidebook or going on a walking tour. One book I like is Quebec, A North American Treasure by Donald Dion. The book has wonderful pictures with brief descriptions of the history of different buildings and streets.

Le Chateau Frontenac

We were lucky enough to stay at the Chateau Frontenac during our stay in Quebec City. While we were there, we toured the hotel with Gaston, a tour guide who played the part of a porter from the late 19th century. He had several interesting stories about the hotel and its guests. Some of what we learned:

The Chateau was built for the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 1800's. Several luxury hotels were being built at the time, including Banff Springs Hotel and Windsor Station in Montreal. The railway wanted to encourage the wealthy to travel on its trains to visit those destinations, and the hotels were the lure.

The brick used for the hotel came from Scotland. It was used for ballast in ships coming to North America to get timber. When the ships arrived, they dumped the brick to make room for the timber. People used the free brick to build homes, and the builders of the Chateau did the same. The other stone used in the building is local blue limestone.

This is where the Quebec Conference of 1943 was held, when Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and William Lyon Mackenzie King planned Operation Overlord, otherwise know as D Day, the invasion of Normandy during World War II. The world leaders stayed at the Citadel while the military officers and staff stayed at the Chateau. The First Ladies were also at the hotel, helping to distract the press.

Tours of the Chateau Frontenac are open to the public, and I highly recommend that you go on one. Be sure to ask a lot of questions. Someone asked Gaston why his outfit had leather sleeves and he explained that porters carried large trunks from the steamships and trains that arrived and the leather kept the shirts from ripping. They also kept the porters warm when they had to stand outside in cold weather. Most porters would tuck wool into the leather sleeves for extra protection.

Friday Photo Post: Quebec City

Wow. Quebec City is beautiful. At least the old city is, which is where we are staying and the only place we've seen so far. We arrived at the Chateau Frontenac in time for high tea and an interesting tour of the hotel. With a bit of time before dinner, we went outside to explore the area.

It was chilly, in the 40's, but it was sunny, and I still wore my sandals. It was fun to come across this street, where yesterday's picture from flickr was taken. The sun was in a bad place for the shot, so I angled it, but I'll try to get another shot later on when I have more time.

I love it when Doug travels to fun places for business and I get to tag along.

From ProBlogger's Group Writing Project...

Cats in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Darren Rowse at ProBlogger had a group writing project last week, and several travel articles were submitted. Here are some of my favorites:

Five gems, what makes a good pub? by Pints of Ale
Five Travel Blogs You Gotta Read by Sheila at Perceptive Travel Blog
Top 5 Reasons Why We Travel by Timen at in my All Stars
Top 5 Reasons to Make Nova Scotia Your Next Travel Destination by Blogging Nova Scotia
My Top 5 Future Photowalking Locations by Photowalking.org
5 best places to go while visiting Acadia National Park by Acadia
My Five Most Awestruck Travel Experiences by Exit Row Seat
Top Five Strategies for Traveling Light by Graham Barker: The Blog
Top 5 DC Things To Do This Summer by DC365
Top 5 Italian Words You Really Don't Want To Mispronounce at Bleeding Espresso
Top 5 Things To Do In Istanbul by Let's Meet Where the Continents Meet

Check out ProPlogger's full submission list for articles on several other subjects, including personal finance, photography, and of course, blogging.

From other Travel Blogs...

A few of the articles I enjoyed this week:

I've been thinking about doing the Coast to Coast Walk in England, just trying to decide if it should be with or without the boys. Guardian Unlimited has two articles by Martin Wainwright, Britain's Top 10 Coastal Walks and Sea Cliffs to Shingle: Coast to Coast Walk, that caught my interest. I've also mentioned walking along Hadrian's Wall. Maybe I'll be planning a summer of walks, because there are too many to choose from.

David at authorblog shares a beautiful picture of Algonquin National Park. I mentioned the park in my post about Camp Tamakwa, and this picture has me bumping the park up higher on my list of places to visit.

You can watch a video about Cafe Chavalos, a job-training program that gets young men off the street and teaches them how to cook and work in a restaurant, on Our Man in Granada.

Willy Volk at Gadling writes about Cool Capitals, a fun site with interactive maps of some of Europe's capitals.

There is also some good advice in the article 27 Personal Finance Tips for Overseas Travel on Ask the Advisor.

For more travel articles, check out the section marked "From other blogs" in my sidebar.

Friday Photo Post: Whistler Blackcomb

Our son, Connor, took these pictures on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.


We had a great time at Whistler. I was a bit nervous with Doug's broken collar bone, but he took it easy and didn't push himself too hard on the mountain. We were lucky, and there were no new injuries!

Shopping and Eating in Whistler Village

When you aren't on the mountain, it's fun to walk around Whistler village. We did the requisite souvenir shopping; tshirts and hats for the boys, a fleece jacket for me. If you go, make sure you look around before you buy. We got some great deals by checking out sales and clearance racks.

My favorite souvenir is the Christmas ornament I found at Smile Gifts. We try to find interesting ornaments on all our family trips. When we decorate our tree, it's fun to remember the places we've been.

Our breakfasts and all but one dinner were provided by the host of Doug's work conference. For that one dinner, we ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory, a recommendation from Jas on Through the Lenses. All the entrees include soup or salad, sourdough bread and spumoni ice cream.

We ordered Spaghetti with Spicy Meat Sauce, Baked Tortellini with Meat Sauce, Seafood Linguine Marinara, Seafood Fettuccine Alfredo, and the Penne with Chicken.

All the dishes were very good, but my penne was the best. Connor disagrees, and claims his baked tortellini was the best. It had a thick layer of cheese baked on top, and I think he inhaled it. The bread with whipped garlic butter was delicious, too.

One day, after the mountain shut down, Doug and I left the boys with their homework, and went into the village for a beer. We ended up sitting outside at Black's Pub, sharing a pitcher of Cypress Honey Lager and an order of chips and salsa. The Honey Lager is from the Granville Island Microbrewery in Vancouver, and is similar to Wisconsin's Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss, but a little more bitter. They also had Gastown Amber Ale, and if we didn't have to get back to the boys, I would have liked to try it.

Skiing and Snowboarding at Whistler/Blackcomb

This was our first trip to Whistler, and we were excited to hit the slopes. Unfortunately, with all the rain on our day of arrival, most of the runs were very icy the first day.

The second day was better, although it was snowing so hard, the visibility was poor. It was beautiful to see, but hard to ski (and take pictures!)

Luckily, the third day was perfect, with blue skies and fresh powder. Our favorite runs on Blackcomb were Ridge Runner, Twist & Shout, Rock 'n' Roll, Jersey Cream and Wishbone. On Whistler, we liked Little Red Run and Franz's.

Our oldest son, Connor, had a great time at the terrain parks on both mountains. He also took the pictures for this post (except for the chairlift shot that I took.)

If you don't ski or ride, there are a lot of other things you can do at Whistler/Blackcomb. There is tubing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, dog sledding, and Ziptrek ecotours. We talked to people who did the dog sledding and Ziptrek and they had a great time.

Riding a Shuttle from Vancouver to Whistler

We flew into Vancouver, B.C. with our three boys for a ski/snowboard trip to Whistler/Blackcomb. We had a great driver for our shuttle ride from the airport to the ski resort. It was pouring rain during the 2 1/2 hour ride, but Daniel kept us entertained with stories of Vancouver and Whistler.

From the airport, we drove through downtown Vancouver, and into Stanley Park where we saw the damage from the wind storms this winter. About 10,000 trees were destroyed in the park alone, and another 19,000 trees were lost in other areas.

Vancouver is the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics. In preparation for the events, there are several transportation improvements going on right now. We experienced some of the road work on Highway 99. There is a lot of work to do.

The drive was beautiful even with the rain. It is different than driving into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Everything is so green, a nice sight coming from the brown yards and bare trees in Minnesota. It was fun seeing the water and islands to the west of us as we drove toward Squamish. Mini-waterfalls were pouring off the rocks on other side of the road. I was nervous about how the rain would affect the skiing in Whistler, but Daniel assured us it would be snowing at the top of the mountain.

Check back tomorrow for more on Whistler...

Indian Summer

A fun story about friends who return to the camp they attended as children, Indian Summer is one of my favorite movies to watch on a rainy or snowy afternoon.

Camp Tamakwa is a real camp in Ontario's Algonquin Park, about 175 miles north of Toronto. The film's director, Mike Binder, wrote the story about the camp he attended in the late 60's and early 70's.

I've watched so many movies where I wish the set actually existed so we could visit it. The great thing about Indian Summer is the movie was filmed at the actual camp, and you can visit it. In the off season, Tamakwa is available for retreats and conferences, or you can go camping in other parts of Algonquin Park.

*related post: Guides to Movie Set Travel