Que bec pour quois?

It was another day, another hostel and it was flippin freezing. Honestly we are heading further towards the arctic and the don't turn the heating on, so I was shivering all night with my little blue blanket. The blanket was provided it was not a comforter that I take around with me, honest. In fact this blanket was made with the finest French Cotton. Talking of French many people in Quebec can't speak English and boy did that make ordering things hilarious. I tried my best to integrate with the French culture of course. Actually within five minutes of entering Quebec I had seen my first Frenchman spit. Ah continentalism. Seriously though Quebec is a very attractive city reminiscent of olde worlde Europe. It had great views over the St Lawrence River (see photo) and generally had some nice little shops to see. We went to an interactive museum with a great Quebecois guide who used to teach in Birmingham of all places. He said he could understand a bloody word they said. The museum showed how the British conquered Quebec and so out of protest the French dumped 4 tonnes of tea into the river. When tea soc finds out I don't know what they'll do, but you can guarantee blood will be spilt or at least of couple of cups of tea. I can see Stu now crunching a chocolate hobknob with his bare hands in disgust :D We also travelled on a vernicular and went down an ice chute on a sledge, great fun and very very fast. We then stocked up on cheap Canadian CDs for the ten hour journey home!

Mont (real) Olympia

When I said we went to the biosphere that was in fact an accident. We were actually looking for the biodome. The biodome simulates 7 different ecosystems and also acts as a zoo. Most excitingly it contains penguins from king to gentoo all the way to macaroni. The Biodome is housed in what was the velodrome used for the 1974 Summer Olympics which were held in Montreal. Unfortunately Canada did not win any gold medals that year, or the time after, better luck next time.

Next to the biodome is the huge olympic stadium which seated thousands upon thousands of people. Nowadays it is used for conventions and the odd rock concert. However, the last time it was used as a music venue was in 1997 by U2. Today you can only enter by guided tour and that is exactly what we did. Towering above the monstrous stadium stands a huge tower which provides a centrepiece for the Olympic park. All in all an amazing attraction and well worth a visit. Do you think if I keeep saying stuff like that I could get some sort of commission? The following day the road to Quebec began and we stopped of at yet another impressive church. It is so old it has ye olde escalators in lol! Very impressive nonetheless.

It looks sort of like the world with holes in...

Next Stop on my whistle stop tour was the biosphere situated on a very hard to get to island between Montreal and the mainland. For those of you who don't know Montreal is like a island in the middle of Canada surounded almost entirely by water. The biosphere is very near the Formula 1 track in Montreal although it was hard to see as it was covered in a lot of snow. Inside the spherical structure was a mini science centre illustrating the importance of water with hands on exhibits and interactive shows. It was fine fare for a couple of hours. We even found a large collapsable ball, which get us amused for nigh on minutes. Check out our frollicking fun. The balding duded is Steve, a top man!

Later that same day...

I have to say there aren't many old vuildings in Canada. However, when they build a church, they really build a church. The Notre-Dame Basilica was phenomenal! Here is a few facts for you chaps and chapesses:

Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica has nothing in common with Paris's except the name. It's a neogothic building dating from 1829, constructed on the site of a much older and smaller church which had been outgrown by its parishioners. Notre Dame is noted for its lavish and beautiful interior - stained glass windows, gold-tipped polychrome carvings, paintings, statues, and especially its lavish altarpiece. It also has a notable Casavant organ and its big bell, le Gros Bourdon, is the largest bell on the continent.

The photo above taken by my own fair hands showcases its beauty and unusually arabic feel. Also above is a photo of my on the Montreal metro (albeit artily slanty). Montreal to demonstrate its French roots has copied exactly the French Metro style using the same subway train design. How bout that!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...Crikey!

When they say Canada gets a lot of snow they weren't kidding. After a fine nights sleep at teh hostel we took to meandering about town, grabbing a fantastic breakfast and simply marvelling at the amount of snow. Check out that car. He is going to need a fair few kettles of hot water to get all that snow off. Maybe there is people still trapped inside, who knows. To put things into perspective Montreal had the amount of snow shown in the pictures in just 2 days. Now that is cool!

the (Mont)real deal

Eventually we all rolled into Montreal and our accomodation lay before us, the Auberge de Jeunesse. I had never stayed in a hostel before and was shocked, in fact visibly shaken, when I found out we had to make our own beds. Luckily it was all okay and I got the top bunk :D The room we were given was shared with this Aussie dude. Now this man was a colourful character, lets just say his previous night on the town had involved crazy strippers and mexicans. He had some great stories! The next day we went into Montreal to explore what it had to offer. The city heralded huge basilicas and cathedrals alongside the modern stylings of the traditional American skyscrapers. We stopped off in a little restaurant for brunch before endering through the French-Chinatown! We covered much of downtown before heading out in the evening to check out the nightlife and this is where the real hilarity begins. To cut a long story short we got confused and ended up in the gay district. Seriously, the village people were wandering round, oh and the leather chaps! We wandered further, until finally we found a 3 storey French bar. I decided I would use my superior language skills to integrate myself within Montreal culture. Thus I ordered deux biere sil vous plat. Well I ordered that in theory, but what came out was a mish mash of random strung together syllables that was as much French as Japanese. The barmaid replied "What?" However, not giving up I tried again, this time with even less of an accent. To which she replied "what?" So finally I said "could I have two beers please?" To which she replied "No problem mate."

A French Folly!

An Englishman (me), a Scotsman (Joe), a Canadian (English Teacher Steve) and a German (Cosi) walked into a car. We then set off on a journey to Montreal and Quebec, a land where all our wishes would come true. Hang on thats Oz. Straight after my economics exam we all bundled in the car to start our 7 hour journey to Montreal. Joe and I had made a mix CD to entertain the foreigners, introducing them to bands such as Coco Rosie and Jamie Cullum. KT Tunstall went down especially well. I also included a comedy podcast by Ricky Gervais completely forgetting the skit at the end about dirty Roman inventions, Cosi gave me a few funny looks. On the way we stopped off at a McDonalds and what a McDonalds it was. They had some kind of crazy production line set up and a very strict uniform. The large fries and dink were huge. Check out the drink, it was the same size as my head and as we all know I don't have the smallest head lol! Not only that, but I was also called a divine religious sign by a strange uber religious nut. Remember I am still in McDonalds. She asked me how church in England was? I said "people still go from time to time!" She then proclaimed I was a sign from God to show that she must take a job in Europe. How bout that. I have never been a divine sign before!

Snowflakes at Dawn!

Tis nearing that time of year, yes that is right folks, Christmas. I am experiencing another Phil first by spending my first Christmas away from home. My sis won't be prodding me at 6 in the morning to open our stockings. Actually its usually me prodding her but thats beside the point. No familiar Christmas tree drooping with the weight of the baubles. Instead I will be in Canada, consoled by the fact that Santa lives closer to Canada than the UK. I hope everyone has the best Christmas of their lives. Thats right, I said Christmas, not Happy Holidays, take that political correctness parade :) Outside it is snowing, a sure sign of a white Christmas! Just in Toronto we have had a foot of snow, thats a heck of a lot for me to see. Merry Christmas one and all and I hope Santa brings you everything you asked for!

My exams are almost over with just one more economics to go. Whats more Christmassy than economics! In the Spirit of Christmas, Joe and I concocted a plan to turn the top of Parking Complex B into an advert for our house, the Kaiser house. Sure we are losing the Stong Spirit Cup, but you have to admire our spirit. The photo above is the view of the top of the parking complex from the 14th floor in Stong.