Believe it or not I did actually travel to Canada back in July.  Of course all of my personal photography gets pushed back behind everything else which is why I am just now posting about this fabulous trip! As usual, I traveled with one of my best friends from college, Ashleigh (everyone calls her Moyer).  So far, we have taken over Italy, Spain, Ireland, and now Québec.  We chose Québec City, which is the only walled city north of Mexico, because of its French influence.  We wanted to feel like we were in Europe even though we weren’t. With its French speaking locals, dedication to the arts, and adorable coffee shops lining every street, I think Québec City was the perfect destination.

One thing is for sure, when visiting Québec City, be prepared to climb ALOT of stairs between Upper Town and Lower Town.  Whatever you are thinking, multiply that amount by ten and that is the number of stairs you will have to climb.  It was 100% worth it though.  We dined at the famous Le Château Frontenac.  This gorgeous hotel is shown in many of the pictures below and is believed to be the most photographed hotel in the world.  We saw the changing of the guards at La Citadelle which was really cool.  We explored all of the amazing art galleries and the rue du Trésor which is an alleyway lined with local artists selling their paintings and sketches.  We took the Québec-Lévis Ferry which led us to a desolate town where we had to hike 500 steps to get to the only eating establishment that was opened–a delicious ice cream shop and our dinner for the evening. The ride was worth it just to see a great view of the city at night.  We went to Montmorency Falls which is double the height of Niagara Falls and has a pedestrian bridge that takes you from one side to another at the top–pretty scary.  We of course brought wine and enjoyed the views from bottom of the falls while we had a photoshoot in the water.

One of my favorite things we experienced in Québec City was the Sibérian Spa.  Someone absolutely needs to bring these to the US.  The Sibérian experience is based on a Scandinavian concept altering hot, cold, and rest to bring about relaxation.  It is a huge outside area in the middle of the mountains.  You start off in one of their many hot tubs.  Once you are nice and toasty, you switch to either a cold tub or you can jump in the natural spring water that flows in the adjacent river.  The water is freezing but you stay in as long as you can which for me was only a couple of minutes.  Next you relax.  There are lots of different relaxation areas–the sauna, eucalyptus steam bath, hammocks, a yurt warmed by a wood fire, and different lounging areas.  And you do this over and over again for hours.  Seriously, this was absolutely amazing! Better than any spa experience in the US.  I would go back to Québec again just for this. Of course, I don’t have any photos of this since you can’t take photos in a spa but I couldn’t resist telling you about it.

Another favorite thing we experienced was the Cirque du Soleil show.  I have been to numerous Cirque shows in the US but this one was different since the Cirque du Soleil shows were started by two street performers in Québec. There was something about being in the place that it all began and being surrounded by locals who were so proud of this fact that was really inspiring.  The show is presented outdoors at sunset and is free Tuesday-Saturday during the summer.  After the show, there was a free light show in another area by the water that was about the history of the city which was really cool.

Of course, no Too Short/Too Tall adventure is complete without its share of mishaps and learning experiences.  Moyer’s plane was once again delayed and I spent an entire day in Québec City by myself  which I’m used to by now since this exact same scenario has happened in Spain and Ireland.  Everyone we met thought it was crazy that we chose Québec City over Montréal to visit.  Single people do not exist in Québec City.  Unlike France, the French-Canadians are obsessed with their microbrews. Beer comes in brown, blonde, or red. The wine lists were unimpressive, but the food was delicious. We tried to learn French but everyone spoke English to us–how could they tell?  This was a shorter trip for us than our normal 10-12 day excursions but we couldn’t have picked a better place! O Canada.