Bienvenue au Canada

So I've been in Canada for 3 days now.

The first leg - London to Toronto, went rather well and quickly. Sat on the plane, I decided I would strike up a conversation with the man next to me - now seemed as good a time as any to practice speaking with complete strangers.

Amazing views of ice flows and mountains, on the way to Toronto.

Including that hour spent talking to Canadian Tom, the flight went off without a hitch, which I think gave me a false sense of security. That would gradually dissipate as the departure from Toronto to Québec City crept back by hour by hour, until we had been delayed for 7 hours. Then I was lucky enough to be sat next to some octopus-like old man. Despite me putting the armrest between us firmly down, he still managed to encroach on my space and touch my leg three times during the flight. Creep.

Anyhoo, I've now been in Canada for 3 whole days!

I'll spare you the clichés of "it has a European feel" etc. Actually my first impression on the drive in from the airport (at 1am, after 20 hours awake, in my defence) is that it's quite American. Curse my tongue, but there's lots of space, big highways and big roads dotted with stores and drive thrus.

Life!

But it's true that once closer to the old city, there is a different feel. Not that I stuck around on my first morning. I headed straight out to one of the big Québec City draws - la chute Montmorency. It's higher than Niagara Falls, don't you know. And really easy to get to, just a 20 minute bus ride from Gare du Palais. I pottered about there for an hour or so, taking in the different viewpoints but not climbing all the way down the 200 steps. No need to push it too far on my first day!

La chute Montmorency.

The buses in Québec City don't carry change, so I was in a bit of a pickle for the ride back into town, only having $20 notes (baller). There was really only one option, to walk back along the bus route until I found a shop where I could buy something. By this time I was starting to feel a little delirious with jetlag, thirst and hunger (my 16-8 routine went out of the window at around this time), when walking through what seemed to be a Quebecois surburban paradise (complete with no shops), a petrol station appeared like a mirage on the horizon. A bottle of Vitamin Water (I'm on a budget, honestly) and pastry later, I was furnished with change for the bus. Hooray!

My refreshment was short-lived and by the time I got back to the city (20 whole minutes) I was a walking zombie à nouveau. Coffee beckoned (along with a doubt that as a "poor" traveller I should probably be giving up luxuries like freshly ground coffee) and it was looking quite grey, so it seemed a good time to retreat to the hostel to plan my next steps.

So when I booked this hostel I was unable to book a third night as it was fully booked. Bearing in mind it's one of the biggest hostels in Canada. The man on the desk had earlier advised me that they had some big groups booked in. And when I got back to the hostel, it was TEEMING with teenagers. Oh my god. My dorm was nearly empty when I'd left earlier. Please god, don't let there be a bunch of 12 year olds checked into my room. Pleeeeeeeease.

I sat down in one of the common rooms, making use of the wifi, and people drifted in and out. I got chatting to Serena from New York (originally from Guyana), who was very helpful with tips for Colombia during the five minutes that we spoke, and we exchanged numbers in case we wanted to meet up in Montreal. After Serena left I got chatting to Jenny from Germany, who unbeknown to me was in my dorm. Jenny is a lively, expressive and somewhat loud but lovely person. She was also moving on from the HI and ended up booking into my next stop.

While I was talking to Jenny the sun came out, so not wanting to waste the weather, I decided to take myself off for a walk around the city. Québec City is the only city in North America that still has its fortifications intact, and you can pretty much walk the whole way round.

Atop the city walls.

That wasn't the aim for my first day, but I did make it halfway round to the Terrasse Dufferin, via the post office. This was where I had one of my first warm-your-cockles moments. All I did was post a couple of things back to the UK, but I had a nice chat with the lady, she gave me a great upsell on some pre-stamped cards, and the whole 10 minutes was all in French and just very pleasant. And it was one of those times where you're in an unfamiliar place, and you do something very ordinary (much like when I caught that bus in Khao Lak), and it just makes you think "Yes! I can do this! I'm doing it!"

I wandered round the corner, parked up on a bench in front of the famous Hotel Chateau Fairmont du Frontenac, and whiled some time away listening to a busker on his piano. When he began to play Ave Maria, I thought of my Nanna and smiled to myself. I'm in Canada now.

There was only one thing that remained for me on my first day. I needed to try poutine!

My very friendly airport taxi driver had given me two recommendations for the city. One is Chez Ashton, a Quebecois fast food restaurant. He had said that it was a must-do. He was not wrong! The poutine was divine, as was the Rosbif sandwich I had with it. A great start to my journey across Canada!

Poutine!!!