Day One Hundred and Eighteen: travelling back

I couldn’t sleep again last night. Even Manuela (the Swiss girl) agreed that those beds are uncomfortable and that you can hear everything going on around the room. So at 8 I was up again and by 8.45 I was checked out and walking to the bus station. Manuela came along as well as she needed to look up times for buses to Calgary tomorrow. Once at the bus station I found out that a bus was leaving at 9.30am, so to save waiting around for an hour I managed to get that one … may mean I’m stuck at Montreal for longer, but it may also mean I can get an earlier bus back to Ottawa.

(bus and train station in Quebec City)

The bus isn’t full, so again I have two seats to myself to spread out and relax and there are even plug sockets again … and a wireless, but I forgot to ask for the passcode, so I just used the time to write my blog instead. Out of all the bus journeys there have only been three where I’ve sat next to someone. On the way back from Toronto when the bus was full to burst and when Alex was over and we went to Montreal. I don’t think that’s too bad, considering I’ve taken … wow, this is my 9^th bus! The one back to Ottawa will be my 10^th and last … wow that’s a lot of time sat on the bus.

Anyways … I’ll update more about the journey later. I’m going to read and maybe sleep now, still got about two hours left of this journey to go … fun.

Update: Well the rest of the journey to Montreal went pretty fast, I spent it playing mah-jongg. Well an hour of it playing mah-jongg … the rest I read my book and tried to get my picture messages to work on my phone again, as they went down for ages. They’re back now thank god.

This second bus was the best one so far. I was again sat on my own, but there was a lovely lady sat in the seat across the aisle from me and we (well she) talked for most of the journey so that passed the time, sometimes the three French (from Paris) guys behind her joined in the conversation, but mainly it was me and Carol (that’s her name). I managed to get a bus that left Montreal at 1pm, so I was in Ottawa very early … about an hour and a half earlier than I planned.

But that was fine, I rang Brent and he was there after 40minutes. I was too busy reading my book, so didn’t even notice. I’m now at Brent’s house and my rooms all set up, Brent even put my duvet covers on the airbed too. And we even managed to get lappy connected to the wireless, so I can still stay in touch with the world! This helps as my phone doesn’t seem to get any signal here, so at least I can send messages through Facebook and have my Skype too.

Anyways off for dinner soon, pork and rice, mmm, beats café food any day! Night!

Day One Hundred and Seventeen: Quebec in a day

What a busy day! I don’t quite know where to start … well I woke up at 5 … then 6 … then 7 … and then finally gave up and got up at 8. By 8.40 I was dressed and heading out the door of the hostel to start my day of walking around the city.

I started off by walking the Chateau Frontenac (very posh hotel) and I even went inside. It was amazing, but a little bit dark so the pictures didn’t reflect the beauty. They were also doing restoration works on the outside of the building so that too wasn’t as nice in places. But after ignoring that it was still impressive. And so huge too! It’s been dominating the Quebec City skyline since 1893 and has 600 rooms to stay in. As I said … huge!

 

My planning could have been better for the next part, but in the end it was fun … and healthier even. I took the Funicular, a cable car type thing, down from the Dufferin Terrace by the Frontenac to Lower Town with lovely views of the St Lawrence River. It was only $1.75 (including taxes). Once at the bottom the station is in a building called the Maison Louis-Joliet. This house was built for Louis Joliet in 1683 who discovered the Mississippi River and was the first Quebec born Canadian to enter the history books.

 

At the bottom I walked around the Petit Champlain, which has steps at one end called Escalier Casse-Cou or Breakneck Stairs (which I did go up eventually). This narrow walkway is the oldest part of the town, as French artisans lived in houses on this site as far back as the 1680s, after that Irish dockworkers lived there in the 19^th century. However, by the 20^th century the houses were falling into disrepair and were converted into a row of 50 shops and restaurants. At the end of the street was a beautiful mural painted on the side of a restaurant that depicted the area’s history. They do like painting on buildings here, but they look so pretty, so it’s a good idea.

 

Whilst walking back through the street I met a couple from Ontario who were on their honeymoon. They were wondering what the Funicular was for and didn’t realise that people could ride up and down the hill in it … they thought it was for transporting heavy objects up the hill easier.

Next was the walk back up to the Dufferin Terrace … which was all up steep hills. It was tougher than taking the Funicular back to the top, but the walk was enjoyable, if a little tough on the legs. The views from the Dufferin Terrace (built in 1838) were lovely. I could see along the river and across to the other side too. At the end of the Terrace was the Promenade des Gouverneurs, which included 310 steps and a pathway, passed the Citadel to the Plains of Abraham.

 

By this time the sun was out and I was losing my jackets as I went … that walk was warm. But I made it and wasn’t really tired … there were plenty of space just to walk in between all the steps and give my legs a break from all the up hill work. At the end of the walk was the Plains of Abraham or Battlefields Park. This is where the battle that decided Canada’s future took place in 1759, when British Regulars under General Wolfe defeated the French army. In 1908 the 250acre site was transformed into one of the largest urban parks in North America and the guidebook for Quebec compares it to Hyde Park in London because it is a little bit of fresh air in the middle of a city.

I didn’t walk all around the Plains as I had a lot more of the city to see, but I did walk between them and the Citadel towards the Parliament buildings for Quebec. It was here that I realised my days plans did not last me the whole day … it was only 11am. So I made some quick rethinks with a look at the map and decided to walk around the city’s fortifications by following the wall. I saw loads this way and really feel that I saw the whole city. I walked though Port Saint Louis to the Esplanade (an area of land between the Citadel and the houses of the city to offer further protection) and then climbed up onto the wall, walking over Port Kent and then back down to the ground to walk through Port Saint Jean. 

Here I did a little detour as I noticed a theatre with the Les Mis symbol outside … getting excited as I love that musical I wandered inside … but it doesn’t start until 17 June … so I was a little early. Back to my self guided tour … next was the Artillery Park which has seen two and a half centuries of history since it was considered a strategic point to defend the city from in the 17^th Century.

 My walk then continued along the wall looking at lots of cannons and even seeing a Carleton Street to Rue Des Remparts that overlooked Vieux Port, a more industrial area of the city, which centred primarily on the docklands. The road then turned into a road named Port Dauphin which led to the Notre Dame du Quebec.

 

There has been a church on this site as far back as 1640, but fire destroyed the first two, the third was then torn down by us Brits in 1759 (no reason is given in the guidebook …) and then the fourth also burnt to the ground. The current cathedral was built in the style of the church in 1647 but with modern materials such as concrete and steel. Inside it was glorious. Not quite as amazing as the Basilica in Montreal, but still impressive. Each year 1.5 million pilgrims come to pray at the shrine of Saint Anne de Beaupre … so it must be impressive.

This unfortunately was the end of my walk … it was only 1.30pm … so I sat in the sun outside the Tourist Information Office looking through the guide book to decide what to do for dinner later, as I wanted to treat myself and eat out. I didn’t last night so I could tonight. I found an advert for an Irish Pub called St Patrick not too far from the hostel and decided that would be the place.

So I headed back to the hostel to cook some of my 33cent noodles I got at the supermarket last night, and for 33cent they were tasty! I then wandered down to St Patrick’s pub to sit out on the terrace in the sun and read my book, while giving my foot a rest. I managed to bruise it walking in Kingston, so it’s been playing up a little bit since. Sitting on that terrace was lovely! There were loads of school groups walking around the town, but that didn’t stop me relaxing. I ordered on OJ and sat back to read. By 4pm it was getting a little too windy to sit out there comfortably, so I paid for my drink and went back to the hostel.

After a shower … that was way to powerful! I walked around the hostel reading about its history and more about the area. I then sat down and read more of my book. It’s getting really good! At 8pm I walked back down to the pub for dinner. I was so hungry by this point that I had a starter of Bruschetta and then a main of Beef Cannelloni, as well as two glasses of wine. In between the courses and afterwards while dinner settled, I relaxed with my book (I really do read everywhere …). Then by 9.45pm I was heading back to the hostel ready for bed.

It was a lovely day and I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Quebec City. Unfortunately my bus leaves tomorrow at 10.30 so I won’t have time to do anything before hand, not that there’s anything else I really wanted to do. Night!

Day One Hundred and Sixteen Part Two: the city

 

I arrived in Quebec City at 3.15pm and it was pretty confusing. Everyone speaks French here … not surprising really. A girl from the bus, called Manuela from Switzerland doesn’t speak much French either so together we found a map of where to go and shared a cab to the hostel (we were going to the same one), it was $5 each so not too bad.

 

At the hostel we checked in, I’m not a HI (hostelling international) member so had to pay a little bit extra per night. Nevermind. After I put my stuff in my room and locked lappy away in the locker I went for a little walk, the street by street map in my Canada book to be precise. Manuela came with me too; she’s been travelling across Canada for five months after spending a month learning English (she speaks a form of German in Switzerland).

 

On our walk we went to the bank to get some money and then back across the town to the older part. We saw the old town wall:

 

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral (“an 1804 stone neo-classical façade conceals an English oak interior”):

 

 

Maison Chevalier (“built for an 18^th century merchant), Basilique Notre-Dame-de-Quebec (a cathedral built in 1647 which has relics from early French rule in Canada), Place Royale (a gorgeous square reflecting what the area used to be like in the 18^th and 19^th century):

 

 

The walk was very … hilly. This city sure is built on hills! It makes it look beautiful but … ouchies on the legs. We found a small supermarket where we grabbed some food for dinner, just some noodles and carrots, mmm, and then went back to the hostel to cook them. It’s now 8pm and I’m already feeling tired. My plan was to walk about the city for a lot longer tonight but I’m pretty tired so I think I’ll potter about here, go online and talk to people. Then tomorrow night I’ll walk about later and find some nice places to visit, as I’ll be leaving Thursday morning. So night!

 

P.S look at the tiny and cute buses!

 

 

 

Day One Hundred and Sixteen Part One: leaving res and travelling to Quebec

 

Well last night wasn’t quite what I had expected … we finally left around 11pm, when we wanted to be there for just after 9pm … well they can’t break a habit of a lifetime can they? Anyways the pub itself was lovely. A little place called Quinn’s on Bank Street, it was only a short walk from the uni and not a bad atmosphere either. Steph, Hester and I sat down at a table as the others were kind of making a circle … until they closed the circle, shutting us out along with Sam and Nathan. So we chatted to them for the night while slowly drinking one drink each (for me that was a pint of Strongbow) and heard the others getting progressively drunk as they drank drink after drink … don’t they want a relaxing evening at all? … Well I did. So I enjoyed it. When Hester and Steph left, I stayed. Looking back, I wish I had left early too.

 

The girls were too giggly, talking about “fit guys”… not my sort of conversation, and by this point I was the only girl in the group of guys, so the conversation got a little harder o to follow. I could handle the top gear conversation, but further than that … I was lost! Must have been just after 12.30 that we left (I didn’t look at the time) and then we started the walk back after Katie stopped off for poutine from the chip wagon.

 

 

The walk back was nice, ambling along listening to all the chatter. At campus we took some pictures by the Carleton sign and then went over to Leeds house, but then the rest of them started talking about going for a smoke at the canal. Well I’ve never participated in these little sessions they have all term so I wasn’t about to start now. So I said my goodbyes and walked back to my room.

 

It looked weirdly bare in my room … but I climbed into bed about 1.30. At 7.45am my alarm clock woke me … but it wasn’t the first thing. Although I didn’t hear Katie and Heather come in, I did hear every bus and train from about 5 onwards … it was so annoying, but I refused to get up before my alarm went off. When it did, I loaded lappy to check my mail one last time in res … gathered my gear together, had some breakfast and then called the checkout line. It was 8.20 by this time and I was told it could take up to 45 minutes for someone to arrive to check my room. I didn’t really have 45 minutes as I wanted to pop to Tim Hortons in Res Commons and use up my dining dollars (I have $14 left and they can’t be transferred) before getting to the bus stop for 9ish.

 

Luckily by telling them I had a bus to catch the process was sped up and by 8.35 I was being checked out. In the 15 minutes I was waiting I woke Heather to say that I’d see her in England (she had asked me to). The check out was easy. I’d cleaned the bathroom yesterday but as Heather was still using it the lady just wrote that suitemates were still around. The kitchen was a tip as it had Katie’s half packed stuff everywhere, but again, the paper just says suitemates still there. My room had no troubles and less than 5 minutes later I was locked outside my room never to see it again.

 

Katie popped her head out her door as the check out lady was leaving and said she’d see me in England. I then received a hug from them both and went down to Tim Hortons where I was meeting Steph to say goodbye (or see you soon). I felt like a pig with my order though … I got 6 cookies, 20 timbits, a cream cheese bagel and a bottle of water. The bagel was for the journey, the water was too. The others … I’ll snack on, but most likely share round at the hostel. It’s one way to meet people. I used $12 out of my $14 but the rest of the money is wiped now and for just over a pound equivalent I’m not worried.

 

As it was raining so hard and I had given my coat to Brent last night, I grabbed a coat off the student chuck out pile (my little one would have held up, but better safe than sorry). It was a nice black parker style one (Primark too!). It’s not as thick as the one I have, but still warm so it’s perfect.

 

The bus came at 9.18 so I was at the Greyhound station with plenty of time before my 10am departure. The bus was so comfy! The seats were a bright blue with little silhouettes of greyhounds on them. I used my newly borrowed coat as a pillow and curled up to read my book … pretty soon I was asleep. I woke up at midday (my stomach really knows when lunch is hehe). But the bus was due to arrive in Montreal at 12.20 anyways so there wasn’t long to go.

 

Once in Montreal I found the gate I needed for the next bus to Quebec City and sat down there. I was fourth in the queue. The guy in front of me smiled when I sat on the floor and said something … but it was in French so I didn’t understand. I used my most known phrase in French … ‘Pardon, je parle un petit Français, je suis Anglaise’ and he understood and changed to English, yays! I then kept an eye on his and his wife’s baggage while they went to the canteen and I ate the sandwich in my bag.

 

Unfortunately my next attempt at French wasn’t as … understandable. I understood what the lady said, eventually, just couldn’t remember how to answer and she was not understanding my broken French. She was asking how long it was until the bus left, as it was due to leave at 1, so what time is it now … basically. So I was trying to say that it was half past twelve … I thought ‘mide et demi heure’ was close enough but obviously not. She saw my watch and just decided to look for herself. Well I tried at least.

 

We climbed aboard just before 1pm ready to go. The bus has plugs! So I got back off the bus to get my lappy charger from my bag. Bonus! The seats were leather which wasn’t as comfortable as the nice blue ones on the other bus, but I wasn’t going to sleep on this bus.

 

Instead I wrote some of this blog, played some games on my laptop – Mahjonng, Solitaire, Mineweeper, Bejewlled and Monopoly while listening to all of Avril’s albums (I love Who Knows from album number one! In fact there are not man of her songs I dislike, there are a few, but that’s expected with any artist, you can’t like everything). It really is an essay and a half today! So sorry if you’re really really bored reading all this … I should practise writing more succinctly, but with my two story ideas alongside my journalism I have to be able to write both concisely and longer to get the point across as well. It’s been a fairly busy journey … but also not at all busy at the same time.

 

More later

Day One Hundred and Fifteen: last day in Res

 

Last day of halls … feels weird to be honest. There’s only just over a week left until I’m back home trying to get back to normal life. I got up and went to the café this morning, have 9 meals to use in 2 days, impossible as there are only 5 meal spaces left, but might as well use as many as I can.

 

So I wandered over in the sun (it’s lovely out there today!) and had a fruit scone and a bowl of pears. There wasn’t much else to choose from, but at least they were tasty. I was the only person eating in there, the rest were all workers … so that was a little weird!

 

My time was spent working on finishing packing today! Most of it was done, but needed to complete it all ready for Brent to collect this evening. He’s letting me keep it all at his house until I go there after camp (plus the Friday before camp too).

 

(not all going home with me …)

 

It wasn’t too bad. I have less stuff than the girls, Katie is having serious problems packing all hers up, but … still tough. I chucked some bits out. I gave some bits away. The tops I got free here (no point in keeping them really) and a few of the cheap Primark stuff that I got before I came away, as well as toiletries I have at home and bed sheets/bath towels. I am sure that case *points* is overweight … but it’s all in there at least. I’ll weigh it at Brent’s and make a decision what to do there.

 

Depends how heavy my rucksack is really. If it’s underweight, I’ll rearrange stuff so the heavier bits are in there, if there’s no weight left on either bag … I’ll have a choice … chuck more stuff (which would be an idea as I could replace it with Primark things as and when I need it, but the hoarder part of me doesn’t want to throw things away …) or pay the excess baggage charge … I really don’t know what to do.

 

I heard from a job today too! Thameside Theatre (where I was working before I came away) said that they had only just hired, but will keep me on file for when they next recruit in September. I know it’s a while away and I’ll still have to go through the interview process, but at least it’s something …

 

I had a great late morning/lunchtime, I went for a walk around campus with Katie and Heather. It’s weird as we all went on a walk when it was -30 degrees and today its +30degrees … so different! We took pictures outside the Prescott sign after sitting by the river and the newly filled up canal. It looks so different with water in! I then went for lunch with Steph, we grabbed a bagel from Tim Hortons and sat by the river where it was at least nice and breezy.

 

(Rideau Canal all filled with water!)

 

(Ottawa River … all sunny!)

 

The rest of the afternoon was mainly spent relaxing … I had a shower as I’m leaving my towels with my luggage at Brent’s and using the ones at the hostel in Quebec … then I was asked by Katie how I managed to get everything into my 2 bags, as she’s sending so much back and leaving bags with friends here to pick up in June. I dunno how I did it … as I said earlier, I know it’s overweight, but we’ll have to see.

 

Other than that … I spoke to mum and Alex, pottered about online and generally relaxed … but not very well. Unless I’m really tired, I find it hard to keep still for too long. Until 7pm when Brent popped by to gather my gear. It wasn’t too much stuff … but it was enough that I had Heather and Katie’s help to get the lil bits down to the car. They went off to dinner while I waited for Brent to arrive.

 

Once I’d helped get the stuff in the car I also went for dinner … it was dead. Well not dead, as most of our group were there, but it was pretty empty and not much to choose from. I had pasta in the end, it wasn’t great, but it’ll do. And then I had pineapples and cookies for dessert. Tasty! On the way out of the café I said to Steph that this will be the last time I touch these doors … done! Finished! No more café dinners! Wooooohooo!

 

Back in my room now and it’s scary how empty it is … it even echoes! We’re off to a pub called Quinns tonight, apparently it’s at Bank and Sunnyside so not too far to go. So I’ll let you know how that goes tomorrow. Night! (night night – that’s the echo!)

Day One Hundred and Fourteen: bikes and art

 

I woke up at 7.30am!? Why?! I don’t know … so I decided to be ultra efficient and get all my washing/dishes done so I can finish packing later/tomorrow. Look at me, being all good.

 

At 10am Brent picked me up to go over their house for breakfast before a bike ride, the weather wasn’t as nice as yesterday, but it was cool without being too cold, which I thought was perfect.

 

Breakfast was delicious … pancakes, fruit, bacon, maple syrup … mmmm tasty! We set off on the bike ride just after 11am; I borrowed a Danish bike … which had a different braking system to my bike. On this bike you had to start pedalling backwards (literally just push the pedals backwards) to brake. It was so strange, but I got used to it … except at points when I forgot and went to stand up to avoid being seated on bumpy roads and had accidently moved the pedals back, thus stopping me. It was a lovely ride though. We went along the canal to Mooney’s Bay (a beach just past Hog’s Back Falls) and then back through some lovely park areas.

 

Jonas beat us back, but we weren’t far being finishing around 12.30. We had a bagel before Brent dropped me off at the Art Gallery in town where I was meeting Steph. She had tried to go last week but found it closed, so as I wanted to go as well, we decided to go together. She was the perfect person to go with, she knows so much about art and the history surrounding some of the works, that it was really fun. Unfortunately you cannot take pictures, so I have none to put in the blog, but it was fun.

 

We finished around 3.30 and popped back to uni to say bye to a few others who were leaving before I rang Brent to go back over there for dinner and more Dead Like Me’s (that series is really good!). Not too late a night tonight though, as I woke up so early for no reason I’m feeling pretty tired, so off to bed with me! Night!

Day One Hundred and Thirteen: bye byes

 

I had trouble waking up to my 8am alarm clock today, I ached so much from the long walk yesterday. But I woke up and had a shower before getting ready to start our last day in Kingston. We left the hostel just after 9am as today we had planned to get the free shuttle ferry over to Wolfe Island. The ferry left at 9.30am and was only half an hour long and took us to Maysville … the smallest town on earth!

 

 

(Steph and me on the boat)

 

We walked along the coast for a while and then realised it was going no where so we turned back … after seeing a sign for a quilting show we decided to go take a peak and saw a church hall covered in over 200 quilts spanning back over quite a few decades.

 

 

Unfortunately we had planned to get the midday ferry back … but we couldn’t find anything else to do so we left on the 11am one and was back in Kingston for a nice early lunch and a wander through the shops on Princess Street before checking out of the hostel.

 

The two ladies who run the hostel were not there when we needed to check out, so we left a note thanking them for the stay and put the keys on a table for them. The hostel really was a lovely place, nice and homely, especially with the friendly cats.

 

(Our lovely hostel – Skweeks)

 

We rang for a cab and arrived at the Bus Station about 40 minutes before our bus was due to leave, so good timing. The cab driver even asked if I was Australian … apparently my accent has a twang. The bus journey didn’t seem as bumpy as on the way there, but the two and a half hours still felt as long, especially getting stuck in traffic on the way back.

 

Finally we arrived back in Ottawa and waited for a bus back to campus, getting back just before 5pm, not bad at all. By 7pm I had unpacked and got changed ready to go out for dinner as a lot of the international lot are leaving tomorrow. We planned on having dinner at 7pm at The Works down Bank Street (gourmet burger bar) … but no … we finally left at 7.30pm (half of us got a lift with Danger’s friend as he has a truck) and because there were 16 of us we had to wait for a table. After 40 minutes they sat 10 and then 15 minutes later they called us last six across. The burgers then took ages to cook, so we didn’t actually eat until gone 9pm, I was so hungry! But my burger was delicious. It was called Five Fine Herbs and was just that, five fine herbs on a burger with cheese, simple and tasty.

 

On the way back … we managed to fit 10 people in this guys truck … one in the driver seat (obviously), 2 in the front passenger seat, 5 on the back seat (including me) and 2 in the box at the back (those two got soaked from the rain water collected in the little thunderstorm earlier). It was rather funny, but meant none of us had to wait for a bus.

 

Once at campus we went and said goodbye to those who had left the meal early to pack (Rob’s getting a midnight bus to Toronto and several are leaving in the morning). Most of the girls were still planning on going out clubbing, even though it was 11.30pm by the time we even got back to our rooms for them to get changed. I’m not going to go as I’m feeling very tired from my little adventure to Kingston and am now going cycling in the morning … weather permitting. Can’t wait! Night.

Day One Hundred and Twelve: long walk along the waterfront

 

I woke up bright and early today … half hour before my alarm (set for 8.30am). So I stayed in bed and read my new book for a while and listened to the kitten running about outside the door. It’s called the Dead Man by Joel Goldman and so far I’m enjoying it, the good mix of crime and humour that I enjoy.

 

At 8.30 my alarm went off and Steph and I set about to get ready for our huuuge walk today! We were planning to do the 8km waterfront walk … with some extensions. We headed out just after 9 and decided to catch a bus to the walk’s starting point at Trailhead Place. It was a bright and sunny day and both of us were glad of that for it made the walk much nicer. I was wearing my shorts it was that nice.

 

 

The walk went around the small town of Portsmouth (we saw the Psychiatric Hospital and some lovely old houses too) and then up into the Olympic Harbour. We don’t know what Olympics it was built for, but there was a nice metal square structure at its entrance and loads of flies! That’s the main thing we saw for the whole walk … flies!

 

(don’t know if you can see them but there are loads of gnat sized flies here, so annoying!)

 

 

That first part of the walk along the lake side was beautiful though. We saw squirrels and chipmunks and sat on the rocks beside the lake … marvellous.

 

 

 

 

 

After the Harbour we walked past the Penitentiary, which was built in 1835 and apparently best reflects the characteristics of Canada’s original prisons. We then continued along King Street to Bellevue House, which was once the home of Canada’s first Prime Minister – Sir John A Macdonald. Further along we reached Murney Tower (same sort of history as Shoal Tower yesterday, except this one is on land and is a museum too … although not open until May). It was here that we had to walk back along the street as the waterfront wasn’t accessible.

 

Once we reached the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, we were about halfway and not even feeling tired. There was a ship moored outside the museum called The Alexander Henry. It’s a 3000-ton coast guard icebreaker that retired in 1985. From here we continued to walk along the waterfront and around the Radisson Harbour to Confederation Park, where we stopped off at Tim Hortons for lunch. I had a delicious ham and Swiss cheese roll with a cinnamon whirl.

 

 

After lunch we wandered across the Laselle Causeway to the other side of Kingston Harbour where we passed the Royal Military College (complete with lots of army men in matching army uniforms!) on our way to Fort Henry. Unfortunately the Fort doesn’t open until the weekend (like most things in Canada) but we had a lovely walk up to the fort to see it. We then headed back down and all the way back to Murney Tower, popping into the hostel for a blanket, to lie in the sun and relax and read … we had earned it! We worked out we walked over 12km today.

 

 

We were resting for a good three hours before we decided to head for dinner (it was around 7pm). I hadn’t burnt (yay to P20 and factor 50+) but had a whole new collection of freckles on my legs, Steph had burnt a little so now her rosy red nose matched mine from yesterday.

 

After our lake side day we decided to have fish and chips (well I had fish and salad) for dinner in a restaurant called the Pilot House. We both had cod and it was sooo tasty, mine was gone before you could blink! We then walked for ages looking for a bar to have a few drinks in before heading back. Practically all the way up Princess Street we found one called the Alehouse … must have been a student place from the amount of young people there. But it had a good atmosphere. We stayed there for a few drinks and at 11.30pm we went back to the hostel to sleep … and sleep I did!

Day One Hundred and Eleven: Happy St George’s Day!

 

Last night was great fun! After I left you about 4ish, I pottered around my room until I went for some dinner at 5. You know it’s a bad day in the café when you go early and are still reduced to pizza … rice and pasta is not a meal … it’s a selection of side things. Although to be fair, at home I do have days where I put Uncle Ben’s 2 minute in the Microwave Rice (perfect everytime) into the microwave and just have that for dinner.

 

Anyways after diner I remembered to collect my ordered meals (breakfast and lunch today), I actually remembered for once, miracle! Once I got back to my room and was packing the food into my luggage for Kingston I found they had got my order wrong. First time for everything I suppose. They had given my Coke instead of water and had put mustard and mayo in my sandwich … even though they did a huge clear arrow towards to “no mustard or mayo please” comment … ah well. I walked back to the café and they were great, changed it straight away and made me a new sandwich there and then. And it’s better than the original sandwich too, so much ham.

 

I had planned to be at Harmeet’s house for 7pm, so at 6.30 I through (not literally) a bottle of wine for us into my bag and left for the bus stop. The journey wasn’t long. Just less than 20 minutes later (including waiting for the bus time) I got off the bus and stood there … what way was O’Connor from Bank again? I braved it and asked the first person I saw. He was going that way anyways, so walked with me. Handy that! Turns out his name is Matt and he lives two floors below Harmeet. At least I didn’t get lost.

 

I met Harmeet’s boyfriend Dave who was supposed to be studying for an exam, but wasn’t of course. What student studies when they can … cook Quesadillias for their girlfriend and her friend? Hehe. They were damn tasty too! Beat the café pizza. We all then settled down with the wine and watched Kill Bill (number one if you wondered) as I’ve never seen it all the way through. The same story I had with Fight Club … always see the first half but never manage to get through it all for some reason or another. Anyways, we chatted through most of it, paying attention here and there.

 

It was a great evening! I left just after 10.30 as I had an early morning this morning and Harmeet was getting tired too. I found my way back to the bus stop and not long later I was back at Carleton. I rang Harmeet to let her know I had got back safely (I can’t exactly text her, so this was easier) and then finished gathering my gear for Kingston.

 

This morning I was awake before my alarm clock (set for 7.30) … only by 5 minutes, but still awake. I got ready and before I left I wrote a note to Heather and Katie saying I was off to Kingston and am back at the weekend. Neither of them have apologised for Tuesday night … which I am still a little angry at. Now I’m more annoyed that they have ignored it to be honest. I met Steph at the bust stop at 8.45 and we set off for the Greyhound. She told me that on Tuesday she asked Heather where I was and her words were: “O shit, I was supposed to call her!” … she still didn’t though.

 

Anyways Steph and I are on the bus now, both glad to be away from campus, as she’s having a few troubles with people too. So we’re going to enjoy the next few days. We have a list of stuff we want to do and see and are excited.

 

The journey is only 2 hours and 45 minutes … but it feels so much longer. We kept stopping at places on route to pick people up … this bus is still empty! Plus, Steph and I reduce the average age of travellers by … a lot!

 

We’re due to arrive in Kingston about 1.15pm, but cannot check into the hostel until 6pm, so we’re going to walk around the city and see some sights before we find the hostel. So … I’ll update more later!

 

UPDATE:

The bus pulled into Kingston and my first thought was … where are we? The bus station was in the middle of no-where … after looking at the map we decided to grab a bus and after finding a bus stop we worked out that the number 2 was the one the one we needed … so we waited at the bus stop. But a few moments later a car pulled over and told us (just after a bus had pulled into the Greyhound station) that the bus didn’t stop at the bus stop … why?! It’s a bus stop. Luckily my tactic of standing in the middle of the road caught the driver’s attention and he stopped for us.

 

The bus drive wasn’t too long, just down two huge roads! We were on the bus until Princess Street which is the main street here and once there we jumped off and got our bearings with the map. Unfortunately we couldn’t check in to the hostel until 6pm … so we had about 4 and a half hours to kill … with our luggage.

 

 

It was ok at first, we walked along the lake front a bit, saw a few sights and talked about everything. We saw City Hall and the market mainly full of flowers and fruits behind it, the Ferry over to Wolfe Island (which we’re doing on Saturday morning) and the Shoal Tower … which at first glance wasn’t as impressive as we thought it was going to be. But after a little research it seems a lot more interesting.

 

 

The plaque at the water front says:

“The massive round tower rising from the bottom of the harbour in front of you is a reminder of less peaceful days along the Canadian-American border. The threat of war in 1845 prompted British military engineers to expand the existing fortifications at Kingston. Strategically located at the entrance of the Rideau Canal, as well as at the juncture of the St Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, Kingston was considered the key city in the defence of Upper Canada. By 1848, the Victoria (commonly known as the Shoal Tower) and three other Martello Towers had been added to the city’s defences. If an attack had occurred, British gunners could have defended the approaches to the harbour, behind stone walls up to 14 feet thick. The guns of the Shoal Tower with the nearby Fort Frederick and the Market Battery effectively blocked the entrance to the Rideau Canal.”

 

On our wanderings we also saw some strange art sculptures in Confederation Park … one in particular was called “Atlantis” … we didn’t understand it though and went into a glorious cathedral called St. George’s (appropriate for the day). It was built in 1825 and has a gothic style great hall as well as a dome modelled on St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. It really was amazing, especially the stained glass windows.

 

 

As well as that we stood on the site where the Market Battery stood from 1848 to 1875 and we went into the Tourism Office, which was built from stones from the Market Battery and is situated where the Kick and Push Railroad Station was (there’s even an old steam locomotive outside).  

 

 

It was a sight filled day as we also walked by the Prince George Hotel that is an old Limestone building constructed in 1809, the building where Hanley Station used to be (for the Grand Truck) … it’s now a restaurant called Frankie Pesto’s, St Mary’s Cathedral, St Andrew’s Church, and the old Fire Hall from 1871 where the tower was designed to hang fire hoses to dry after use (now a Lone Star Texas Grill … fun).

 

But then the bags started to get heavy, so we first went into Tim Hortons for a drink and sat chatting for ages, planning the long walk along the waterfront tomorrow and then we went and sat in Confederation Park on the Harbour Front (built in 1967 on the old railway yards) for … well it must have been about an hour before heading off to check in.

 

The hostel we are staying in is called Skweeks and it is lovely. It’s basically a house converted so that there are a few rooms for people to stay in. Me and Steph are in a first floor room, just the two of us, so our stuff can be left safe and sound inside while we go out. There are two cats living on our “floor” (I say that loosely because it is like a house and all that is on this floor is our room, an office, living space and a bathroom) and they are soooo cute! There’s a kitten (can’t remember his name) who is so playful and such a poser, remind me of anyone?

 

(one of MANY posing pictures of the kitten)

 

Of course! It’s Picasso in disguise … he climbs into my bag, nibbles my foot, sits on my laptop and loves attention … he’s great! The other cat, Poppins, is a lot older (don’t know an age and is also a bit more camera shy) and gets chased by the kitten who loves to play, he also loves attention, but isn’t such an attention seeker as the lil ‘un.

 

Once we had dumped our gear we went in search of a place to eat dinner. Finding a budget place isn’t easy when you’re new to an area though … but after a little while we found a place called “The Sleepless Goat” which was pretty good value and looked like a studenty place too. I had a lasagne with a difference for $10 … it’s with a difference because it ahs no meat and is made in a Greek-ish way … it was delicious none-the-less!

 

After dinner we walked down Princess Street to be nosy and went into a Dollarama to get some cheap snacks for breakfast/night snacks. Back at the hostel I logged online and started writing this blog. The cats have been running around making us both laugh but now the little one is tired out and is currently asleep with his head resting on my leg. It’s so adorable! Pity the camera is out of reach so I cannot photograph this moment for you.

 

Anyways … I’ll end my ramble there and update you tomorrow with more facts and views of Kingston.

 

P.S … my nose got burnt today … I’m Rudolph again.

Day One Hundred and Ten: rambles to make up for the lack of content recently …

 

Today I woke up pretty early … 8.30am, all because of my unexpected early night last night. I set about sorting out this blog and getting posts up to date, which I did very well and started on a hayfever tablet called Allegra 24. It has different main ingrediants to my Xyzal at home, but it will do the job.

 

I then went on to WebCT to see what grades were up and found out that a lot of my TV grades had been posted:

 

Course: JOUR3208C Intro to Television Journalism (LEC) Winter 2009

Section Instructor: Sheldon Howard

Newscast Analysis: 10 (out of 12)

PSA: 11 (out of 12)

Interview Edit: 11 (out of 12)

Feature: 9 (out of 12) – the marker didn’t like our topic of fur! haha

Same-Day Story #1: 10 (out of 12)

Same-Day Stroy #2: 8 (out of 12) – not bad considering our news stopped being news …

 

That doesn’t include the Newscast grades or Professionalism, but I reckon once those are added the subject will go from WebCT and just a final grade in it’s place … so I’ll have to see if I ever find out. Other than that, I’m pleased!

 

I also noticed that my Forensics link had gone … so that means my final grade is ready! Sure wish City could remove subjects you’ve passed from the WebCT board, it’d clean up my one at home so much. Well anyways, yes I had passed, I got a B, unfortunately I can’t get a break down of this anymore as it ahs gone from WebCT. I’m pleased as this topic was pretty hard for me. The whole federal and provincial systems were something entirely new for me to learn, so it was an experience and I passed it, yays!

 

While Personality is still on WebCT, as it’ll take him about 2 weeks to mark the essays, I’ll get my results so far from there, before I lose the break down marks for this subject too:

 

Course: PSYC2600B Personality (LEC) Winter 2009

Section Instructor: Christopher Motz

Essay: 26 (out of 30)

Midterm (percent): 80.83  

Research Assignment: 10 (out of 10) – I even got a comment saying “very good job”

Grade-Raising Option: yes (this was a project I did which if completed successfully, bumps your grade by one point … so from a C+ to a B- for example)

 

I absolutely loved this course, as you can see from the marks. I found it interesting and the lectures actually kept my attention. Fingers crossed for the final mark!

 

Also a side note of gossip here … Heather says that she’s going to fail. She had to have a meeting with her teacher because she has done so bad this year and so now is in debt for nothing. Well someone should have studied more and partied less me thinks. A little bit of karma for being dropped last night … me evil? Never.

 

I’m making up for the short entries of late by writing a huuuuge one today. I went to South Keys after my little grade search and walked along Bank Street to the Shoppers Drugmart for some hayfever eyedrops … no tablet is ever strong enough and at least I can then take these to help too. Anyways I went armed with the name of the eyedrops back home … and they had them! Cost just short of $20 though! All in the name of hayfever … ah well. Least I’ll be able to see at camp now.

 

 

I saw Gayle (the Scottish girl) on the train to South Keys too, she’s got her last exam tomorrow and then is off to Toronto to see her sister before they both go travelling. Sounds like fun. After the Shoppers Drugmart I popped into Value Village, I needed a cheap sunhat for camp and managed to get one for two dollars, bargain, yays. I then walked all the way back to the train station (ok it’s not that far), ran a little bit to catch the train so I didn’t have to wait and went back to uni. Do you think my room “mates” were up? No of course not.

 

I put my music on loud … I think midday is late enough not to wake anyone up and have them moan, and sure enough less than five minutes later Katie knocks and asks for a spare adapter. Now yesterday I would have lent her one gladly, but she didn’t say a word about last night, not even a mumbled apology, so I said I only had the one that I was using for my laptop. Not a complete lie … the other one is attached to my phone charger and is currently packed for Kingston.

 

Anyways next for me on the agenda today was to get my work from TV class put onto a DVD … and I even managed to get the guy to put it on as Quicktime files as I won’t be able to play American/Canadian DVDs, and he did. I got the interview in Parliament, our two same day stories and my own story on debt (not the PSA or the fur feature though). I even got the whole of the second newscast on a whole different disk for cheaper too … the amount of stuff he gave me in the end it should have cost $27 … I got it got $16 … yays!

 

 

I then rang Harmeet to see if she wanted to meet up once I’m back at the weekend … but she’s going to be gone by then … so I’m going round there tonight! We’re going to meet at her house at 7pm and I’ll take my bottle of wine and have a good girly night (to make up for my crappy night last night). We don’t quite have any plans yet, but at least we have something.

 

It’s just about 4pm now so I’ve got to go and get my meals for tomorrow in a moment, I’m going to be travelling to Kingston with Steph (a girl on exchange from Holland) and won’t be back until Saturday.

 

It looks like it’s going to be a fun few days, but I’ll tell you all about that when I’m back! I’ll also tell you about the rest of my night in my next blog, as I’m gonna get myself organised and all sorted now. So, as Kim used to say: Places to go, people to see, ciao!