Cruising into Quebec

 I forgot we docked in Sydney, Nova Scotia before heading to the St. Lawrence Seaway. We were on our own that day to either wonder about or stay aboard.    Having had a busy two days of  touring, we elected to just get off and walk around the  dock.  

 

On the dock, there was an arts and crafts pavilion with an assortment of vendors.    This is the work of one of those vendors.    She made the most exquisite beaded purses.   What a stunning bag one of these would make for a bride - not in the green dress style as seen below.   She had many in white and champagne in all shapes.  And she does custom orders as well.   I  included her card below. 

Back on board, there was time to relax and find a quiet spot to stitch and enjoy the view.

We scheduled ourselves for a wine pairing in the afternoon.  

It was very interesting to have the flavors of both the wine and the food change depending on how they were paired.

I just never tire of the view and yes we had beautiful weather.

Traveling up the St. Lawrence Seaway where we were off shore of Boischatel.

The only small disappointment to the entire fall foliage cruise was the lack of fall foliage!

Above and below, the waterfall is Montgomery Falls and our destination the next day.

We docked in Quebec, or Key-Beck as pronounced in Canada.  Quebec City is a beautiful city.  Again we had a full day.   We toured the city and then boarded a bus to travel up to the walled city, followed by a ride to Montgomery Falls and rounded out the day with a visit to a sugar shack for dinner on the Isle d’Orleans. 

Pulling into the port of Quebec City

We were treated to the beauty of the walled city and enjoyed the architecture of the old buildings.

 

 

Princess Cruise ship above and Celebrity Eclipse below.   And what is that pink ‘body’ at the bottom of the above picture??

There was some sort of art awareness project and an artist had created and mounted these pink men through out the historic section of the city.  I think there were 8 around the old city section.

Not only does Seattle have ferry service for commuters.  Ferries ran back and forth every 15 minutes to get people access to and from the city.  Faster than the drive to the bridge and back and also dealing with the traffic.   

This is Dufferin Terrace.  In 1620, Champlain, founder of Quebec, built the St. Louis Fort.  After a fire destroyed the governor’s residence in 1838, Lord Durham erected the promenade over the ruins of the residence so the people of Quebec could visit and enjoy the view.  It became so popular that is has been extended several times over the years.   In addition to the views, there are street performers, musicians, ice cream eating, coffee drinking and strolling that make this a popular destination.  Above is the statue of Samuel de Champlain.

Below, the glassed block allows you to see the foundation and ruins of the original fort.

Chateau Frontenac.  This hotel has been an iconic symbol for over  century.   It has beautiful views of the St. Lawrence.

Views of city both walking and from our bus.

In the center of the picture, you can see the tracks for the funicular - a railway system that goes up steep inclines - that could take up to the walled city versus climbing the 800 steps.  

Views were spectacular and yes, another great weather day

The walls of the old city

I need to cut this off here, getting too picture heavy!   More on Quebec to come.

Thanks for stopping by and ‘traveling’ with me!

October in progress

 So much to share….

First my cruise was fabulous.   The weather was great, the fun with friends was great, it was a good time all around.  So in no particular order….

Ready to get on my transfer to the ship.

 

The cruise was a 12 day cruise on Celebrity Eclipse going to Maine, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Prince Edward Island.    One of my favorite things to do on a cruise is to go to the upper deck both when leaving and entering into a port.   Departure from Boston did not disappoint.

What’s that bright light in the sky you ask?

We sailed past Boston’s Logan Airport as we left the harbor.

 

Our first port of call, Rockport, Maine.  We ventured into Camden, Maine for a great day of walking around the lovely town full of shops and great places to eat.  

Our room was actually quite spacious

And one could never tire from looking at the view.

There were lighthouses to be seen at each port.

This one was at Peggy’s Cove.   We traveled there after docking in Halifax.

It was worth the trek to get to the views.

Even with all the people, this area is so large, it was not crowded by any means.

The colorful houses are called “Jelly Bean” house because of their bright colors.  More on that later.

These are not small rocks by any means

If there are flowers to be found, you know I will find them.

There are only something like 50 full time residents in Peggy’s Cove.

Next we stopped at the Fairview Cemetery in Halifax

This is where the bodies of the victims of the Titantic were buried.   

The remains of 150 victims of this tragic maritime disaster lie in Halifax.  The White Star Line chartered three ships from Halifax and one from St. John’s to search for the victims.  The bodies were interned in identical graves, with identical head stones and were numbered as they were not able to be identified.  328 bodies were recovered and many were buried at sea.  The remaining were brought to Halifax for burial.   Some, such as  John Jacob Astor, were claimed by their families and taken to their homes for burials.

Over the years, bodies have been identified through DNA (?) and the families have erected the more elaborate head stones.

And the often visited J. Dawson who was NOT the Jack Dawson of the movie Titanic but that doesn’t stop people from thinking otherwise.

Back to Halifax Harbor and a Lobster Roll for lunch

Look at the lady in the chair…..She is knitting

In honor of Canada’s 150 Anniversary, this train car was refurbished and donated to the Canadian Museum of Immigration.

Back on board and we enjoyed our afternoon canopies and champagne.   Afternoon treats appeared each afternoon but not the champagne!

Goodbye Halifax and hello a day at sea…..

At day at sea means we have our first class with Jeannette Douglas of Jeannette Douglas Designs.    What a joy this woman is.   She is so upbeat, so funny, so down to earth and oh so talented.   She created the “East Coast Sampler” to commemorate our trip.  Many of my class companions - there were 99 of us! - had been on other Jeannette Douglas Cruises and have the compliementary sampler, the “West Coast Sampler”.     

Jeannette incorporated the USS Constitution at the top, followed by a forest showing the variety of Canadian trees, a row of “Jelly Bean” houses, the lobster and the crab, flags, the Fleur de lis to represent our stop in Quebec, lighthouses and a whale all of which chronicle our voyage.   One of the stitchers changed the “East Coast” words to “New England Canada” which many of us copied.   I need to get two charms to add to each side of the words.

More to come on our additional stops…..

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.