After yesterday’s glorious sunshine we awoke this morning to a dull overcast day with rain predicted to start around 10ish. The ship had relocated overnight and we were now sited about a 20 minute bus ride or 45 minute walk into the centre of Quebec. We therefore decided to catch one of the early shuttle buses into the city to get the better of the weather.
After boarding the coach and leaving the dockyard the journey seemed to take an age and there seemed to be a policeman on every corner and more at each set of lights. As we drew nearer to the drop-off point we could see a group of men up ahead chanting and waving banners and flags. There has apparently been a long dispute between some dockers and the company that runs the terminals and today was one of the days that they had decided to hold a “peaceful” protest. We were kept on the bus for around 20 minutes until the police decided that it was safe for us to leave and we made our way into the old town.
As yesterday we climbed the steps towards the hotel and Dufferin Terrace but today we wanted to go further and explore the Citadel and the Plains of Abraham.
Walking along the terrace we passed the sledge slope that was originally made in 1884 and still used today. At first we thought we had to climb up this to get to the higher level.
It was at this stage that I realised that “Escalier” in French does not mean escalator but staircase and in front of us was the longest “escalier” in Quebec, a total of 310 steps.
After slowly climbing the stairs we reached the open fields of the Plains of Abraham. It was here in 1759 that General Wolfe defeated the French and won the province of Quebec for the British. Today two groups of school children were recreating the battle under the supervision of suitably clothed guides.
At one end of the plain stands The Citadel of Quebec, a military barracks and now museum that was built in the 1820s on an original fortification from 1693.
With the weather now turning to the predicted rain we decided not to go into the museum but rather make our way across the battle field and return to the ship. Along the route more fortifications were visible.
Having climbed a number of steps to get to this area it was fairly obvious that we would need to descend to get back to the ship. This time the steps were wooden ones down through a heavily forested bank.
All this exertion had made us quite hungry and as it was now lunch-time we decided to treat ourselves to a meal in Alfredo’s , the speciality pizza restaurant on board. (It was also a good excuse to include some food pictures in the blog.)
For starters I choose Anti Pasti…
….while Sylvia went for the Minestrone soup.
For the pizza main course Sylvia’s choice was vegetarian…
…..while I controversially choose the Hawaiian, a lovely mixture of ham, pineapple and chicken.
For dessert we both went for the apple pie but I forgot to take a photo until it was almost too late.
A lovely meal but very filling, in fact I did have a little nap after eating it.
This evening we made our way down the river passing the bright lights of the city , with the hotel continuing to dominate the skyline even at night.
We now have two more sea days until our next stop at Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island.
1) why do you have “peaceful” in quotes and
2) chicken has NO place on Hawaiian pizza!