Vive le Québec (libre)!

Nicole and I were reunited in Montréal, and from there we travelled to Québec City and back on VIA Rail before heading south to the USA aboard Amtrak (but more on that later). Language aside, you could easily think you were in a different country compared to the rest of Canada, and especially compared to BC. Completely different landscapes, buildings, city layouts and of course (post-European) ages. It has been said so often that Montréal is a very European city, and Québec City rivals many of the finest examples of preserved Vieux Ville of old Europe. But then you come across a four-lane freeway running through the city or a giant SUV or pickup, just to remind you that you're still in North America.

To the photos!




Giant chess is a popular pastime in Place Émilie-Gamelin.




The Bixi bike sharing operation is both stylish and functional.




This guy was very focused on his camera.




Québec City streetscape with gloomy sky.




One of the many statues around Québec City.




An ode to blue.




Statue commemorating the Boer War. The inscription reads: "To those sons of Quebec who gave their lives in South Africa while fighting for the Empire AD 1899-1902." The graffiti reads: "Québec libre" (see here for the history of the slogan).

A Night in Toronto

Maybe it's not the title of a song, but it could be. After arriving around sunset, I set out to explore the city for one night only, starting from Carlton Street in the Cabbagetown district and heading towards the CN Tower.




First off, the back porch of the hotel I was staying at had a great view of the downtown skyline.




Toronto Life Square, which my first thought was that it was like Times Square in New York. When I was actually at Times Square about a week later, I realised that Toronto Life Square is simply not on the same scale.




Probably the most interesting view for me from the top of the CN Tower was looking down on the baseball stadium while the Blue Jays were playing. This must be the view that the blimp gets. Notice that the stands are fairly empty - the Blue Jays were not doing well, and the fans were voting with their feet.




A self portrait. It was really windy up there, hence the windswept look.




Standing on the glass floor. Look carefully, and my reflection is visible as well as the tower all the way down to the ground. Despite it being obviously safe to walk on, it was amazing how many people completely freaked out and refused to stand on it. So naturally I started jumping up and down.




Streetcar (tram) in motion on Carlton Street. They sounded just like the Melbourne trams, even down to the "ding, ding". One difference was the way they are connected to the power lines - the Toronto streetcars use a movable stick, like the trolley buses in Vancouver, whereas the Melbourne trams have a fixed connector.

The Sudbury Experience

I travelled to Sudbury ON last month for a conference and managed to take in some of the surrounding sights, which varied from heavy industry (it is one of the biggest nickel producing areas of the world) to idyllic woodland full of fungi.

While not exactly a thing of beauty, the Superstack and its smaller neighbour make a more interesting silhouette with the setting sun as a backdrop.




I was lucky with the sunsets, they provided some lovely soft light, as reflected by the Science North museum (which, incidentally, is in the shape of a snowflake).




The setting sun also helped give the Big Nickel some definition, as I tried to get beyond the standard tourist shot of this landmark.




The clear skies resulted in a rapid drop in temperature as night fell, and the fog rolled in over this soccer pitch. The orange light in the foreground was due to streetlights behind me.




And, as promised, the fungi. I'm pretty sure this is a lobster mushroom, but I wasn't sure enough to bite into it.