A Tour of Three Cities in Quebec, Canada
Today, my mother Sara Nozzi celebrates a spectacular milestone because today marks her THIRD 30th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! AND HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Dear Mom,
There are many, many reasons why I love you more than you will ever know.
I love you because you have always deeply cared about my health and safety.
I love you because you are the best cook I have ever known.
I love you because you are so generous.
I love you because you have a sense of humor.
I love you because I feel as if you would give your life for mine.
I love you because I know how proud you are of me.
I love you because of your honesty.
I love you because of your fairness.
I love you because I know that you will always be there if I need help.
I love you because of how much you taught me.
I love you, most of all, because you love me.
I feel like the luckiest guy who ever lived because you are my mom.
Love Always.
Your Proud Son,
Dominic
Maggie and I enjoy a few days joining my siblings and relatives in Rochester NY to celebrate my mother's milestone birthday. She is doing GREAT, by the way!
After the family gathering, Maggie and I visit Niagara Falls (which Maggie has never seen). We visit on the “better” (Canadian) side.
We then spend a mercifully short time walking a few blocks in town center Toronto. I say "mercifully" because the city center – like most cities -- has had its former beautiful buildings replaced with ugly modernist buildings (all of which surely won all the architecture magazine awards and are now loved by no one who lives in the city).
I will spare you the agony of seeing photos of the awful architecture here.
To add insult to injury, many streets are one-way.
Do not waste your time or put yourself in a bad mood by visiting this city.
By striking and pleasant contrast, Ottawa is a treat during the nearly two days we are there. In particular, the Byward Market district is a funky, active neighborhood full of lovely historic architecture and lively pubs and restaurants. I would rate this city at least an 8 out of 10 for North American cities due to Byward alone.
Our second day in Ottawa is bright, sunny, and warm. We take full advantage by going on an epic rental bicycle ride along the canal pathway system.
This is truly a delightful city.
We feel anxiety prior to our bike rental and ride, as we notice an unusually high percentage of Ottawa cyclists wearing helmets. Is there a law requiring bicyclists to wear helmets?
As an aside, such laws are a bad idea, as they reduce the number of cyclists, and therefore worsen public health and safety due to a reduction in community cyclists. In part, I therefore insist on riding a bicycle on low-speed streets without a helmet as a political statement.
Fortunately, we learn the law only requires those under 18 to wear a helmet. Still a bad idea, but one not directly affecting us. Had such a law been applied to all adults, Ottawa would have lost a LOT of points for me, and I would have crossed it off my list of places to visit in the future.
First thing in the morning, we walk to Planet Coffee for what we assume would be a quiet cup of coffee to start our final day in Ottawa. Sadly, this plan is ruined by one of the greatest evils that has infected our world every day of the week -- even in normally quiet places like homes and coffee shops: NOISE POLLUTION! Yes, our formerly quiet little Ottawa Old Town coffee shop is bombarded by two shrieking, screaming leaf blowers just outside during our visit.
Indeed, when the cafe tender asks me what I'd like, I tell her I'd like to order a leaf-blower-free ambiance.
After waiting several minutes covering my ears and hoping the assault would end, I realize the ear-drum-busting assault would not end in a reasonable amount of time. In an impatient huff, I go back to the counter and ask for my coffee to be poured into a "to-go" cup so we could flee the wailing. We hurry out and walk back to our hotel room, where I thankfully find a room in the lobby which the hotel coincidentally calls "The Quiet Room." Here, finally, I finish my coffee in peace.
We board our train to Quebec City. It is a LONG ride. Our 10 am departure has us arrive in Quebec City at 4:40 pm.
Stepping through the exit gate of the train station is a slap in the face at our Quebec City destination. The weather that greets us cannot be worse. Icy cold rain and GALE FORCE, bitter cold wind. Possibly the worst weather I've ever experienced in my life. I inform Maggie it is so awful that if this weather happened once a year and the 364 other days were perfect, I would not ever consider living here simply because of how MISERABLE this one day would be. Not even 364 perfect weather days could compensate.
This is a terrible shame, as we have already noticed that Old Town Quebec City is quite lovely in its Old World charm. We look forward to enjoying it tomorrow in weather that will surely be infinitely better. How could it not be?
After a day of terrible weather, we are – on the next day -- loving Quebec City on a sunny day!
We have the good fortune of finding seats a few feet from a very French-looking accordion player. While Maggie films, I swing dance with a lovely lady who accepts my offer to dance, as you can see in this video.
Quebec City, because it is rightfully considered to have the most “Old Europe” ambiance of any city in North America, has long been on my list of cities I must visit. After a day of awful weather, the sun and warmer weather give us a pleasant opportunity to enjoy this lovely city.
Friday morning greets us with a bright, sunny day on our departure day from Quebec City, which gives us an enjoyable send-off. We then spend a wonderful evening with online friend and urbanist Zvi Leve, who shows us many of the impressive rowhouse neighborhoods in Montreal. On our walk back to our hotel, I am struck by how charming and vibrant Montreal can be in its Old Town at night. I now have a much-improved perception of Montreal. What a great city this is!
Our final day in Montreal is a delightful, sunny morning and afternoon in Old Town Montreal.