It's good to be back
Got back from my trip yesterday. It was fun, but harrowing at times. Our plane to Halifax hit Tropical Storm Hanna, which caused all sorts of craziness as we tried to land. The plane dropped repeatedly and tipped sideways a few times and the pilot ended up circling the runway more than once before we finally touched down. It didn't bother me too much (other than causing discomfort from the jostling), but when I looked around I saw people praying, holding hands and crying. My mom grabbed my hand, but she's generally not too keen on flying so I wasn't surprised that she was upset.
For those of you who don't care about the rest of the trip, which is probably everyone (if anyone even reads this journal anymore), I have put the details behind a cut.
So, we started in Halifax. We stayed overnight there with some relatives, and spent the next day touring around the area. The first place we checked out was Peggy's Cove, which was really beautiful, as you can see.
We saw a few cute little towns that all had one thing in common: lobster traps everywhere. It is obviously a main source of income there.
One thing I found really interesting about Halifax was the scattered rocks, which were apparently from glacial deposits. Almost everywhere we went, it looked like a giant had tossed handfuls of large rocks across the land.
From there we moved on to Prince Edward Island, crossing the Confederation Bridge to get there. It is the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water. I would be ever so happy if they would build one linking Vancouver Island to the mainland, but alas, we must take the ferry.
P.E.I. was as I expected; green rolling hills and beautiful red cliffs. The dirt's rich red hue is due to its naturally occurring high iron oxide content, and it makes the ocean waves look red as well.
There is a beach on P.E.I. called Singing Sands beach, named for the distinctive sounds made when walking across the dry sand. It was more of a squeaky hum than singing, but still amazing. Since we went in September it was pretty much deserted, but apparently gets quite busy during the summer.
From there, we crossed back over the bridge and into New Brunswick. We spent the night in Moncton, and checked out that area the next day. I was surprised to find that the downtown area was very similar to parts of Victoria's downtown.
And, of course, you can't go to Moncton without visiting the Magnetic Hill. Unfortunately, all I got was a picture of the sign, though really the hill was just a hill with a dirt road on it. But, look! This picture has an added bonus of my camera reflected in the car window. :)
Then it was a gruelling 16 hour train ride into Montreal. Although the train was much nicer than the planes, with its amazing amount of leg space and smooth ride. We went overnight on the train, so there wasn't as much good scenery as I would have liked, but the time went by faster than I had expected.
The rudeness of the people of Montreal surprised me. People would constantly glare at us and each other, and when approached or asked something, more often than not they would turn away and ignore us or just behave like complete jerks. Even watching strangers interacting with each other at the train station showed this. They also have some crazy language laws there. For example, on all signs the English must come below the French and must be at least one third smaller, or companies can be fined. Also, all major companies with English names have to come up with a French translation or new name on their businesses in Quebec. Staples is called Bureau en Gros there, and we saw a Mac's corner store that had been renamed Couche Tard. Apparently they had a big fight with McDonalds, but taking on a huge corporation is always a silly idea. Thus McDonalds remains McDonalds.
One thing I did like about Montreal: the fire hydrants. They are not red as I expected; as part of some sort of program, children from various schools painted them. This one, next to my sister's house, is one of my favourites.
Brandi and Chris took us to Ottawa one day, saying that everyone should visit their nation's capital. We went to the parliament buildings, and to the famous locks of Rideau Canal.
This picture I took from one of the windows in the Peace tower of the parliament buildings, because the tiny building next to the giant one just struck me as picture worthy. It was also a good view of a main part of the city, though slightly hazy from the mist.
We went to Old Montreal the next day, which is (as the name suggests) the oldest part of Montreal. Cobblestone streets everywhere, beautiful cathedrals, and a lot of cute open-air restaurants.
I had to take a picture of the city hall there, as it was just so different from the modern buildings of the rest of Montreal.
After that we visited the famous Biodome, an indoor zoo of sorts that is separated into five different ecosystems: tropical forest, Laurentian forest, St. Lawrence marine, arctic, and antarctic. It was really amazing. We weren't allowed to use flashes on the cameras so I couldn't get a lot of pictures, but some of what we got to see were
parrots
a Roseate spoonbill
manta rays
puffins
penguins
and lemurs!
The weather wasn't a nice as it was back here in Victoria, but it was a good trip. Definitely well worth it. And I'm really glad I got the chance to see Brandi and Chris again; it's been so long since they moved. Still, it was kind of exhausting and I must say that I'm glad to be home again.
For those of you who don't care about the rest of the trip, which is probably everyone (if anyone even reads this journal anymore), I have put the details behind a cut.
So, we started in Halifax. We stayed overnight there with some relatives, and spent the next day touring around the area. The first place we checked out was Peggy's Cove, which was really beautiful, as you can see.
We saw a few cute little towns that all had one thing in common: lobster traps everywhere. It is obviously a main source of income there.
One thing I found really interesting about Halifax was the scattered rocks, which were apparently from glacial deposits. Almost everywhere we went, it looked like a giant had tossed handfuls of large rocks across the land.
From there we moved on to Prince Edward Island, crossing the Confederation Bridge to get there. It is the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water. I would be ever so happy if they would build one linking Vancouver Island to the mainland, but alas, we must take the ferry.
P.E.I. was as I expected; green rolling hills and beautiful red cliffs. The dirt's rich red hue is due to its naturally occurring high iron oxide content, and it makes the ocean waves look red as well.
There is a beach on P.E.I. called Singing Sands beach, named for the distinctive sounds made when walking across the dry sand. It was more of a squeaky hum than singing, but still amazing. Since we went in September it was pretty much deserted, but apparently gets quite busy during the summer.
From there, we crossed back over the bridge and into New Brunswick. We spent the night in Moncton, and checked out that area the next day. I was surprised to find that the downtown area was very similar to parts of Victoria's downtown.
And, of course, you can't go to Moncton without visiting the Magnetic Hill. Unfortunately, all I got was a picture of the sign, though really the hill was just a hill with a dirt road on it. But, look! This picture has an added bonus of my camera reflected in the car window. :)
Then it was a gruelling 16 hour train ride into Montreal. Although the train was much nicer than the planes, with its amazing amount of leg space and smooth ride. We went overnight on the train, so there wasn't as much good scenery as I would have liked, but the time went by faster than I had expected.
The rudeness of the people of Montreal surprised me. People would constantly glare at us and each other, and when approached or asked something, more often than not they would turn away and ignore us or just behave like complete jerks. Even watching strangers interacting with each other at the train station showed this. They also have some crazy language laws there. For example, on all signs the English must come below the French and must be at least one third smaller, or companies can be fined. Also, all major companies with English names have to come up with a French translation or new name on their businesses in Quebec. Staples is called Bureau en Gros there, and we saw a Mac's corner store that had been renamed Couche Tard. Apparently they had a big fight with McDonalds, but taking on a huge corporation is always a silly idea. Thus McDonalds remains McDonalds.
One thing I did like about Montreal: the fire hydrants. They are not red as I expected; as part of some sort of program, children from various schools painted them. This one, next to my sister's house, is one of my favourites.
Brandi and Chris took us to Ottawa one day, saying that everyone should visit their nation's capital. We went to the parliament buildings, and to the famous locks of Rideau Canal.
This picture I took from one of the windows in the Peace tower of the parliament buildings, because the tiny building next to the giant one just struck me as picture worthy. It was also a good view of a main part of the city, though slightly hazy from the mist.
We went to Old Montreal the next day, which is (as the name suggests) the oldest part of Montreal. Cobblestone streets everywhere, beautiful cathedrals, and a lot of cute open-air restaurants.
I had to take a picture of the city hall there, as it was just so different from the modern buildings of the rest of Montreal.
After that we visited the famous Biodome, an indoor zoo of sorts that is separated into five different ecosystems: tropical forest, Laurentian forest, St. Lawrence marine, arctic, and antarctic. It was really amazing. We weren't allowed to use flashes on the cameras so I couldn't get a lot of pictures, but some of what we got to see were
parrots
a Roseate spoonbill
manta rays
puffins
penguins
and lemurs!
The weather wasn't a nice as it was back here in Victoria, but it was a good trip. Definitely well worth it. And I'm really glad I got the chance to see Brandi and Chris again; it's been so long since they moved. Still, it was kind of exhausting and I must say that I'm glad to be home again.