Quebec City - city tour

Quebec City - Chateau Frontenac, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

I love Quebec City. Love it. It has enough Europe flair to make me feel chique being there and enough Canada to make me feel at home. If I spoke French even a little bit better I would move there. The old city is tight knit and comfortable. Lots of hills (not surprising) and views of the water. We did a few things in the city but I think the best thing we did was a walking tour. The tour started at Chateau Frontenac, once the governor's residence and now a luxury hotel. We then wandered down through the Seminaire de Quebec. It was full of school kids and so quite loud and full of echos but really beautiful.

Quebec City - Seminaire de Quebec, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We wandered down outside the city walls and into Place Royal. Almost all of the land beneath the city walls is reclaimed land. The area we wandered into was built to recreate what the city would have looked like in Champlains time. This was a requirement the city fulfilled in order to receive UNESCO world heritage classification.

Quebec City - Rue Petit-Champlain, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We ended with some shopping (of course) the main tourist-y shopping street was directly below the chateau and was extremely busy.

Montreal!

Altar in Notre Dame Basilica, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Man my updates about our trip are pretty lackluster .. few and far between. Party I blame my sister. but that only can go so far as.. well... the first group of pictures were taken on my camera and it's my job to upload them.
This is the altar in Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. Mom and I ducked in here after wandering around in the morning checking out old Montreal. It was one of the only days that was overcast and rainy. We were just so lucky.

Expo 67 site, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We also did a little wander down by the waterfront and checked out the old expo site. I think the last time my dad was in Montreal he as attending Expo 67... Crazy!

candles in Notre Dame Basilica, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

also on a side note... found Montreal's Trudeau airport highly confusing and the airport shuttle very vexing.

the cup!!

the cup!!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

So it's taken me a while to start this but I wanted to blog a few posts about mom and dad's trip out here to visit me and our family trip around the east coast.
It was amazing! I could not have asked for a better trip.
And really what a better way to start the trip then sightseeing in Toronto. I've not done a lot of touristy things since moving here - and I saved up a few things for when they came.
Top of the list had to be seeing the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Just let me say - WAY more interesting than I thought. There were lots of interactive things and of course - the cup.
way cool.

12 questions

12 questions, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

This is borrowed from mary as a time killer for a slow day at the office.
if you click on the picture it will link back to my flickr page with all the source pictures. I was amused / disturbed by all the answers that we had in common and so changed a few (they are noted)

The Questions:

1. What is your name? willa
2. What is your favorite food? salmon
3. What elementary school did you go to? wickaninnish
4. What is your favorite color? green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? errol flynn (easily could be fred astaire)
6. What is your favorite drink? whiskey sour (i went alcoholic instead of tea)
7. Dream vacation? manchu picchu
8. Favorite dessert? bread pudding (tied with rhubarb pie and strawberry shortcake)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? medical illustrator
10. What do you love most in life? family
11. One word to describe you? hostess
12. Your flickr name? girl from finito


... simple questions, pretty answers. Here is how you play:

* type your answer to each question above into Flickr Search
* using only the first page of results, pick an image
* copy and paste each URL into fd's mosaic maker
* blog it!

Fun. Thanks for the idea mar.... see you sunday!

Hey! look at that!

After much more swearing than probably necessary my new website is up and running!
i'd like to consider it in beta mode as i haven't really tried to break the code. but i like how it's turned out.. heavily influenced by the folks over at AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) and their design archive.. ahh le sigh.

Olympic Fever

I'm not a big sports fan. My days watching sports are confined to the big competitions: The Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup, the euro/ world cup and the odd Calgary v. Vancouver/Edmonton game and for those I generally head out to a pub and enjoy the game surrounded by like-minded people. But man, the Olympics, there's something different. I scan the morning paper for highlights, watch recaps and read blogs on my computer, listen to the rankings on the radio and have ruined my sleeping pattern to watch them on tv. alone. on my couch.

So what is different?it's defiantly easier to get into the events when your country and pride is at stake. Then there is the hint of connection: I obsessively watched the triathlon remembering the Simon Witfield plaque outside the running room store near my old place in Victoria. I used to pass it on my way to get groceries and think about that race in 2000. yep. i did.


but the weird thing is I'll watch the Olympics when Canada isn't even in contention. I pick teams or athletes I want to win and root for them or just enjoy the show these people put on.


This Olympics I've been all about the equestrian (haha yes I like the horses). I would probably change the channel if it was any other competition but these days I've been wondering why I don't get "bold" (the cbc channel that is showing the jumping). I watched the recaps on my computer at lunch - too amazing.
Go Canada!

Caribana Festival... Parade Day

1st sight, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Caribana - the Caribbean cultural festival is a big thing around these parts. Living in Toronto for almost 4 years now it's a little embarrassing that I have never checked it out. I have heard a few bad things about the parade, it's history of violence and the unruly crowds but Connie and I decided to brave it - just to see what was happening.
It was busy and loud and I got soaked on the way over. The weird thing was for being the huge event the parade route was all but impossible to find online and there was no information on when the parade started and where to go. We just followed the crowd (thankfully connie had arrived earlier and sussed things out). The barricades proved another problem - so high that it was impossible to get a good view of what was happening.
I must admit, I was a little disappointed.
But the colours were cool and fun and I would go again, just with lower expectations and later in the day.

caribana costumes, originally uploaded by girl from finito.