Ever since I was 20 years old and lived in Manchester, England as an exchange student for a year, a goal of mine had been to visit every inhabited continent. As the travel restrictions from the COVID virus were relaxed and removed, I began reflecting on the fact that in the decades since that experience, I had made a few return trips to various parts of Europe, a a few brief trips to Mexico, and spent a few days in Tunisia. I hadn’t made much progress on that goal, but it was still something I wanted to achieve.  Between raising a child and travel restrictions during COVID pandemic, travel had not been a priority for years.

I travel solo for the most part, as I enjoy my freedom and being able to set my own itinerary, though I also at times take my daughter with me or meet up with friends I made and kept in touch with from Manchester.

My first trip post-pandemic trip came in July 2022 was to Quebec City, Canada.  Because I am from North America, this obviously did not mark a continent off my list but but Canada was a place I wanted to visit. Because it was so close to home, it seemed like low hanging fruit.  I booked a package deal that included flights and hotel through a travel website that I now avoid using due to a later bad experience in Namibia. I chose Quebec City as the travel restrictions still in place at that time were less onerous, because the photos of the city and surrounding areas looked beautiful and interesting, and because this trip was over a long weekend, and so I did not want to spend a lot of time in the air getting there and back. I have only a few photos from Quebec City as this was before the idea of blogging about my travels had even crossed my mind.

I stayed at the Hotel Palace Royale, in Old Quebec. This was a lovely older hotel. The staff were friendly, the room was clean and spacious. There was a Poutineville restaurant right across the street, where I tried a couple variations of Canada’s national dish. Reviews indicated this was one of the best places in Quebec City to have poutine, and I thought it was very good, though not entirely traditional.

This is Place d’ Youville, just outside my hotel.  This was a lively plaza with some impromptu performers and a nice place to relax and people watch.   

Chateau Frontenac, a beautiful hotel and one of the most prominent features of the Quebec City skyline.

I took a TripAdvisor tour mostly to see Montmorency Falls.

The tour also included a visit to the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre Shrine outside Quebec City.  The Pope was scheduled to speak here a few days after my visit. It would have been nice to be there for his visit, but I am sure there is no way I would have been able to get in the building.

A few other key sites included, the Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica Cathedral This was surrounded by construction during my visit that I could not help but get in the photograph.

Gardens near the Plains of Abraham.

Quebec House of Parliament

I saw quite a bit more, and probably photographed more, but have lost track of some of them.  This trip was barely planned…I picked a place that sounded interesting, safe, and fairly easy to get to, and figured out what I was going to do once I got there. This was also my first experience using Tripadvisor tours, which can be a good way to get around to the main sights, particularly because I prefer not to drive myself in foreign countries.

I have heard stories of Quebeckers being rude, but did not find them so. I like languages and trying to communicate in the local languages, but my French is quite poor, and my attempts at speaking the language generally went poorly.  I felt like Quebeckers appreciated my effort, no matter how bad I was at it.