Sunday, July 6, 2003
Throughout its existence, Quebec City has served as a capital, first of French Canada, then the Province of Quebec, followed by Lower Canada and the Province of Canada. Since 1867, Quebec City has been the capital of the Province of Quebec. The lower portion of modern Quebec City is mostly industrial, while the upper portion contains apartments, shops and tourist sites. According to the 2001 census, the Greater Quebec City Area has a population of 710,700, although not all of these people live in Quebec City Proper. Fourteen percent of Quebec’s inhabitants work for the government, and 95% percent are French-speaking. (Quebec is the only Canadian province with more French than English speakers). Because it is surrounded by farmland, agriculture plays a large part in Quebec City’s economy. Granite is another big export, as is copper; in fact, Canada is the third biggest copper exporter in the world, and many of the roofs in Canada are made of copper. The city also houses several paper mills and breweries.
According to what our guide told us, Quebec does not sound like a fun place to be in the winter: on average, the area gets more than 20 feet of snow annually, and the temperatures can get as low as 40 degrees below zero! Because the city has no subway, it is important that the streets remain cleared of snow because people rely heavily on their cars and the extensive bus system. Snowplows regularly remove snow from the streets and dump it in the outskirts of town; cars not parked in underground parking structures when snowplows come through are fined $250. Every February there is a 20-day snow festival during which businesses all build ice sculptures in front of their buildings and people strip down to their swimsuits to take baths in the snow! A major attraction during the festival is a hotel made entirely of snow; the hotel is fully functioning, and igloos are rented out for $35/night. Skiing is very popular in the winter, and one local park has more than 50 cross-country skiing trails.
Back to the tour. . . along our route, we saw one of the oldest hospitals in Canada; it was built by the Augustine sisters in 1639 and restored in 1922. We saw the Parliamentary building, which was constructed in 1877 in honor of the explorer who stumbled across Canada in search of a passage to India; surrounding the building are bronze sculptures of military and religious workers who have given their lives for Quebec; the flag of Quebec (which is white with four Fleurs de Lily at its center) is flown at the top of the building, but the Canadian flag is conspicuously absent. We went by the beautiful government building (in front of which are twelve gardens, one to represent each of the Canadian provinces) and the Seminary of Quebec, the first university in North America, built in 1633. Our bus took us through a neighborhood of old Victorian homes (each worth at least $2 million) that are now used as offices. We also drove by a row of gorgeous homes located in what is now the English-speaking neighborhood, home to wealthy descendents of the area’s early Scottish, Irish, and British immigrants. Even the industrial and modern areas of the city are attractive; for example, the columns supporting one road overpass are covered with elaborate paintings by students from the city’s art school.
Our first stop was at the Château Frontenac, a beautiful, tall hotel at the center of town. Then we headed to the Place Royal, the oldest part of Quebec City. When the settlers first arrived in Quebec in 1608, they built wooden buildings in this area; unfortunately, these buildings later burned down in a fire. When the town was rebuilt, the houses were made of stone so that they couldn’t burn down, and ladders were built into the roofs so that it was easy to climb up to the chimney to clear it out. These homes were the center of town until 1759 and were later restored during the 1970s. This whole area is so adorable, although when we were there it was very busy due to tourists visiting for the Canadian Independence Day festivities. (Quebec City gets five million tourists each year!)
After our tour we came back to the ship, and Dad and Austin went swimming while Mom painted my toenails and we got ready for dinner. We went to dinner at 6:00; I had the chilled strawberry soup, a vegetable potpie, and fried pineapple cheesecake for dessert. When dinner was over we hung out in the room for a while until the show at 8:30. It was so well done” the ship’s dance team performed numbers from popular Broadway shows and I sang along to them all; it made me miss show choir so much!
When the show was finished, Mom came back to the room with Austin and they watched Dr. Doolittle, which they had rented from the concierge in the Navigation Lounge. Dad and I went to the theater to see Chicago. Dad liked the movie, which made me happy, because I had seen it before and had really been wanting him to see it. The ship showed the edited version, which was nice because the original version has so much bad language. Now our first full day on the ship has come to an end it is time for bed.