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God Bless America! |
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Date of arrival: July 8, 2002 |
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QUEBEC CITY |
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Ahhhhh …. Quebec City definitely is one
of our top favorite cities on the whole trip. I felt like I died and went to Europe. The
ambience, the food, and the language it was by far the best and most romantic city to
visit. The whole town is surrounded by a medieval wall that has beautiful ornate
entrances. The city itself rest on the St. Lawrence River where a picturesque castle lies
on the banks, which is now a hotel – too expensive for our budget. The International
Hostel was in our budget and it was by far the cleanest and well kept hostel in North
America that we stayed at. Every February Quebec City has a winter festival with bob
sleighing and races across the icy river.  It is very festive and entertaining during
the long winter months. One night we took a walking night tour through the city that was
very informative and interesting that told us about the history and people of Quebec City
that was offered through our hostel.
The cobblestone streets are narrow and clean, strolling along you’ll run into many
street performers that are very entertaining. We came across various street artists
painting portraits. Frank was very fond of one artist’s work and wanted him to paint
a portrait of me. We had to do some sweet talking to get him to paint me in the morning
before we left due to his high demand. Fortunately, he spoke Spanish and very little
English so I could practice. I was a bit rusty, but really did enjoy conversing in Spanish
again.
The following morning we went to a delicious French breakfast at café that offers
specials for hostel guests. We sipped café au late and ate buttery croissants with jam.
After breakfast we went our separate ways, Frank went to the changing of the guards while
I went to get my portrait done. It took about two hours, but was very lovely sitting in
the park conversing in Spanish with the artist while listening to street performers play
music.
I’m not excited about the actual portrait. I don’t think it looks too much like
me and wanted to see what other people’s opinions were without them knowing so Frank
and I decided to play a little trick on my family. When we got to Cape Cod we thought it
would be funny to switch the paintings around and hang the portrait up on the wall going
up the stairs to see if anyone would notice the change. Two weeks went by and the only
comment we got was from my sister’s boyfriend, Andrew. He kept on saying “gosh
that picture looks so much like Ellen.” We thought it was pretty funny that no one
else noticed the switch and furthermore no one had a clue it was me.
Well legend has it that Chatham, Cape Cod has a few ecliptic haunted houses where the
widows of whalers pined away for the husbands up in the widow’s peak till their
death. In fact one of the houses we stayed at was indeed haunted, but that’s another
story. Knowing that, Frank and I decided to move the paintings around one more time. It
was time to get a little bold to see if people would get freaked. We moved the portrait to
the dinning room where everyone had to see it. My mom was the only vocal person that
noticed. She was convinced that the owner of the house came in and switched the paintings
either that or a ghost. My Mom not being a supernatural believer couldn’t figure out
why the owner would do such a thing. Needless to say Frank and I were off the trail and we
all left Cape Cod with no one knowing the true story of the mystery painting.
It wasn’t till my parents where in Frank’s apartment in Cleveland gazing up at
the portrait flabbergasted thinking that we had stole the painting! Finally, they figured
it all out and felt pretty silly they didn’t notice especially since written in the
bottom right corner was Quebec City 2002. I guess that makes me happy that the painting
isn’t a picture perfect rendition of me. What a story to remember! |
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Picture
Gallery |
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