Adventures in Quebec City! (and other stuff)

So right now I'm writing my blog entry at the Halifax, Nova Scotia airport, since I missed my shuttle to reach a rendezvous point where my cousins will pick me up; and I need something to do. Anyway before I begin my tale of Quebec City, I'll give you great pictures I should have posted earlier. The first two are pictures of the lab in which I work:

This is where all the amazing genotyping and PCR (and other great complicated stuff) gets done. Apart from here, I work in the psychology department for the behavioral experiments, which unfortunately isn't pictured.

This is a view from the lab. We happen to be on the 6th floor and get a great view of the city everyday. (My guess is that these were put in to keep the scientists happier.) In other research news, after my trip from Nova Scotia, I'll be doing behavioral experiments galore. The great thing about behavioral research is that you can get data relatively easily and quickly, but the preparation with the animals, etc. takes a lot of time. But more about that at a later time.

Alright, a picture that I hadn't uploaded at the time but should have included in my last post was one of Cirque du Soleil:

The iconic circus tent can be seen from pretty much all parts of the port near Old Montreal.

And now to Quebec City:

My friend Anthony and I went Quebec City for the weekend, and we got to catch the last celebratory bits (some parties) of Fete Nationale du Quebec on June 23-24, or the Quebec "National" Holiday. I use the quotes, since well Quebec isn't independent...even though some want to secede. I shall refrain from any political judgments in this entry, since it wouldn't be very guest-like.

Anyway, the three hour bus ride from Montreal was pretty comfortable, and I was surprised to find the hostel we stayed in to be very clean and tidy. It's kind of old, but cozy nonetheless. There was even a bar (with excellent brews and cocktails for a small bar if I might add). I was disappointed to see that there weren't that many people my age at the hostel, but we did meet a person named Sebastien, who is also from France. More about our adventures with him later. First Anthony and I went to simply walk around the city and got magnificent views of the port, chateaus, and street life:

This is a view from the port/coast area. It was truly beautiful, especially with the excellent weather.

This is Anthony's dream home. lol. I forget the name of the chateau, but I know it's n0w been transformed into a classy hotel.

We also ran into these guys who did cool acrobatic stuff. I actually got pulled in to participate in one of the acts along with 5 other guys. We had to lie on the ground next to each other and one of the performers did a horizontal flip across all of us! It was pretty cool, especially since I've always wanted to be a part of these street acts. In summary, the city of Old Quebec has many little restaurants, bars, pubs, and cafes

The next day we met Sebastien, and we three decided to go to Montmorency Falls, which is about an hour away from Quebec City. It truly is a worthy site to see. The falls and the walking paths around it were a good way to get away from the city life and enjoy nature. Nearby was a local poutine restaurant and Montmorency Manor, which houses a number of boutiques and mid-to high end restaurants.

Anthony's on the left, Sebastien's on the right.

After we returned from our morning/afternoon in Montmorency, we decided to eat dinner at a restaurant that served la reclette, which basically is when you are served many choices of meats, veggies, and bread, and you have this apparatus that heats a special cheese that goes over combinations of food. It was phenomenal, and I was sooo stuffed! All in all Quebec City was a fantastic place to visit, and I hope I can come back some time!

I'll post soon my adventures in Halifax, Nova Scotia!

Until then!