mybigadventures.com

It was a bit of an early start with alarms set for 6.30 to make sure we were up and ready for our 8.35 train. We had more or less packed everything up last night, so were ready in plenty of time and checked out of the hotel at about 7.30. The train station is only a short ride on the metro from the hotel, and although we initially got on the train going in the wrong direction, we arrived at union station in good time at about 7.50. We had planned to get some breakfast at the station but despite feeling like we had plenty of time, when we looked where the train was leaving from, we were suprised to find everyone already lined up ready to go. We joined the line and two members of staff worked their way along the line checking tickets and weighing suitcases on a portable weighing machine, and then we started filing on to the platform and straight on to the train. Feeling a bit hungry, we ended up getting food from the onboard selection, it wasn't too overpriced in the end so was OK. The train was comfortable with free Wifi and having downloaded some things to watch on my phone the journey went pretty quickly. 

We arrived in Montreal at about 2.30 which was a little later than scheduled after some delays along the route. After using the WiFi at the station Starbucks, we quickly found our hotel, it was only about a 6 minute walk away. We were able to check in straight away at our hotel which was about an hour earlier than check-in was supposed to be. The room is nice and this time includes a fridge so we'll get some drinks to fill it. With it being a bit earlier, we headed out to explore. We had walk down past the Notre Dame Basilica and towards the water front where the old port is now host to lots of small shops, food vans and some activities including a zip wire, big wheel and boats on the river. We continued wandering, dropping in a the Marche Bonsecours which contains a number of boutique shops.

Feeling a bit tired we headed back to the hotel for a break before tea. I've managed to pickup a cold so was feeling a bit rubbish. We headed out to tea at about 8, going to Il Focolaio, a pizza restaurant close by. The restaurant was really busy and we had a short wait for the table, but once seated service was pretty quick. The pizza was really nice and very filling, I had a ham and mushroom pizza and Dani had a Pollo Nostro pizza which had chicken and pesto on it. Back at the hotel, we caught up on the journal and I updated the blog a bit before bed time. I've nearly had all the cold and flu tablets we brought with us, so might have to have a look for a pharmacy tomorrow!

So not much of a lie in; we woke up, around 7 AM, ready to start the day. Despite the early wake-up we didn’t leave the hotel until 9.30 AM. We decided today that we would do a walking tour of San Francisco, to check out some of the main sites. We started by heading over to Union Square. It’s about a mile from the hotel, so it took about 20 minutes. We both wore jeans today as it was pretty cool out and I was wearing a jumper, and Dani, a coat. At Union Square, we headed into Macy’s department store to get some breakfast from the in-store Starbucks. I had a cup of tea and a chocolatine and Dani had a cinnamon roll with a vanilla latte. It was $11, which we thought was okay. After breakfast, we had a look at the cheesecake factory on the top floor (Rhi had told us about this). We didn’t have any cheesecake, but we had a look out from the balcony over Union Square and took some pictures. We didn’t spend much time looking in the shops, but we did see a flat pop-out tram (the pieces pop out and slot together to make 3-D model). We didn’t get it but thought it might make a good present for someone.

We headed out from Macy’s to start our walking tour. First, it took us through Chinatown. It was really colourful; there were people playing traditional Chinese music and at one point, a van pulled up full of watermelons, which was quickly surrounded by lots of people. Next, we headed up to Lombard Street (the most crooked street in San Francisco). I think it’s because the incline is much too steep to be straight, so it wiggles all over the place. It looked really colourful, with big hydrangea plants planted all the way up. There were lots of people taking photos - including the people in the cars, driving down! There was also an amazingly vivid pink bougainvillea growing up a striking blue house, which was stunning.

We trekked up the 250 odd steps and admired the views for a while. From there, we headed to Fisherman’s Wharf. We had a wander among the historic ships and then went to Pompeii’s Grotto for lunch. I had a clam chowder in a sourdough bowl and Ben had a BLT with fries - with a local beer each, called Anchor Steam. It was really nice - about $35. It was starting to get sunnier as we had lunch and the mist seemed to have cleared.

We carried on walking along the wharf, stopping off at Pier 39 to look at the local sea lion populace. We then headed up to Goit Tower, up a great many steps - we had to ask two different people how to find our way up, as it wasn’t marked. So, exhausted and hot, we admired the views when we got to the top, although it took us a while to recover from the climb! We decided not to go up in the tower itself - the queues were epic and the observation level seem to be enclosed in glass, so we weren’t bothered. Wandering around the outside, we saw a hummingbird - quite exciting!

From there, we headed back towards Union Square. We were going to get an ice-cream on the way, but didn’t see anywhere. We were getting very weary and were keen to find somewhere to sit! On the way up to Starbucks in Macy’s, we had a look at the pop-out tram, but it was $14 which seemed quite expensive (it’s by some designer). Once in Starbucks, we discovered it was packed - no seats and people standing. We tried a couple more Starbucks that were nearby(they are quite literally on every corner!) before settling in an Irish pub. We had a couple of drinks, which were surprisingly expensive ($7 for a pint!)

We had a look in our tourist booklet for places to eat, and settled on Lori’s Diner, which was nearby. It looked like a proper American diner, complete with a cut out car on the front! We sat at the counter next to some other Brits. You could see the food being cooked as we waited. Dani had a Lori ‘signature’ burger and I had a Big Bopper (bacon cheeseburger). We also had onion rings to share, and a couple of cokes. As it turned out, the portions were massive! I finished my burger, but Dani didn’t, and there were lots of onion rings left. It cost $40 with a $5 tip. From there, we headed back to the hotel, feeling shattered. We watched a bit of TV and looked at some photos before nodding off. Alcatraz tomorrow!

It was another early start this morning for our train to Quebec. We set alarms and were packed up and checking out just after 8 ready for 9.06 train. The train station was only a short walk from the hotel so we arrived in good time, aiming to get some breakfast at Starbucks. Alas, when we arrived Starbucks was closed, so we carried on into the station to see what else was inside. There was a McDonalds but the queue was massive so we decided we would get something on the train again and before long we were queued up and climbing aboard. The journey went pretty quickly, it wasn't so far this time taking just over 3 hours and we arrived in Quebec City just after midday. 

It took about 15 minutes to walk from the station to the hotel and we found it fairly easily. We were too early to check-in so we left our luggage at the hotel and went for a wander. The hotel is set outside the walls of the citadelle and so we spent some time walking up hill further into the old town. We stopped in McDonalds for some lunch and wandered a bit further, calling in at a phamacy to buy some more drugs (we're both still a bit ill). We decided to head back to the hotel for check-in just after 3 and to take a break before tea.

We headed out to Matto for tea, which is an Italian restaurant in a nearby hotel. It was pretty busy so we ended up sitting at the bar. I had spaghetti carbonara whilst Dani had meatballs, all very tasty. Feeling pretty tired we had a fairly early night, ready to spend a bit more time exploring tomorrow.