So much to tell.
Hello again all. I don't have a lot of time right now - the perils of free internet access at the local coffee shop - so I'm afraid I'm just going to regurgitate what I just wrote to Jen in an email. I've done so much in the last week - but at least this'll give you an overview until I can get back online.
So I left Montreal and went to Quebec City for 2 days. Quebec was gorgeous - a very old city. bery Eoropean in feel - this was exemplified by the fact that English was very rarely spoken, all french. And not the 'I can speak english but why should I?' thing that I expected (and totally understand) but really there are many, many people in French Canada whose english skill match my french - ie virtually nonexistent. I can read almost everything and understand it, and I can comprehend most of what people say, but I really can't say much beyond 'how are you' and 'can I have a coffee please'. Lots of pointing and smiling were done by all.
After Quebec I went to Prince Edward Island - very bucholic. overly quaint place whose main cliam to fame is that this is where the Anne of Green Gables books were set. I didn't stay long. THe weather was [pretty bad and I had a bad experience with a very dodgy tourist home in Charlottown (the capital). It was run by these two septegenarian racists who bossed everyone around (especially the Japanese girl they had working for them) and were just generally obnoxious. So I pressed on. I met a Japanese women at the dodgy guesthouse who was hiring a car and heading to the Illes de la Madeleine the next day which was where I was planning to go, so we spilt the cost. The 'maddies' were just amazing - a 5 hour ferry ride away, back into french canada and a whole new world. I ended up spending 5 days at this gorgeous hostel overlooking the truqouise water and red cliffs of the island, and shared with only 3 other people - all of them lovely. The islands and apparently hugely popular in summer, and you can see why - lovely beaches and scenary and seafood and whatever. But now the season hasen't really begun and we had it all to ourselves and the locals. The weather was beatiful - I even got sunburnt! Tyhe only sad thing was that the water was too cold to swim in, it looked so inviting.
Yesterday. I dragged myself away from the maddies and hitched across Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia with a lovely German woman I met. Hitching is really common in this part of the country - the fact that there's no public transport at all in Prince Edward Island might have something to do with that. We had some lovely rides and no hassles at all, and now are in Halifax - the capital of Nova Scotia.
I'll have to write more later, internet cafe is really busy and there's people waiting. Love and maritime greetings to all.
So I left Montreal and went to Quebec City for 2 days. Quebec was gorgeous - a very old city. bery Eoropean in feel - this was exemplified by the fact that English was very rarely spoken, all french. And not the 'I can speak english but why should I?' thing that I expected (and totally understand) but really there are many, many people in French Canada whose english skill match my french - ie virtually nonexistent. I can read almost everything and understand it, and I can comprehend most of what people say, but I really can't say much beyond 'how are you' and 'can I have a coffee please'. Lots of pointing and smiling were done by all.
After Quebec I went to Prince Edward Island - very bucholic. overly quaint place whose main cliam to fame is that this is where the Anne of Green Gables books were set. I didn't stay long. THe weather was [pretty bad and I had a bad experience with a very dodgy tourist home in Charlottown (the capital). It was run by these two septegenarian racists who bossed everyone around (especially the Japanese girl they had working for them) and were just generally obnoxious. So I pressed on. I met a Japanese women at the dodgy guesthouse who was hiring a car and heading to the Illes de la Madeleine the next day which was where I was planning to go, so we spilt the cost. The 'maddies' were just amazing - a 5 hour ferry ride away, back into french canada and a whole new world. I ended up spending 5 days at this gorgeous hostel overlooking the truqouise water and red cliffs of the island, and shared with only 3 other people - all of them lovely. The islands and apparently hugely popular in summer, and you can see why - lovely beaches and scenary and seafood and whatever. But now the season hasen't really begun and we had it all to ourselves and the locals. The weather was beatiful - I even got sunburnt! Tyhe only sad thing was that the water was too cold to swim in, it looked so inviting.
Yesterday. I dragged myself away from the maddies and hitched across Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia with a lovely German woman I met. Hitching is really common in this part of the country - the fact that there's no public transport at all in Prince Edward Island might have something to do with that. We had some lovely rides and no hassles at all, and now are in Halifax - the capital of Nova Scotia.
I'll have to write more later, internet cafe is really busy and there's people waiting. Love and maritime greetings to all.
posted by becsh at 9:51 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home