Quebec City to Montreal!!!

Hey guys!! So a lot has happened since I last checked in. I left Chelsea's on Wednesday 24th (Mandeep left Monday, miss you dude!) I had a 12 hour coach journey to Quebec City. Which is a very beautiful, historical city, but with a lot of very very steep hills!! So I arrived at the hostel in the evening and went to a very tasty crepe resturant. The majority of people in Quebec are french speaking, so I found it a little difficult to communicate but hey, thats the challenge right. Seen as this was my first time in a hostel, I can honestly say I was crapping myself about meeting other people, so I just thought, throw yourself in at the deep end. I got myself a drink from the hostel bar and asked all the people sat round it if there was room for a little one!! And the rest is history, hehe. No really I ended going out with a group of guys and had a brilliant first night backpacking the world alone!! (The hostel was a lot nicer than I expected too!)

The next day we explored the city, which isnt very big but like I said earlier, it has a lot of hills! We went to food market and visited a castle, very beautiful. It rained all day long too, so walking throught wet fields was a little challenging, but fun with my new friends. (I have never walked as much as I have done in Canada in my whole life, it`s brilliant!)

That evening we went to see a FREE show (yes Mandeep, free) of Cirque Du Soleil!! For those of you who do not know, they are a very amazing travelling circus, but A LOT better than the normal circus' you nornally see. The founder of Cirque Du Soleil was from Quebec City, so every summer, as a thank you to his people, they hold a free showing every night. The location was outdside under a freeway which made the the atmosphere AAAMAZING!! And I can honestly say this is the most exciting show that I have ever seen!! They are truely outstanding, so if any of you get the opportunity to see them when they're in London (in January) you should go see them.

Anyway the next day we went to an beuatiful waterfall, not Niagara falls, but we managed to get very close and got absolutely soaked, which was good fun. And walk a million stairs down to the water fall and back up again! So I had been doing all this with a guy called Will (from Halifax, Canada) and Yohan (from France), who I travelled with to Montreal that evening. The boys were very cool and I felt like they were my older brothers looking out for me. We managed to get a ride share with this guys who was driving and only paid half the price than if we got the coach. So it was a real Canadian roadtrip, pretty cool!!

That night at the hostel we met some more boys, but by now I was craving some girl company (making friends with girls is so much harder!!) So I just starting talking to a couple of girls outside, and now they`re my best friends!! Hehe! They`re called Anna and Jen, bestfriends, also from Canada, here for one week on holiday. I managed to get a room sharing with them and I am so glad I met them, they are so funny!!

Anyways so yesterday a group of us went exploring again. Montreal is known for its smoked meat, so (hungover) we went to the most famous smoked meat shop in Montreal and waited like 30 minutes outside for a table, and it was soooooooo worth it!! It was the best sandwich ever!! After more beers and Sangria`s in the sun, we explored old Montreal city, where we went to Notre-Dame Basilica (the church in the picture) which again is breathtaking!

Last night I said bye to Will as he was leaving to go cottaging with his parents. That was kind of sad as he was the first cool friend I have made out here. But I suppose this is how it will be now, for the next four months of my life, forming new friendships, and ending them as quickly as they have started.

Today it has absolutely poured it down, ALL DAY!! (Probably due to hurrican Irene) So we went to the undergroud city instead, hehe and did some shopping in a masive mall! Then we decided to brave it and went grocery shopping and got drenched!! But Anna and Jen managed to keep their spirts high so it wasnt bad at all. Canada is so expensive and its not possible to eat out all the time, so I am going to cook and the hostel instead. FYI Clare I wore the poncho, it came in very handy in the rain, thank everyone at work!

There is so much to do here in Montreal, and so many people to do it with. There are people from all over the world with facinating stories, I cant keep up with them all. My next stop is Boston, America, hopefully if the weather gets better (ie if Irene doesnt wreck it for me!!), but I still have three days here. So I am going to make the most of it. Tonight the hostel is holding a "Corn on the Cob" night, then a pub crawl ( the rain stops no one here!) :-)

How are you all? Any gossip? Hope you are all well and safe. Dad, i did get your message, thank you. You cannot see it because you sent it as a private message and not as a comment. So thank you. I do miss you all and sometimes when I see something beautiful or funny,it reminds me of one of you and I wish I could share the moment with you, corny I know, but true! The world is an amazing place!

And on that cheesy note, I say bye until next time. Mum, Dad dont worry, I wont go where the weather is bad, and I`ll stay safe. The rest of you, take care.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! X X X X XX X X X X X X X X X X X X X