One thing to know about me is that I love Christmas - it's my favourite time of the year and some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around Christmas. Growing up, we spent most Christmas holidays in Madeira with my extended family, however as we got older we began to spend the holidays elsewhere (not least because the flights to Madeira were becoming absurdly expensive so it was almost more cost-effective to go further afield). Now that I am working, I try and use the Christmas holidays to go on long-haul flights and visit new places,
As you may have read in my Travel Round-up for 2022, I ended the year in Canada with my family. Canada is one of my parents' favourite places to ski and we've visited a fair bit of the country (including Toronto, Vancouver, Banff, and Whistler), however we had never visited Quebec. Therefore, following the lifting of covid restrictions, we decided to visit three areas within Quebec: Mont Tremblant, Quebec City, and Montreal.
Mont Tremblant
The first leg of our trip was to Mont Tremblant (via Montreal). We flew on 23 December and luckily had a very smooth flight with delicious food (including afternoon tea), entertaining films and comfy seats. I read 'A Man Called Ove' during the flight, which ended up being one of my favourite books of 2022, and watched Top Gun: Maverick, which I surprisingly loved. As we landed, I realised that most other flights had been cancelled due to an arctic chill turned 'bomb cyclone' which swept across North America in December 2022.
This winter storm disrupted not only flights but also roads and public transportation and led to deaths across the continent, as well as power outages. We had hired a car in order to drive from Montreal to Mont Tremblant, where we were staying for the first half of the trip, and the very low visibility, combined with continuous snowfall and lack of grit on the roads led to several traffic accidents. Luckily, my dad had some (albeit minimal) experience of driving in the snow and we made it to Mont Tremblant safe and sound a few hours (and a couple of skids) later. As we watched the news, we learnt that some parts of the continent would feel like -50°C, however the lowest it felt where we were was about -20°C. We'd been in -27°C during our trip to Finland, where our eyelashes and nose hairs froze over, so we knew what to expect and felt fairly prepared.
On our first full day, my brother and I snowboarded whilst my parents skied. I'm significantly better at skiing but find snowboarding very fun and always try to do both whenever we do ski. Unfortunately, due to the snow storm there had been a power outage which meant that only 25 of the 100+ slopes were open and only 2 of 14 lifts were running. Visibility was very poor but there was a lot of fresh snow (which is ideal on a snowboard) and a local worker told us that it was the most snow they'd seen in the last 35-40 years of working in Mont Tremblant!
Another thing that was immediately apparent was the proportion of snowboarders here - it was significantly higher than anywhere else I've seen. Initially I struggled to remember how to snowboard as I hadn't done it in 3 years, but after a couple of runs it slowly came back to me. One thing to note about Canada is that there are no red runs, so their 'single diamond' is the equivalent of a European red and their 'double diamond' is the same as a European black slope.
By Christmas Day, more slopes had opened and more fresh snow had fallen, which was perfect. Visibility had reduced slightly, allowing us to take in the spectacular views of the landscape. We were becoming more confident snowboarding again so managed to attempt steeper runs and our day involved opening presents, playing dominoes (a family favourite) and enjoying the slopes. We also bought new goggles as the foam had worn away on most of our old goggles and I finished my book (which was simple but heartwarming and gave perspective on what is important in life so ended up being very apt for Christmas), then edited some blog posts. I specifically remember thinking that I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so happy as I was coming down the slopes.
On Boxing Day, I was awoken to 'Happy Birthday' (this might help to explain why I love the Christmas period) and we headed up to the slopes nice and early in order to make it for the first runs. It was very powdery (which I loved), but lacked visibility in the early morning. Fortunately, just before lunch the sun made an appearance and the views were honestly stunning, with snow-covered trees along the slopes, a iced-over lake in the distance, powdered snow on the slopes and blue skies. We celebrated my birthday with a cake pop in the morning and a fruit tart (an old favourite of mine) with sparkling rosé in the evening, followed by a charcuterie board and dinner. We lit the fireplace in the hotel and played cards and dominoes until bedtime, after which I started my second book of the trip.
The rest of our time in Mont Tremblant was spent skiing, which was more adrenaline-filled as I feel more in control so can go much faster. This worked out well as as the snowstorm passed, there was less powder meaning more moguls and ice. This was exacerbated by the influx of holidaymakers who presumably had time to kill between Christmas and New Year and so had decided to enjoy the slopes in the meantime. We often lit a fire so it felt very cosy and other than the fire alarm going off in the middle of the night (due to another guest lighting a fire without opening the vents in the fireplace), our stay was perfect.
Food-wise, the hot chocolates were amazing, however I found poutine (Quebec's classic dish consisting of chips, gravy and cheese curds) to be overrated and the portions were huge. The breakfast at the hotel was somewhat inconsistent too, however as the hotel suite had a kitchen too we cooked a few meals there ourselves (including a typical Portuguese soup which is eaten on Christmas Eve). For this, we had to do a food shop (which I always find entertaining abroad) and I was shocked most by the constantly hydrated lettuce on the shelves, with mist falling upon it in order to keep it as fresh as possible.
Quebec City
On 29 December, we handed in our skis and drove to Quebec City, making sure to stop at a Tim Hortons (Canada's equivalent to Starbucks) for a coffee and timbit. Disappointingly, it wasn't as nice as I'd remembered it, but it was a good experience nonetheless. The drive to Quebec City was smooth and before we knew it we had arrived.
Our hotel was located opposite the Parliament building, which was gorgeous, and we spent two days exploring the city. The place is brimming with sights, my favourite being the old town (as is usually the case) and the Château Frontenac. The harbour was frozen over when we visited and the citadel was stunning. For food I'd recommend dinner at Chez Temporal and brunch at Couchon Dingue. It was still very snowy when we visited and I was surprised by how pretty and Christmassy the city was - I'd be intrigued to revisit during the summer months.
Montreal
I had wanted to visit Montreal for ages and on 30 December, that dream came true as we drove from Quebec City to Montreal with my brother driving and me on the AUX.
Unfortunately for us, it rained pretty much throughout our entire stay so even though we still managed to explore and see all of the sights, we didn't manage to view the city in its best light. The first thing I noticed as we entered the city was the variety in architecture, with several oddly shaped buildings and monuments, such as the Biosphere and the Olympic Stadium.
On our first full day in Montreal, we started strong with a huge breakfast (courtesy of the hotel) consisting of pastries, local cheeses, and crepes with berries. It was delicious and gave us the energy to walk an hour to Beaver Lake, where I was hoping to achieve a Bucket List item: ice-skating on a natural lake. Canada is a good choice for this due to its reliably cold weather and multitude of lakes so I was happy to trudge uphill through the rain and ice in order to get there, dragging my family behind me. My family weren't as excited, especially when we finally arrived only to find out that the lake was in fact closed for ice skating that day (despite its website saying otherwise). Nonetheless, we enjoyed a quick lunch and a beigne (a Canadian doughnut similar in taste to a churro), before trekking back to the hotel. This was New Years Eve, which I don't tend to celebrate (other than watching the fireworks, which weren't happening in Montreal that year, with grapes and champagne in true Portuguese fashion) so, after playing cards and dominoes, that was exactly how we welcomed the New Year.
On New Year's Day, we did a small tour of the city, including Notre-Dame Basilica, Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, and the Old Port, before finding lunch. Most restaurants were closed so the last task was tricky, but we eventually managed and then headed to the airport for our red-eye. The flight was very turbulent, but I managed to sleep through the majority of it and it went by very quickly. One thing that is worth mentioning is a robot that collected any dirty cups and plates in the lounge at the airport, which was a novelty I hadn't experienced before and was very entertained by.
2022 was a mixed year for me, with some very high highs alongside some struggles. Regardless, this trip allowed me to fully relax and I felt happier than I had in months, which was a relief and the perfect end to the year.
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