#Cheap Hotel Quebec City

[thatrickmcginnis]

VOIVOD Montreal 1989

Sometimes I forget how ambitious I was when I was young. I had sold a portrait or two from the film festival to the Village Voice in the fall of 1989 when Edna Suarez, their photo editor, called me from New York to ask how hard it would be for me to get to Montreal to shoot a band. I didn't tell her that it was no small trip given Canadian distances, but I wanted the job really badly, so I mumbled something about taking the train and got the assignment to photograph Voivod, a heavy metal band from Quebec who had just shifted from noisy thrash to a complex prog metal that would give birth to a whole subgenre. I got the phone number for the band's manager and arranged a day for the shoot, then got on the phone with VIA Rail. (Canada's Amtrak. Keep in mind this was the pre-internet world, and my only other option would have been going to a travel agent or down to Union Station to book a ticket, which I'd have to do anyway to pay for my fare once it was reserved.) I was on an overnight train from Toronto to Montreal - over eight hours in a coach seat, but thankfully they didn't charge for baggage, and I would be bringing most of my studio with me - two cameras, light stands and the ProFoto ProAcute 6 strobe kit I'd just bought with money I'd inherited after my mother had died.

Voivod are, in my opinion, one of a half dozen really original bands that have come out of Canada. (Also on that list: Simply Saucer, NoMeansNo, Death From Above 1979.) I'd liked them since early, abrasive records like Rrröööaaarrr, and wasn't the only one intrigued by their new, prog-ier direction, as they'd caught the attention of the music critics at the Village Voice enough to warrant a feature in their end-of-year Pazz & Jop poll, for which I was providing the photos. I arrived in Montreal early on a Saturday morning to find that the city had just been blanketed by a snowstorm. I hauled all my camera gear upstairs from the Gare Centrale to the dining room of the Queen Elizabeth hotel for breakfast, to wait for Voivod's manager. He showed up just as I was finishing, and helped me carry my gear to his car, and we set out for the band's rehearsal space in a big complex out in a Montreal industrial suburb. Everyone seemed baffled but flattered that a New York magazine would send a photographer all the way from Toronto for a photo shoot, but I scoped out the room - your standard stark cube in an old warehouse building, with windows high on one wall and egg cartons covering the other walls to provide cheap acoustic insulation.

I worked hard to deliver a lot of options from my photo shoot with Voivod in their Montreal rehearsal space. Thankfully I had the luxury of time and subject who were, most of the time, engaged with the task at hand. I also lit the hell out of it, using all three of the heads in my strobe kit to provide everything from flattering soft light, moody "horror movie" light from below, and hard light shooting almost directly into my Nikon F3 to make the lens flare. I had the band pose in the usual, full-length band shots, looming above me as I kneeled on the floor, and huddled together screaming their lungs out. But my most successful set-up was composed with my new Rolleiflex - the band lit from above against a backdrop of egg crates, looking up into the light as if they're about to be raptured, or abducted by friendly aliens. That was the one I was certain that Edna at the Village Voice would like the most, and I was right. (I'd prove it to you if I could find the tearsheets which, I fear, may be long lost.) I definitely lost money on the gig after paying for cabs to and from the train station, my ticket, and breakfast at the Queen Elizabeth. But I seemed to pass the test and continued to get work from Edna for several years, first at the Voice and then at the New York Times when she moved there. Voivod are still together, and released Morgöth Tales, their 16th record, last year. Sadly guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour died of colon cancer in 2005.

[travelingfevah]

Top 10 Best Places To Visit In Canada #travelcanada #travel

Discover the top 10 best places in Canada to visit, from stunning national parks to vibrant cities. Whether you're a nature lover or city explorer, Canada has something for everyone! Embark on a journey to discover Canada's top 10 best places! Explore the majestic beauty of Banff National Park, the vibrant culture of Toronto, and the historic charm of Quebec City. Experience the coastal wonders of Vancouver and the pristine wilderness of Jasper National Park. From bustling cities to serene natural wonders, Canada offers something for every traveler

Thanks for watching, don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell to stay updated when we're putting out new content for you. You can download your FREE Guide: "The Budget Traveler's Handbook" and get cheap flights, cheap hotels, cheap destinations, cheap car rentals, cheap traveler insurance at: https://TravelingFevah.com

 #CanadaTravel #ExploreCanada #CanadianAdventures #TravelCanada #CanadaVacation #VisitCanada #CanadianCulture #CanadianHistory #CanadianLandmarks #CanadianCities #CanadianCuisine #CanadianWildlife #CanadianNature #CanadianArchitecture #CanadaTrip #CanadaTourism #CanadianBeauty #CanadianExploration #CanadianWonders #ExploreCanadaEH

[chloemarievaughan]

Winter Weekend in Quebec City!

Sophie and I decided to brush off our dormant French skills, pack all of our warmest sweaters, and jaunt off to Quebec City for a long weekend! there is a Winter Carnaval going on with wintry activities and we plan to keep ourselves busy (and hopefully stay warm) exploring the city for a couple days!

Mom and Dad picked us up for the airport bright and early and Kenny carried Sophie’s suitcase down to the car for her, sadly without Kenny along for the trip Sophie has had to carry her own suitcase the rest of the day but she has borne it like a champ.

Our flight options were somewhat limited so we basically had the option of arriving at 11:30 pm with one layover or arriving at 5:30 pm but with two layovers, so I picked the two layovers and we both have brought along some good reading material for the trip. Interestingly, my backpack got flagged for additional screening while going through TSA- but not due to my portable charger which I assumed was what they were checking. They wanted to look at the physical book in my backpack- which is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in French, which I have been vaguely planning on reading for like the last 10 years since I read the first three in French. Was hoping the French vibes of Quebec City would inspire me to finally read it, but Who reads physical books anymore, must be suspicious 😂 I just got global entry for the first time and this trip was the first time I used the tsa precheck- the columbus airport is so small that it didn’t save me any time at all. But I did get to keep my shoes on. Currently on our last leg of our flight and our plane has propellers! Which is cute. If you’re reading this post our propeller plane must have made it to our destination!

We are staying in an air b n b in the Old city part of Quebec City, which is a walled former fort from the 1600s. It was snowing when we arrived and we grabbed dinner and then enjoyed a snowy evening walk around the city. The majority of this walk was so cute- winter wonderland vibes, and it was actively snowing an inch or so while we walked around. There is an ice skating rink, parks, a really excessive number of Bronze statues of famous Quebecers (some of which were a bit creepy in the dark covered in snow!) we found the location of a few landmarks we may visit tomorrow. Got very chilly and snow covered by the end of our walk. Sophie has purchased a cheap but cute pink digital camera that takes very poor quality pictures so you all have some excellent images to look forward too 😂

Friday morning was our first full day in Quebec City! Neither Sophie nor I usually eat breakfast first thing, so we planned for a stroll around and then a later breakfast. I wake up a lot earlier than Sophie so I enjoyed my trusty travel Starbucks Via coffee and read my e book for a while until Sophie woke up. Both of us had weird snow hair/ bed head from being out in the snow the night before so it was a good thing it was cold and we could get away with full time hat usage to cover that up! We both packed furry leggings, jeans and fully layered up on the coat and jackets, scarves and gloves. I was not a fan of any of the winter attire I brought with me- all relics of my early high school ski club 😂 so I planned to be on the lookout for some new more fashionable winter accessories while we did some window shopping and found some souvenirs.

Once we suited up for the cold, we took a stroll in The opposite direction from the evening before- first stop was to duck into the Catholic Church in downtown Quebec City. Love a beautiful old church, and there was a museum exhibit in a side room discussing St Francois de Levalle who is an important figure in early Quebec history of the church. Then we did a lot of meandering which is my favorite way to explore a new city- up to the fancy hotel, and back through the streets. Did some souvenir shopping- went in a bunch of weird shops, including like a chapelier- or a hat shop that only sells fancy hats- and an artisanal craft store that somehow sold even fancier hats. Then we went in a home goods type store and I found a cute new significantly less expensive new winter hat that was on clearance. And of course lots of souvenir shops selling various items with Canadian flags on them.

Our top destination on this trip was a bus tour to the ice hotel! The ice hotel is only up in Quebec City in the winter, and melts away in the spring. and it’s not really in the city, it’s like 40 minutes away at a winter village with snow tubing and an indoor water park like Great Wolf Lodge. Easiest way to get there from where we were staying in the walled part of the city was taking a bus tour. The tour times seemed tight to me- a bus there at 12:30 and the bus home at 2:45, but they did have a second bus back at 6:00. but that was really plenty of time to see the ice hotel, there is an ice bar and ice slide inside, but other than peeking in each room, there wasn’t too much to do inside the hotel. we learned that if you book a room to stay in the hotel, they provide -30 degree rated sleeping bags for you and they also book a secondary room inside a real hotel room in case you wimp out and can’t make the whole night. The hotel is a balmy -4 degrees Celsius and the instant we walked inside Sophie said, “I COULD not do it”. the rooms are all artistically rendered snow carvings and the beds are made of ice with a mattress on top. There were

“Cheaper” rooms with no carvings just plain snow walls. There is a bathroom in the ice hotel but luckily not made of ice ;)

We definitely enjoyed the ice hotel bar- they serve the drinks as shots in blocks of ice! neither of us packed water proof gloves so I was a bit concerned that my ice would melt onto my glove and get it wet, but it was cold enough that that really did not happen at all. Sophie has a fun looking drink with blue curaçao and that was way more impressive looking in the ice glass than my off white colored amaretto drink with crème- note to self for future ice bars!

Sophie was slowly turning into a human icicle during the ice hotel tour so we managed to snag some coffees before we rode the tour bus home. I don’t really get cold so I was okay- Sophie is an excellent sport for agreeing to come on a winter adventure with me but we made sure she never got *too* cold haha!

I thought the bus ride part to the ice hotel would be more of a tour but it was basically the same highway to the airport and not scenic at all. The couple from

Texas behind us were having a loud chat about how they had never heard of Tim Hortons before and I enjoyed listening to their weird conversations while Sophie snoozed a bit on the bus.

Went back to the airbnb to recharge a bit and add on some more layers for dinner and then going to the actual winter carnival! This year is the 70th anniversary of the carnival and the have events for two weeks including ice canoing, concerts, parades, masked balls, a creepy snowman mascot named Bonhomme. We had an effigy, or a little ticket to get access to

The events, and were thinking we would be doing more carnival activities, but our timing/ location was sort of off so we really only did a couple activities and probably could have skipped the carnival ticket entirely, or come a different weekend to take better advantage of more activities. I also get the sense that the carnival used to be a bit more debauchery/ partying and now is more family friendly with things like ice skating and kids activities. It did make for great people watching all weekend though!

we wound up at a little burger place advertising good cocktails for dinner. I got some poutine- classic Canadian snack with fries, cheese curds, and gravy. the cocktail lists at nearly everywhere we have been are sorely lacking in bourbon or whisky drinks. Lots of gin and vodka, but no whiskey. Canada has a lot of Canadian whiskey/ rye so it makes no sense! Our waitress at the burger place had never heard of a Manhattan and had to check with the bartender that he could make it. (He could and it was actually quite good lol)

After dinner we headed to our only carnival activities which were visiting an ice sculpture garden, igloo, and Bonhomme’s Ice Palace! we had a lot

of fun taking pictures of the sculptures and the ice palace was cool, but the festival crowd was picking up and the line was crazy. It was jam packed shuffling through the ice palace and we didn’t even see Bonhomme, though of course we saw many of his statues. Unlike the ice hotel, which was cool inside but meh outside, the ice palace was cool in both directions but you definitely could not sleep there. We also enjoyed drinking some Carnival Hot Toddy’s and standing by the fire after the ice palace.

In approximately 2012, my parents gave me some random Canadian money ($80) that was dated 1991. I guess they assumed I’d go to Canada someday- I do like to travel. And I’ve had that money in my little coin collection for over a decade now haha. I finally made it to Canada and have now used up the cash, but turns out Canadian money has all changed in design and every time i used the money the Canadian people were so impressed at the old money and wanted to chat with me about it. One girl tried to tell me it was probably worth more than $20- google says poor condition 1991 dollars might go for like $23. The reaction in the US if you used 30 year old money would literally be nothing haha. also the whole point of spending that cash was to get rid of it so mission accomplished!

Our hot toddy’s warmed us somewhat but Sophie was still freezing so back to the air bnb. We both needed to shower and the hot water was amazing- it went down to about 10 degrees last night outside. It was very difficult to get out of the shower after into the cold- our air bnb is cute but old and likely could be warmer haha. We watched a bit of the movie Groundhog Day before bed, otherwise known as “ jour de la marmotte” en francais! Spring is early per Punxsutawney Phil- sure doesn’t feel that way in Quebec City though!

Day 2

We were more tired this morning and got a bit of a later start so I enjoyed my coffee and e book for a couple hours while Sophie slept longer and then we started the day with getting breakfast. Realized I forgot to say that we also had breakfast yesterday, which wasn’t important expect I had crepes that weren’t really very good and so we picked another crepe restaurant and I had much better Nutella and banana crepes this morning :) at yesterdays breakfast we also had a Caribou- which is a little hot spiced wine. Very enjoyeable as a winter cocktail, I don’t know if other people usually drink them at breakfast but we are on vacation! :)

after breakfast we went back to the air bnb to get in our very warmest clothes because we decided to take a round trip ferry ride across the ice in the St Laurence River! Base on our two walks past the boardwalk overlooking the river, which was bitingly cold wind every time we walked past- we were worried the ferry would be absolutely frigid and miserable. So we elected to double all our layers to walk down to the ferry, just in case we would be freezing. Even with our double

Layers, neither of us bothered to wear the extremely fuzzy polar fleece robe/sweater thing that I packed for no reason that took up SO much space in my suitcase 😂 the ferry dock is on the lower part of Quebec City and down from the rest of the walled part that we had been exploring up to this point. To get there it was a truly excessive down hill walk with tons of stairs. The ferry ride itself was just out and back directly across the river to the town of Levis, and only cost $7.50 Canadian and took about 15 minutes each direction, but Sophie and I agreed it was our favorite part of the trip :) love a ferry and we got to watch (and hear!) the boat sliding through the ice on the river, cracking the ice along the way. it was nowhere near as cold as we feared it would be, the sun even came out and the views of the river, the city, and the hills in the distance were unbeatable!

We stopped in Levis for about 20 minutes, walked around an outdoor ice rink that a Zamboni was working on, and enjoyed the view from the opposite river bank, and then headed back on the boat to Quebec City.

We then decided to chill for a bit at a brewery in the lower part of the city (it was called Archibald- almost Sophie’s last name! So we were destined to stop there. ) The beer was good, my go to beer order is whatever wheat beer/ Hefeweizen/ white ale type beer that tastes the most like blue moon and they even served it with an orange like blue moon. I decided I was going to go do a tour of the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, which is the big picturesque castle looking building that is the quintessential landmark of the city, and Sophie wanted to head back to relax in the air bnb for a bit. So, to get back up to the walled part of the city, we got to ride the Funiculaire! What is a Funiculaire exactly? Well, Columbus is the flattest city ever so would never have need of one, but it’s basically a tiny little elevator that takes you up the large hill without having to take the stairs. 5 dollars for a ride was a bit steep for the 30 second ride but we felt it was well worth it. It’s cash only so I got rid of more Canadian money, and found it funny that they accepted either $5 American or Canadian. That’s a bad deal for the Americans as it’s like $6.70 Canadian for 5 US haha.

I found a guy selling little watercolors along the street and I found one I loved so I had to buy it- not sure where I’ll hang it once I get home but I loved it :) I stopped and drank an espresso for my pastry and waited for my tour to arrive near the Hotel. The guide was an old man dressed as the old governor of Quebec from the 1600s, and the tour was nice- an assortment of the history of the city and the hotel, and getting to walk through various areas of the hotel like the ballroom and the wine cellar . The hotel namesake, Count Frontenac, was in charge when the British demanded a surrender of the then fort, requesting an immediate response or facing war, to which the guy replied, “my only response will be from the mouth of cannons” which is pretty badass. And clearly Quebec stayed French Canadian haha. Also turns out that FDR, Winston Churchill, and the prime minister of Canada met at the hotel and nearby Citadel military base to plan the DDay invasion. Various celebrities have stayed in the hotel, and we also got to see their bottle of Louis the VIII which sells for $250 a half ounce at the bar, and you can get a bottle for your own for like $50000. Apparently there is a famous masked ball hosted in the hotel as well as a very elegant New Years Eve party.

After my hotel tour I went back to the apartment- Sophie and I only had one key, and no data to text when I arrived- though likely could have connected to the WiFi from the street. Our plan was to have me knock on the window of our building so she would let me in, and if she didn’t respond or we would otherwise get separated, we’d meet where we had breakfast in the morning. Backup rendezvous not needed but you never know when traveling! we took a rest to finish watching Groundhog Day and then accidentally wound up eating dinner at a fancy restaurant- I enjoyed some Manhattans, and a very delicious but tiny meal of Canadian Walleye. But I was still hungry after dinner so then we got some late night banh mi from a Bubble tea place near our place😂

other than having to book a surge priced Uber to get us to the airport causing some minor morning stress, we wound up back to the Quebec Airport without issue and made it to our flight connecting through Toronto- writing this from the plane on the last stretch. We thoroughly enjoyed our whirlwind winter wonderland Vacation in Quebec City! Still not sure how I convinced Sophie to come with me somewhere so cold but we had a blast- Love you Sophie! 🌨️☃️❄️

[mariarodriguez1stuff-blog]

The Maison Roy is not only a perfect hotel but also a friendly Quebec City Auberge. We are happy to serve you at our Auberge. Whenever you come to Quebec City, feel free to check our availability and get 10% discount by reserving directly on our site.

[aubergemaisonroy-blog]

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Hotel Maison Roy is one of the best luxurious and amazing places available in Québec city, Canada. We have small hotel with 15 rooms, 11 bathroom and 4 rooms in dorm style with shared shower and toilet for small budget with also available Kitchen. Compare than other hotel prices Quebec City Auberge offers cheapest price and give all types of accommodation facilities. For booking contact us (418) 527-3907.

[eflyto]

Book budget, cheap & luxury Montreal hotels in Travoline now.

[ihmrs]

Luxury Hotels in Quebec City

At what time people visit Canada, they by and large come back with great stories about the countryside, its people and evidently its food. Here are some of the great things about Quebec City: https://ihmrs.com/luxury-hotels-in-quebec-city/

[aprillikesthings]

I'm not disagreeing with your logic, but isn't it also true then that grocers and doctors are parasites? They're no less guilty of holding human necessities for ransom.

Okay, so this is gonna be difficult because I know that there are probably words for the concepts I'm trying to explain, but I don't have an education in economics or policy ("lol I can tell," there, I said it for you) so this...wanders a little. Bear with me, yeah?

Firstly: Housing isn't movable. (Even "mobile homes," really.) I'm not just paying for the walls I live in. I'm paying for the spot of land it sits on. I'm paying to live specifically in this neighborhood, in this city; near my job, where I can ride a bicycle everywhere, where I can walk to grocery stores.

Humans can be moved between houses--but only at a cost of time, stress, and money. So people usually prefer not to do it more than necessary.

If I don't like a doctor, I can (usually) just walk out of the appointment and try to find someone else. If a grocery store costs too much or has bad customer service, I can (usually) shop somewhere else. Obviously, depending on insurance/location the doctor one might be a lot trickier--but with very few exceptions, it's not gonna be as hard as moving house.

Landlords/property companies know my choices are: deal with all their bullshit, or go through the pain and expense of looking for another place--if there ARE any I can afford!--and then moving. (Or, if they evict me for any/no reason, and/or I can't find an affordable place, risking homelessness.)

Part of what you pay for when you buy a house is stability--no one can force you to move just because they want to make the house nicer and more expensive, or because they want to live there instead of you. You're not worried that at any moment someone might come into your house and tell you you're not keeping it clean to their standards, so you better clean it up or you'll be homeless. (There isn't someone watching what I do with the lettuce I bought and disqualifying me from food benefits or even shopping at that grocery store because I didn't eat it all before it went bad.)

Secondly: I am actively making use of my housing for the majority of the time I am alive. If I'm not at work, and not on vacation, I am usually at home. I require housing every single day--even away from home, one of the major expenses is shelter--a hotel, a hostel, a campground and camping supplies. When I am not at home, the majority of my belongings are in my housing.

"You also need to eat every single day?" yes but I don't need to go grocery shopping daily. I shop once a week or less, usually. I could even skip a week, and my choices would narrow a bit but I wouldn't go hungry. I often switch which store I shop at every week based on my needs/wants: Trader Joe's one week, Fred Meyer another, doing an online Safeway order the week after that. I am not locked into one store every single week. Grocery stores know this, and compete amongst among each other by (among other things) lowering prices. Landlords are not doing that.

Tl;dr: I am not dependent on one grocery store or one doctor and can switch if I don't like them. Switching houses is a tremendous pain in the ass and expensive.

Thirdly: With groceries and food in general: it is easier to get SNAP benefits (aka "food stamps") or go to a food bank than it is to get housing benefits/rental assistance, though this might have changed in some places due to the pandemic.

In regards to doctors: There's a lot of effort put into attempting to get poor people on publicly funded health insurance (in most/sane states, anyway). Also, if you go to the ER, they cannot deny you emergency care based on your ability to pay.

But we regularly let people go homeless.

Fourthly: As a general rule (see caveats below) there aren't a ton of people out there buying up all the groceries and medical care and then not using them and holding onto them just so they can wait for the price to increase before selling--and when people do buy up medical supplies just to jack up the price, we all recognize this as unethical and there are even laws against it in many places. There's not entire companies (again, exceptions noted below) whose business model is based on making sure there isn't enough food or medical care to go around specifically with the goal of jacking up the expense of it and making a profit.

Lastly: I actually think it should be illegal for healthcare to have a profit motive. I'm absolutely in favor of single-payer socialized medicine. I do in fact think that holding medical care ransom is also unethical, though your average GP isn't the problem--and unlike landlords, healthcare workers are doing something of value that takes a great deal of skill, and they should be paid appropriately.

Tl;dr, part two: Food and medical care are human rights as much as housing is, but making sure everyone gets them will look different.

(General caveat/disclaimer: In many rural places, there is in fact only one doctor/clinic and one grocery store--and if they jack up the price because they can, they are also unethically holding life necessities for ransom. Ironically (or not?) housing is often much, much less expensive in those places. Aka "Holy shit this house is cheap, but who the fuck wants to live out there? And where would I work???") (ALSO ALSO: lol tbh there are examples of people holding onto all of a particular kind of food with the idea of making it more expensive--the first example that came to mind was Quebec's supply of maple syrup! Which is tasty but not uhhh irreplaceable or necessary for human life. It happens far more often with medication--witness the price of insulin in the US. Which every decent person realizes is unethical, morally wrong bullshit.)

[crosscanadakate]

Adapting to change, and Day 1

Yesterday we started our trip. It’s not the trip I thought I’d be taking. It’s not the one I talked about in my first post, and it’s not the one I spent so many hours planning. That’s unfortunate, that’s okay, I am excited and glad to be on this journey.

What Changed

The road trip across Canada was predicated on the notion that I’d be driving the new car we ordered in January. The estimate for when we’d receive it was 3 months, which would have been the end of April. However, there are global microchip shortages affecting car production, and we still do not have our new car.

I knew this was a possibility, so I have had a rental car booked as a backup for quite some time. This would allow me to still take the tip, but would more than double the cost of the trip. In the end, I decided it makes more sense to postpone the road trip until next year when we have the car.

The New Plan

The first part of the trip has remained the same. Neil and I are on a road trip to Montréal that will take about a week. Instead of continuing across Canada from Montréal on my own, though, we’ll head back to Nova Scotia together. Then, I’m flying to British Columbia for a visit with friends there. 

There will still be road tripping. There will still be camping. There will still be time with loved ones and friends. It’s summer, and it’s vacation!

Day 1

Neil and I woke up bright and early and packed Kona, our rental car, with all the supplies we’ll need for our week-long road trip to Québec. We got on the road at around 7:45 am, which was a little later than planned, but still gave us plenty of time for the 1000 km drive to Québec City. 

The weather and roads were pretty perfect except for some rain once we crossed into Québec, but that rain was only heavy briefly, and it dissipated by the time we arrived at our destination.

We made three stops on the way. The first stop was in Amherst. I had to pee.

For lunch, we stopped at the Blue Canoe Irving Big Stop in Fredericton, NB. It had been quite awhile since my last Big Stop meal. It’s not exactly gourmet cuisine, but Big Stops are conveniently located right on the highways, and they have cheap, generously portioned meals. They are also very nostalgic to me - I have many memories of meals at the Big Stops in Saint John, which was very near to where I grew up, and the one in Salisbury, which was on the road between Halifax and Saint John, so a common stopping place when making the trip home to visit my friends and family. Big Stops feel familiar and comfortable. Like home.

Our last stop was a quick refuel and stretch in Edmunston. There are six exits from the highway into Edmunston. I told Neil we should just assess each one as we came to it and see which one felt right. We decided on the 3rd exit, and it served our needs.

As we passed into Québec from New Brunswick, Neil contemplated how long it has been since we’ve left the maritimes. It’s been longer for him than for me, but it feels like a long time. It’s nice to be traveling and exploring after the isolation and restrictions Covid brought with it.

Another thing we realized upon entering Québec is the time change. Our devices automatically updated to reflect the hour we gained, but we had both somehow forgotten that this would happen... We laughed about not having considered this extra hour, and felt even better about the time we made on a long day of driving.

We checked in to our hotel, the Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations in Quebec City. I’d heard about this hotel several times recently, and it seemed like a very special place. We didn’t get to explore the hotel much, but we did make it to the hotel restaurant, La Traite, for dinner. They brought us the cutest, tiniest cups of pea soup, as well as bannock and ciabatta breads to start. For our main course, they brought us mashed potatoes to share. Neil ordered the bison, and I got deer. They were both delicious! 

After dinner, we were both pretty tired, and also mentally an hour ahead... so we turned in pretty early.

[travelingfevah]

10 Best Places In Canada - Travel Destinations #traveldestinations #travel

Discover the top 10 best places in Canada to visit, from stunning national parks to vibrant cities. Whether you're a nature lover or city explorer, Canada has something for everyone!

Embark on a journey to discover Canada's top 10 best places! Explore the majestic beauty of Banff National Park, the vibrant culture of Toronto, and the historic charm of Quebec City. Experience the coastal wonders of Vancouver and the pristine wilderness of Jasper National Park. From bustling cities to serene natural wonders, Canada offers something for every traveler.

Thanks for watching, don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell to stay updated when we're putting out new content for you. You can download your FREE Guide: "The Budget Traveler's Handbook" and get cheap flights, cheap hotels, cheap destinations, cheap car rentals, cheap traveler insurance at: https://TravelingFevah.com

[aubergemaisonroy-blog]

Auberge Hotel Quebec City

Are you searching the best Auberge Hotel Quebec City? The most excellent Luxurious place for staying at Auberge Maison Roy. This will appreciate the historical decor and friendly, professional service. This hotel is a member of Relais & Châteaux. Booking for Call (418) 527-3907.     

[saadsaddok-blog]

Quebec is an advanced city that has a ton to offer. It is isolated into Upper Town (Haute-Ville) and Lower Town (Basse-Ville) and associated by a lofty arrangement of stairs. There are moderate lodgings in the two territories of the city, which is loaded up with assorted neighborhoods. You should simply peruse shabby inns in Quebec until you discover one that suits your financial plan and is situated close to the attractions you are for the most part intrigued by. Lower Town is very beguiling with its 400+-year-old cobblestone roads and memorable spots, similar to the Place Royale. In any case, the rates in Lower Town will, in general, be higher than those in Lower Town.

[panda-paco]

The great Paco Panda adventure

This has been one of the best trips I've ever made in my life, and I've had the fortune to make many trips, but this exceeded the number of spontaneous adventures and experiences that any other of my trips have done before. Maybe I'm exaggerating, maybe there was more spontaneity in the trip last summer where instead of going directly to Mexico from Pittsburgh, we went to New York City, and from there we went north to Quebec City, where we drive from there until Mexico city, and not of a direct form, going through several cities. That trip lasted 3 weeks. That was another great adventure, the one of 2017, surely if you haven't read that one, after reading this one, already knowing if you like or not how I tell my adventures, you'll want to read that other one, which was great.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/8666900/

We are still in the first half of 2018, several trips ahead and new adventures to live for the rest of this year, which excite me. But I can't believe how much happened in these 36 days away from home, the trip you are about to start reading about.

If you could notice, I didn't upload many things to my social networks, or drawings, or many pics. I'm not used to be one of those persons who are sharing their online diary at the moment (I'd love to, but I've never gotten used to it). I prefer to start sharing everything, once the adventure is over. Here I'll leave a summary, if you want to skip a part, know what comes next:

1-NYC 2-Furrnion 3-Madrid 4-Switzerland 5-Museums and strange food in Madrid 6-The great adventure heading to BLFC 7-BLFC 8-Another great adventure heading to Las Vegas (with a stop in San Jose) 9-Las Vegas

So here we start!

1. NYC

Why did I decide to go to NYC? When I decided to go to the Madrid's convention, I started looking for flights and couldn't find any cheap flights directly from Mexico, and while I was searching from other cities, I found that from New York it was quite cheap to get to Madrid.

It was not my first time in Manhattan, in fact it was my third time, but in my two previous trips I was exploring the most basic tourist. 1st time the classic, and 2nd time I repeated because I was with guys who had never been there before. And something I had always wanted of going to New York, was going completely alone, with the sole purpose of visiting museums, going to Broadway plays, and exploring corners of Manhattan that are interesting. So in my plan I contemplated a few days before, to be able to get to Manhattan and explore it on my own.

It's not that I was regretful of the upcoming I'm going to say or it was a bad thing, but my plan to be completely alone in Manhattan was not entirely successful. Well, I told about my plans to the two friends I know from New York: Yoshi Azul and Kuma (I love you, guys); knowing I was going to visit town, both wanted to be with me almost throughout my stay. I appreciated their company a lot, I spent a lot of time with them, exploring the Guggenheim, the museum of the city of new york, and eating in places that they recommended me. But my idea of ​​being alone in Manhattan was to be able to do things that I knew not many appreciated the same way as me, or that I wouldn't depend on anyone else's decision about where to go and what to do. And more than I already know how to move in the city perfectly, being my third time there.

I didn't achieve the goal of exploring corners or going to any Broadway play; that desire will remain paused until I get to go, again on my own or go with someone who has that same concern to explore Manhattan as I do want to. That for more than New York is a city very crowded, full of movement, traffic, angry people, homeless, colorful characters that sometimes provke fear, thick and unkind people who ask tip for anything, rats on the train tracks, peculiar smells and high costs for anything; It is a city that I love to visit, it is very exciting, there is always something to do.

Those were rainy days, where people's umbrellas turned upside down, everyone ran to keep from getting wet, the drops of rain were so heavy that they hurt. I appreciate that it was not my first impression of the big apple.

The museum that I was able to explore on my own was the MET, so huge that not even walking it from morning to the museum's closing time, I was able to explore it completely, I'm sure I only covered 20% of the museum. There were many pieces that I loved and that filled me with emotion. I love going to art museums because I never know what I can find, whether desepción, bad or good emotions, new paintings that I had never seen, or known paintings that for the first time I can see their original versions. Oh, and when passing through central park, I could finally try one of those classic hot dogs that everyone warns you never try because they can be made of rat. Well, those warnings were right, the worst hot dog I have ever eaten in my life (and expensive).

Something very touristy that I had never done until now, was going up to an observatory deck on top of a skyscraper, and see Manhattan from on high. I did it from the Top of the Rock, at the Rockefeller building. Very expensive in my opinion, but that the view was so spectacular that it was worth it. I saw the day, the sunset and the dusk of all central park, middle and lower manhattan; how they were turning the lights on, little by little, of the empire state, the one world trade center, and how they illuminated the statue of liberty. A magical moment that I kept for myself.

A quick anecdote to tell, maybe not interesting. I bought the transit ticket to be able to use it a whole week, so it was completely filled of credit for all my trip. It was very common when passing through the turnstiles, it popped the sign "error, swap again", so when I tried again, it worked, showing me the days that the card left (more than my stay in town). But there was a time when I got the classic "error, swap again", and when I tried to pass for the second time, it showed me "just used", and it didn't let me in. The tourniquet was not letting me in and even though I was sweeping the card again for the reader, it kept me telling me the same thing "just used". So I had to apply the Mexican one, to jump the turnstile, because the train was just arriving. >:3 Bad Panda!

On my last day in New York, before making my way to the airport, I decided to go to the 11/S museum, something I had never wanted to do before because I thought I could only be a little sensaniolist, but before traveling, I read that it was one of the more complete museums that exist and that was unmissable, so I was hooked to that marketing and attended. In truth, it was a good museum, but it doesn't stop creating a lump in the throat about that attack, which I remember with perfection the moment it happened, and see how it affected not only a city, but an entire nation. It gives a lot of impotence to know what some people can do only for their own interests no matter what cost.

Returning to the adventure ... I thought that the 9/11 museum could be covered in 2 or 3 hours, to my surprise, I had been there for 4 hours, and it was getting late to go to the airport, so I had to use a faster alternative to the subway: the train. When I arrived at the train station, I didn't understand where or how the train had to be paid to use it (still don't know), the train was just there to board it, and if I didn't take that one, definitely my flight would be missed (or the alternative to take a taxi, which could be more expensive, and not a guaranteed for the traffic). I tried to ask any of the people who were boarding the train, but nobody wanted to answer me, everyone was very busy or late; then I asked one of the workers of the station, and in a very rude tone, shouting at me, he simply said "ABOARD THE TRAIN RIGHT NOW, IS ABOUT TO DEPART!" No, no, wait, but I haven't paid and I want to know how to pay. "YOU CAN PAY IT ON THE TRAIN, SO GO UP RIGHT NOW!" I trusted him and went up, behind me the doors were closed and the train started moving, I thought maybe there would be a payment machine as there were on the trains in Toronto, but I coudln't find anyone. And I was really scared when I saw a sign in the ad area that said "Do not you have a train ticket? Fee $ 250". I was not going to pay 250 dollars! I was very scared and started sending messages to my friend Yoshi, he reassured me a bit showing me that there was an alternative, paying the ticket with cash, exact change, to the person who checked the tickets, but at a cost a little higher than the regular, I was not going to care, if that was a solution, as long as I didn't pay the 250 fee. Fortunately, nobody appeared to check the tickets, so the train actually came out completely free for me, hehe. >:3 Once again, bad panda! But I was sweating cold throughout the way, I couldn't even appreciate those views outside the city in Brooklyn from the train window how the skyscrapers were getting farther and farther away.

2. FURRNION

My first time crossing the Atlantic, I had never been to another continent before, and I had never been on such a long flight before.

The bad thing is that when I arrived in Madrid, instead of enjoying that I was finally in unexplored lands, and being able to see European culture ... instead of all that, I arrived at the hotel of the Spanish convention, where I was immediately put to work, because I signed up as Staff (to be able to have a free room, hehe).

I couldn't sleep on the plane, so the jetlag hit me especially hard, but I was still there, sticking posters in the hotel, yawning and blinking. When it was finally time to sleep, I died. But not for a long time, because the next morning I was supposed to work in the registration, but for some reason I didn't understand, it didn't happen: I arrived at the registration and it was full of workers, there were already people registering, all the chairs were filled and just few people were on the reg line, I asked and they just told me "stand there back , if we need you we'll call you ", obviously I didn't want to do that, standing up behind doing nothing, so I went to breakfast, and to set up my things for artist alley, which was soon to begin.

As you can see, the convention so far was a bit of a mess, and it was even more so. I'm very used for the artist alley to start my setup at least half an hour before the time indicated in the opening hours. So I arrived half an hour early with all my things, but the rooms were completely empty, and suddenly someone from the staff saw me and shouted in Spanish "YOU CAN'T BE HERE RIGHT NOW! COME BACK WHEN THE ARTISTS' ALLEY STARTS!" Hey, but I'm one of the artists who go to set ... "Yes, yes, everyone knows you, you're Paco Panda, and you're also a staff, but NEITHER YOUR FAME NOR YOUR POSITION ALLOW YOU TO BE HERE UNTIL THE TIME IT IS INDICATED IN THE SCHEDULE! " I was very angry at the attitude of that person, and maybe it was a little childish that I went to accuse him with the cheerman, anyway my complaint didn't help at all.

I was even more angry than when I arrived at the right time, supposedly when people could go to see what we were selling and ask for commissions, but we still didn't even make the setup ... they were setting up a different activity in that same room, and they had moved all the tables for their convenience. Again I went to complain to the big Furrnion authorities, who resolved the matter a bit and let the artists begin the setup. Although the hurry didn't help, because absolutely nobody was going to see the artists alley. We spent an hour, two hours there, and nobody.

It was not so bad at all, because among the artists we started talking and making friendships, we had fun talks and joked with each other, we even exchanged some stickers that we had to sell. But there came a point when that started to be exasperating, that nobody in the whole convention was really putting one paw in the place, so we started putting up posters with arrows so that people would know where the artist alley was. It worked with 3 people, who only went, they checked our things, they felt intimidated that nobody else was more than them, and they left. It was then that I decided to post on my networks that I was going to leave artists alley, since it was not being successful at all. At that moment people began to arrive and finally began asking for commissions. Some told me they were waiting until later to go see.

Maybe I was already used to the modus operandus of the conventions in America, where it seems that when they open the doors of the artists alley/dealers den, it's as if they live on a Black Friday, where they run to the artists to ask for commissions in the first hour. It was not at all the same in Spain.

Something very curious, is that the events at the convention were very linear, there weren't many options to do, and apparently the Karaoke was a great event, the whole convention was there watching the Karaoke (non other event was at the same time), and it was not like anyone could go and sign up to sing, they had already signed up for weeks before. For me, seeing people singing on a karaoke, good or bad, I find something very boring, but there was nothing else to do. I couldn't go to fursuit on my own because there were no more fursuiters around (at that point, I hadn't even used my fursuit yet), and the event lasted so long that the dance started much later than scheduled, however it ended at the same time it was scheduled so it lasted very little, and it was my only moment on that day (and my first time in the whole convention) that I was in fursuit.

The next day, Saturday, it was a little more fun, with more activities. Another bad point of the convention was that all the events were late. Sometimes I have seen at conventions that events are delayed 5 or 10 minutes, but in Furrnion they were late for hours. And that produced a chain effect that affected all the following events, especially because almost all the schedules were linear. But the fursuit parade, which although it was very short, was very fun. Tronchy had me disguised as a monk, in fursuit, I was the little priest panda, with a boat I started walking around the convention asking for cooperation for charity. It was like a competition between Tronchy and me to see who collected more money for charity, obviously I won, because pandas are cuter and people give us more money. >:3

I run a panel there, related to art, which now I think I should give more often at conventions. With delays, again. Well, my panel was supposed to start at 5pm. There I went back to find my "friend", that same guy shouting at me at the artist alley, and when I asked him where they had moved my panel (because according to the program, my panel was in a room that in the end never existed), he simply told me, again shouting " I DON'T KNOW, AND YOU SHOULDN'T READ THE PROGRAM, BECAUSE NOTHING IN THE PROGRAM IS RIGHT, PLEASE IGNORE IT!" There I learned that I shouldn't absolutely ask anything of him, and instead I went directly to the cheerman again, who gave me the solution, that my panel had moved at 6pm, and to a much larger room. The awesome thing is that they posted all over the place, announcements that my panel had changed place and time, so that everyone who were interested could find out.

According to me, I had prepared the panel in Spanish, my logic was "if I'm in Spain, the panel will have to be in Spanish", but what I didn't contemplate is that the convention helds people from many countries in Europe: UK, France, Germany , Italy...; and the universal language is, again, English. I had no problems in deciding to give my panel in English, and also that the room itself was full, there were many people determined to listen to me, which made me a little more nervous. My first question on the panel was in Spanish "Is there someone here who doesn¡t speak English?", What a shame when I saw 8 raised hands, that made me not only give the panel in English, but also in Spanish. It was very long, to be saying everything first in English and then translate it into Spanish, so it didn't last an hour, but two. And also the Q&A part was longer than I expected. Hey but I really liked how it ended my panel, I think it was a success.

Hey wait, there is another thing I have to tell about that. During the panel, someone from the staff arrived (if I remember correctly, it was the same grumpy guy, but maybe my memory failed, because I was not paying attention to him at all) , and without asking me for permission, he snatched the microphone and told me "we need it for the auction panel" and left, leaving me without microphone. Some people was pissed off with the staff to see that I had suddenly been left without a microphone, so they had to close the doors of the room so that no outside noise could fit, and I had to be screaming so that everyone could hear me. Apparently the event had only ONE microphone.

Immediately finishing the panel, I went up to my room to use the fursuit and start the Viernes Furry broadcast, the funny thing is that I just left my room to start the stream and in the hall there were already guys waiting for me, eager to get out on the stream. The stram was a success, and of course you can see it (as soon as you finish reading all this journal) in this link (sorry they are only in Spanish):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4-uYXxtnd4

By the time the convention was getting good, one of the first events on Sunday morning was the closing ceremony. It was very strange for me they close the event very early. And instead of people still having a party after the closure, in fact everyone started to leave, soon the hotel was empty, there was still daylight on Sunday and it seemed that the convention was a thing of the past.

After returning from a very long and tedious staff meeting, where everyone was shouting each other, and they barely were listening my feedback opinions; I was supposed to be in charge of the artists alley (which, according to the program, would be from 18 to 00 hours, very late for artists alley, isn't it?), but upon arrival, there were no artists interested in signing up, nor was there anyone who wanted to go and see if anyone was selling something else, the dead cheath (the Spanish version of "the dead dog") was indeed more dead than any dog, there were only two people dancing, not even in fursuit, and after a few minutes the room was completely empty. I really didn't wait to see if any artist bothered to arrive, I preferred to leave my booth, because that was depressing me a lot. And Tronchy still told me "the rest of the day is to have fun, enjoy the dead cheetah", if I had listened to him, I would have been there alone. Well, there was not even a DJ, they just left the music in play mode.

3. MADRID

After the convention, I spent a few more days in Madrid in good company with Moof, Orion, Rosebuster and Salmy (our host), exploring the tourist areas of Madrid, I also went to the zoo and Parque del Retiro with Rosebuster only. We tried the food of our three countries, first Spanish food, then Mexican food, and the last day Polish food.

When all the other guys went to their respective countries, and only Salmy and I were left; We went, along with other furries, to the premiere of "Los Vengadores", the last movie of The Avengers in its dubbed version with the classic Iberian accent. A whole new experience for me.

4. SWITZERLAND

I had once promised a good friend that, if I ever went to Europe, I would visit him, and that would happen when I finished a very large drawing with all the characters in his comic. And so it happened, promises are promises. This great friend is Hukley, great cartoonist, author of a funny comic called "Freddy Fox" (http://www.freddyfoxcomic.com/), a great person and an excellent friend. Finally I had the pleasure of meeting him in person.

And besides being a great host, he took me to see landscapes of his country that I couldn't believe they existed. Switzerland is beautiful, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, green fields, waterfalls, forests, lakes. There came a point when my eyes and my mind got used to seeing so many beautiful places. Once we passed a waterfall that was on the edge of a path, the waterfall was beautiful, but it was just another waterfall there, with no importance; and I told him that surely that same place, in any other country, would be a national park, instead of Switzerland is just another waterfall.

In his house we tried real yummy food, such as the fondeau with original Swiss cheese, the sausages, the liqueurs, the lasagna that his mother prepared (a great person, also, very lovely!). And it was also beautiful to meet his two cats, one of whom Hukley presumed was very sullen (the female), and that the other was very loving (the male). And it happened the opposite, it was the female cat who became fond of me and all the time she was following me, and the male cat very rarely was shown around.

It was a long and enjoyable weekend full of long talks, very short trips by car or train (the country is very small, it was very fast to get from one end to another), movie nights and video games (never before had enjoyed playing Mario Kart as that time), riding bikes through those beautiful landscapes, tasting delicious cuisine, full of cheeses and chocolates, trying to swim in a lake but failing in the attempt because the water was frozen.

Oh, talking about swimming, there was a morning when it was raining and completely cloudy (I was grateful that was not my first impression of Switzerland, because all the mountains were covered by fog), and that was when Hukley said "today is a perfect day for go to a water park ", it was very strange for me to say that, I think that in any other place, a rainy day would completely ruin a trip to a water park, but I was very surprised that when we arrived, it was an indoor park , all the slides were covered, as were most of the pools. It was very funny, I had not been to a water park for years and I remembered how much fun they are and how much I like them.

And speaking of water, a few days before, we arrived to a very beautiful city: Lucerne (after having gone to a city also just as beautiful named Berne, which I loved because of the fact that there were many symbols of bears, and even some real bears), in Lucerne we had the unfortunate that exact day was a marathon day, and the city was full of people, it was very difficult to walk, so instead of continuing to explore by paw, we rented a boat, and started pedaling near the lake. In the distance, a romantic saxophone music sounds, I told Hukley that it was a very romantic moment for both of us, and we laughed a lot (bros being bros). On the train back to his house I made a drawing related to that fact. (The boat was not in the shape of a Swan, it was only to give more dramatism):

For Hukley it was unforgivable if I went to Switzerland and didn't get to see snow, so he took me to Davos, a place that supposedly always has snow, but this time it didn't have it, and we continued on our way up to the mountains until we found a part with snow. Incredibly it was not cold, but the level of snow was very deep, there were times when walking my feet sank and snow got into my boots. It was fun.

We also went to Liechtenstein, a tiny country on the side of Switzerland, only 20 minutes driving from Hukley's house. We were in the capital, Vaduz, which I walked it in 10 minutes, and that because I went at a very slow pace. An extremely small city, whose number of inhabitants is no more than that of BLFC assistants, but it is also a very beautiful place, with its castle and many chinese toursists around.

Driving up a mountain, it was a road of only one lane, but it was a double way road, so in the middle of a curve, you could find another car going down. Huk was telling me that kind of roads are very common in the mountains, and there is where usually people learn how to drive, because that way they learn to be very careful with other cars. Then we hiked up that mountain, when we couldn't keep driving, until we reached a very high part, where we could see the whole valley, and beyond the mountains that we had opposite. What surprised me a lot was that we could see some isolated houses high up in the mountains, which made me wonder how these people live? In truth they must have a very hermit life.

I spent some beautiful days in Switzerland with Hukley, it was my favorite part, and the most relaxing part of the trip. I have very nostalgic and beautiful memories of all those moments, I really enjoyed it a lot.

5. MUSEUMS AND STRANGE FOOD IN MADRID

When I returned to Madrid, I realized that until that moment I had not been able to say that I had really tasted the typical food of Spain, what until then we had eaten was McDonalds, Burger King, tapas, tortas, Mexican and Polish food.

But once I came back, I started to really try what was the food of Spain, and I sure missed a lot to try. However, I can't say that I am a fan of its gastronomy, some things were hard for me to decide to try them, like octopus, blood sausage, paella (and its giant lobster that I was afraid to see, much more to have on my plate, and worse still try it), the piglet; other very rich things like veal or deer (sorry, Tiny Deer, Buckley, Kinter and more deer friends); and things that I definitely didn't even have the courage to want to try as the ear pigs.

Another very curious thing about Madrid were its "terraces", that every time they mentioned a terrace, I imagined a high part of a building, and not simply chairs with tables directly on the street. Which personally made me very uncomfortable, sitting at a table in the street while pedestrians pass by you and see you eat. For me there is nothing better than sitting inside a restaurant, the farther from a window, better, so I can feel I'm no longer on the street. That is personal preference. But it seems that Spaniards enjoy much more than people pass by them while they eat, because even the prices of food and drinks on the terrace were higher; and sometimes when you arrived at a place, the waitresses said with great sorrow and with possible client's disappointment, that they had no place available on the terrace, only inside, and that was even better for me. I really didn'tt like to sit in the street to eat.

My favorite food of all the rest of the time that I were in Spain was a buffet of Japanese food, where I could fill my glass, supposedly for wine, with soda. All dishonor to any Spanish, hehe, I'm sorry, it was really very yummy.

Those extra days in Spain we took advantage of very well, visiting museums, such as the Thyssen (my favorite), Reina Sofia and El Prado museum, as well as places around Madrid such as Toledo, the castle of Manzanares, Segovia (visiting its aqueduct and the Alcazar), the monastery of El Escorial, the royal palace of Madrid, the cathedral, and Chueca, the gay area of ​​Spain which took us a long time to find, because Salmy was lost, at the moment of wanting to be my guide.

Something that I didn't like so much about some touristic places in Spain is that they don't allow you to take pictures of anything, and the guards walk in the hunt for tourists who try to take pictures. It seemed more sinful to take a picture of something than to touch with your fingers something historic (which was sometimes allowed, but ironically you couldn't take them a picture). So I saw many tourists doing their best to break their absurd law, taking out their cell phones quickly to take a picture as soon as possible to something before a guard noticed. It was like a game for all tourists, a challenge. I think they should simply let the tourists enjoy, taking picture memories of the places visited, and only not allow the use of flash, as in almost everywhere happens.

Thanks to Balasch for going out with me one day when Salmy was not at home. With that guy I went to a record store, where I bought Mecano's "Aidalai" album, just because I don't have that one in physic, it's my favorite album from Mecano, and I can say that I bought it in the original land of the band. And thanks for that good talk with beer in that bar.

Yes I liked Madrid, it was very interesting to have visited and see where part of the roots of the culture of my country come from, well, the roots from the conquer, which was a very important part of the final culture of my country, combined with the aztec, mayans and other original roots. As well as things that we Mexicans believe are very typical of us, such as rice pudding, churros and marzipan. Something great about Spain is that rice pudding don't have raisins (Thank you, Spain!)

6. THE GREAT ADVENTURE HEADING TO BLFC

Here comes a very interesting part of the journal, but first, to know that you are still reading up to this point, comment "Paco doesn't like peanut butter". (Don't judge)

In this part of the trip several unexpected moments. Starting with the flight back from Madrid to NYC, being a flight to the United States, they only allowed 50 pounds (23 kilos), not 25 kilos (55 pounds) as in the previous flights, and since I already had a little more luggage than when I started the trip, the wright marked that my luggage was 25 kilos. What a problem! I had to take two kilos out, and also I was not allowed to carry the carry-on with me (my suitcase where I put my furhead, to take it with me all the time, so I wouldn't see it again until San José, CA. Around 28 hours later). Not knowing what else to take from my suitcase, I exchanged the paws of my fursuit for my shoes, being that the fursuit paws are heavier, and then I wore my paws all the rest of the journey in airports. The security guards had different opinions about my panda shoes, some laughed at me, others told me they looked very comfortable, and others said it was super cute, and they asked me why I was wearing that.

In my wait for change of plane, in Munich, Germany, I had an anxiety attack, I had never lived one, now I know what it feels like. At that time I desperately wanted to be at home, however I was barely halfway through my planned trip, but it was so much my despair that I even looked for flights from NYC to Guadalajara, to see if it was possible to just return and make landfall in America, but the prices were very exaggerated, being that they were for that same day. I decided to calm down, to think that nothing was going to go wrong. And I suddenly felt a new fear during the trip already on the plane from Munich to NYC, because I had a very silly dream where they didn't let me back to the United States and they threatened to deport me, and I couldn't sleep the rest of the way, which was very long.

But no, when I arrived in the United States, I went very easy, very few customs questions, everything went well. A funny experience during my waiting on the JFK airport, in NYC, was when I went for a coffee to Starbucks, there was next to me a....person (sorry if I couldn't tell the gender, it was a short person, no boobs, short hair, but their aspect was like a girl, with curves and a girly cute face), it was a pretty person to be honest, they were staring at me, like wanting to start talking to me. I'm so shy that I couldn't tell them anything first, but I knew they really wanted to start a conversation with me, and didn't know how. When the starbucks girl called my name "Paco!", I could see how this mysterious person decided to come with me and told me "Hey, I love your art", then they run away and disappeared. I would have loved to know who were them and said something back. Anyways is the first time someone made me feel famous, out any furry convention.

Another great thing about the plane from NYC to San Jose was that we started our flight during sunset, and since we were flying to the opposite of the world, I could se a beautiful sunset for 3 hours.

Hey, Paco. But the convention is in Reno, NV, not in San Jose, CA. What happens is that when looking for flights, it was outrageously expensive to get directly to Reno, I couldn't find anything accessible, so I looked instead for San Jose (much cheaper, it was really much the difference in price), and since I have many friends there, surely somebody would leave me ride with them to BLFC.

And so it was, I found that my friends Pepe Mapache and Mirawis would leave on Thursday morning to Reno, with their trailer, and enough space for me and my bags. In addition, there was also his Chihuahua puppy, which was very quiet throughout the trip.

Something unexpected happened: the truck stopped working halfway. It started to show some problems when we started the trip, but it was thought that it wouldn't be a great inconvenience and that it could survive until Reno. But more ahead to Sacramento, in the middle of nowhere, the transmission ended up overheating and leaking large amounts of oil (A lady was shocked because she thought that the oil was blood that we had run over a deer). At that time Pepe and Mira decided that it would be better to return to San Jose, but I had many commitments in BLFC, and I even had to be there the next morning in the event.

I didn't posted my problem publicly, I didn't want to cause a lot of gossip or half the world knew that (However, already at the convention, apparently everyone found out about that problem, because many asked me how we had solved everything), I just told some friends to see if they knew someone who was also heading to BLFC and were at that time near Sacramento, it had to be a great coincidence for that to happen, however there were two coincidences that met those requirements, except one: They didn't have space for me. There were two cars that were just up to Sacramento and were heading to the convention, but they were completely full.

But several friends started giving me solutions: Mira was very tempted to pay me a Lyft to take me to Reno (which would have given me much embarrassment; if that was a solution, I could have paid without problems, but he insisted on covering that expense ), and 3 friends offered to go for me, even if they were already at the convention. A very great gesture on their part, really thank you, guys, for the solutions. However Pepe and Mira decided that we were going to get to Reno in any way with that truck, even if it came to pieces.

Have you seen "Little Miss Sunshine"? Something like that happened to us. We were on the freeway heading to the Grand Sierra, we were seeing the building, the truck was still overheating, there were 10 minutes left by 12 o'clock at night, the time when the BLFC registration closed (and I needed to have my registration ready for the next morning), so we kept driving until we reached the parking lot of the hotel, they left the van in a random spot, we just went out and ran to the hotel, right where the registration was, and when they arrived, they closed the curtain behind us, and they could give us our badge on time. It was 12 o'clock.

After a long day full of broken trucks, I greeted my roomies (which this time were Tiny Deer, Jae Bunny and Sander the black cat), I put on the fursuit and went down to dance.

Now if you are at this point of the journal, write me if you like peanut butter or not.

7. BLFC

Along with MFF, this is my favorite convention, and I was there again, in that place whose strange smell brings me so many good memories, and seeing so many happy furries always puts a big smile on my face. I love BLFC.

On this occasion I made many plans, I had so many things to do during that weekend that I almost had everything planned for what was going to happen those 3 days. But of course there were some things that made many plans go bankrupt: in this year they banned the use of fursuits in go-karts and mini-golf. And several of us had planned to do those activities, and no, not in our human version, but in fursuit. But later I'll tell you what happened.

Friday was of artists' alley, which was one of those that I enjoyed and I'm already very familiar with as they are, it's like my comfort zone. As soon as the doors opened, the commission slots were completely filled. I chatted with a lot of people, I took pictures with several fursuits that came to visit me at my table, I was glad to meet people I had never met before but only online, and I was also happy to see people who are already like a family for me.

In the afternoon I was in the fursuit festival. About that issue shown on internet about the girl who was bullied... I knew absolutely nothing, I found out until I checked the internet and the BLFC published the news, but neither at that time nor during any time of the convention I saw something related to that. But speaking of rodents, something very special for me in that furuit festival, right after they took the group photo, was meeting Mausie, the NordicFuzzCon's mascot. When I saw him, I was about to mourn with happiness, I couldn't help that big smile on my face, even when nobody could see it and everyone just saw that big smile of my fursuit that, although it is always very sincere, this time fitted more that never with my real smile.

A very good friend asked me what my favorite part of BLFC was, and it may sound very exaggerated but I can't help but answer "Mausie". What a great personality that mouse has. I admire the performance in fursuit of many people, who sometimes ask me why I admire them so much if they are not artists like me, and it is clear that I consider them as great artists, the interpretation of a character is something that not everyone can do well. Mausie is one of those characters that I think are exaggeratedly well interpreted.

I will try not to talk so much about Mausie or if I will not tire you, thank you if you continue reading this during this point, not many have the patience to read such long texts on internet.

Another moment that I enjoyed a lot was the dance set "Audiodile", by my great friend Croc. Not only because their remixes cause me to dance and they are very fun, but also because many friends in common go to that set, precisely to dance with his music, and I always find very well-known faces. After he finished his set, instead of continuing to dance, I went to see the Foxes and Peppers show, which I always enjoy a lot.

The next day was also a great day, sharing a time with new and old friends like Shorty, Croc, Koidel and Jib Kodi. That day I went back to see Mausie <3 in the inflatable panel, which was very fun and I could see how Mausie and Croc were running in a big bubble. Although this time at this con there was very little space for them to run inside the bubble, it was fun. I have never been able to get inside the bubble, there is always a long line waiting for other fursuiters, and I always prefer to keep playing with all the inflatables and fursuiters instead of waiting. But when I saw that Mausie was getting into one of those bubbles, I pleaded to be in the other, and so play together with Mausie, both in our respective bubbles; but they didn't allow me, because there was already someone else waiting for their turn u__u And since they told me it was my turn to get into the bubble, either Jib, Mausie and Croc were gone, so ... with which friend was I going to be able to share my time while I was in the bubble? Only Koidel was there but he was already lying in an inflatable, tired. I rejected the invitation and better I left the panel. I'm not complaining at all, it was very fun and I have very nice moments from that time we were playing with the inflatables.

One of my definitely favorite moments of the convention, was having a good time with Mausie (eh, once again...Mausie), while he was playing with other fursuiters in the dealer's den with the convention props, like dice, hula hoop rings, the tricycle, and other own props from other fursuiters. That rodent is just beautiful.

Remember that I had told you that they didn't allow fursuits in go karts this year? Well yes, it was, they didn't change their mind, but we had an exception, thanks to Shorty, a friend very close to Mausie and also a new great friend of mine, moved heaven, sea and land to have that great exception. We went Mausie, Jib Kodi, Keepo and I in a Go-Karts race that we were videotaping, and I'm really looking forward to see that video edited because I know it was spectacular.

That evening, with Fox Amoore, Dixie, Kurtt, Ed Puma, Alf and Majira, we run a panel about our travel experience in Mexico. There were fewer people than expected (it was logical, at that time all were already at parties or dancing) but that was not wrong, at least we made people laugh, we talked a bit about Mexico, we gave some typical candies. In the middle panel, Majira's fursuit arrived (someone else was using it) and I asked Majira (the real one) ... "then who are you?" Oh, Majira told an embarrassing anecdote about me driving, that anecdote I hadn't told in the other journal where I spoke about my trip to Mexico because it seemed very shameful. It was about a toll, seeing that other cars were passing by without stopping, I thought it was a free toll (that maybe it was not working), when I was about to pass through, the bar closed in front of me, stopping suddenly. I realized that the cars in front had the automatic payment chip, which of course I didn't have. >////< That was the experience Majira told about "Panda driving".

Another very funny thing during the panel was Majira's curious facts about Mexico, which were not surprising and that made it funnier, such as "Did you know that the main language in Mexico is Spanish?"

The last night I played bowling with Kazan, Cosu Raccoon, TK Coyote, Wusky and Koidel. Before I escaped to go dancing for the last time.

It was a very nice convention, I would have liked to share time with many more people, but I just ended up saying hi to many people I knew and I was very happy to see, and it was practically a hello and a goodbye, but thanks to everyone with whom I was able to share incredible moments during that weekend. As it has always been BLFC, once again it was a very fun convention.

8. ANOTHER GREAT ADVENTURE HEADING TO LAS VEGAS (WITH A STOP IN SAN JOSE)

And here begins another great adventure.

My BLFC plan ended with an adventure to Las Vegas, accepting the invitation of my friend Cloud Husky to visit him. And since I had never been to that city in Nevada before, I planned my flight back home from Las Vegas.

I was determined to buy bus tickets from Reno to Las Vegas, not to be a problem for anyone, however Kurtt told me that there was a caravan of cars that were going to Las Vegas from Reno, and that I could be included in one of those , contacting me with Dreyse, who is the organizer of such caravan. But everything went wrong when one of the trailers that was going to Las Vegas, left earlier than normal, without telling anyone, and then those who ran out of place from the caravan were Koidel and me. And even though we tried to find a new ride, they were all full. So we had to improvise. (By the way, thanks Shorty, for being there with us during our wait to know what would happen to us).

Our spontaneous plan was to take a ride with Koby and Jib Kodi, who were going to San Francisco, to be able to leave Jib Kodi at the airport. There was enough space for us and our bags.

While we were going to San Jose, and I with the question in my head "why are we going to San Jose and not Las Vegas?", I started moving contacts and figuring out how we were going to get to Las Vegas later. First I warned Cloud that we were not going to arrive as soon as we thought. And then to Croc, who lives in San Jose with Bacon and Jimmy: -Hello, unexpected plans, Koidel and me are going to San Jose -Oh really? When? -TODAY! (Hehe, sorry for being so unexpected and spontaneous) And then I bought bus tickets from San Jose to Las Vegas a day after.

Thank you very much, Croc, Bacon and Jimmy for letting us stay one night at your home, and thanks to Blue Badger and Bacon for picking us up at San Jose station, it was very fun to see a car arriving with a big badger fursuit on the front seat.

We spent one night with these guys, it was a nice day, playing Mario Kart (unlike Hukley's house, I was very bad this time, it was a very different version than the one I played in Switzerland), watching movies and videos of conventions from more than 10 years ago. I always have a great time with those guys. Croc is one of my best friends.

And a new adventure began when we left on the bus from San Jose to Las Vegas. It's the first time I use the Greyhound bus service. I missed a lot the bus services in Mexico, which are super comfortable, with internet, pillows, very reclining seats that are like beds, movies, etc. Oh no, these were hard-seat buses, with giant windows without curtains, seats very close to each other that don't leave room for the knees, and I knew that they would be very long hours.

We made several stops, either for breakfast, stretch our legs, enter the restroom. Those were very short stops of 10 minutes, maximum 30 in some specials stops. But in one of those that lasted only 10 minutes, I appreciated that stop because I really needed to use the restroom, and really didn't want to use the bus (smelled terrible). I run to the stop's restroom, it was one of those toilets with doors, which locks need to be closed very hard, you had to apply a lot of force to be able to close it. That was a big problem, I would have preferred to leave it open and live a shame that someone opened the door thinking it was free, comparing with what happened next.

After rushing to go back to the bus, I tried to open, and I realized that I was stuck, even though I applied a lot of force I couldn't open the door. I started to scare because it had been more than 10 minutes and I kept trying to open the cubicle door, of despair, when I realized that I was not going to be able to achieve it, I went out on the bottom floor, dragged myself, leaving the door closed, and ran to reach to the bus, and what a surprise when I realized that the bus was no longer there. I don't know why I was not scared at that moment, I remember that I just thought "Oh, crap, they left me" but without any worry; I took the phone to call Koidel and tell him to stop the bus, when I thought about "stopping the bus" it was that moment I started to get very worried, of course the driver wouldn't stop if he was already halfway there! But fortunately it stopped, I ran to the highway, and I realized that it had not really go very far, but oh geez, I don¡t know what I would have done if they had definitely left. X_X

Remember guys, if you have time limit to enter a public restroom in the stop of a bus, make sure not to lock the cubicle door so tightly.

And after hours and hours of more freeway and a monotonous view of the desert of California and Nevada, we finally arrived in Las Vegas.

9. LAS VEGAS

What can I tell about Vegas? Many years ago I thought: I want to explore the world; and go that dream is being achieved. But there was a fact that had in my head "The place I want least to know is Las Vegas", I've never been a party guy or alcohol drinker, much less be gambling and wanting to live in excess, and for me that was the meaning of Las Vegas, I was not very attracted to that. But when I started having friends who are from there, and receiving invitations from them (like RedWulf, E, and now Cloud), I gave this city a chance.

I could describe it as "Spectacular". It really is full of luxuries, elements that encourage vice and sex, is not something that I have to persist, not that I am a saint, hehe. In the end, I really changed my concept of Las Vegas, not only is it the place of perdition and fun that they show in the movies, I could find in Las Vegas that which I admire so much from the Americans, and that is to be able to fulfill any crazy idea that have in their mind, and also make it look impressive. In every city that I visit from United States, I see that, that great creativity and imagination that not only stays in a thought "this would be absurd", but they really make those absurd ideas true. And not only talking about pyramid-shaped buildings, giant coke bottles, roller coasters surrounding a hotel, lakes in the middle of an avenue that dance to the rhythm of music, and Roman temples converted into hotels; I also talk about furry conventions, comic conventions, spectacular concerts, plays that leave people with their mouths open. Americans dare to dream, and to make their dreams come true. (A fact that I need they lack them, is a good taste of their food, hehe, they believe that the more quantity, the better)

Cloud Husky was a great host, I had a great time with him and with his friends who introduced me, just as I introduced friends who were local for him and he didn't know. They were Red Wulf and Erwin. Who was very fun to visit, we were in fursuit at the RedWulf's house, we set up our own "furry convention" in their house, and we titled it "RedCon 2018". We even had our own fursuit parade, artists alley, fursuit lounge and even fursuit games (the challenge was to raise a 10 cent coin from the floor with our fursuit paws, it's more difficult than it seems).

Thank you, Yaps, for insisting that they take us to eat at SkinnyFats, all of us went for the happy side.

We were not only in the city seeing lights and hotels, Cloud and his dad (both his parents are very kind, great people, like his dog Dusty, who looked like Koidel's pop filter) took us to see the Hoover Dam, incredible gigantic dam. Really spectacular. Something I didn¡t expect to see on the trip.

The last night, before leaving home, we went out with several furries to walk the Vegas strip in fursuit, a great way to close this trip, another of my favorite moments that will remain in the prosperity of my memory.

Before going to the airport, we tried to book a room for MFF, but we failed in the attempt, as well as 98% of the people who also tried T_T But anyway we'll go to MFF, it doesn't matter if it's not at the main hotel.

And this is how this trip ends, we returned to Guadalajara. Roni went through us, I missed that dog very much, I hugged him like never before, and I thank him infinitely for the patience he has in keeping me out so long, he knows I always carry him with me in my heart.

Experiences like this make one learn so much, and they are adventures that nobody can take away from me. It's one of the best investments one can make in their life and for their spirit.

Thank you very much for reading me, see you in Megaplex for more adventures!!

If you want to check ALL my pictures from this adventure:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tl2ean1a3wdnfi1/AACoP8qjTsYkeKUM9cI_i03sa?dl=0

[tommygunhazard18]

EuroTrip 2018 Part Two: Welcome to Reykjavík

By the time I got checked into my hotel at 11 A.M. I was ready for a nap, and boy did I nap. I woke up at 3 P.M. wondering which decade I was in, and because I slept in so late I decided to go check some souvenir stores, and my quest to find a Viking helmet.

I went to the first store “Icemart” and found some cool stuff, but only bought a few post cards and a lava rock. I asked the worker where to find a helmet and she was really nice and googled it for me. She was from Lithuania living in Reykjavík, and she gave me some places to go check out.

For all the people who love souvenirs, two key things to remember:

- check the exchange rate/currency conversion, because you may be paying for something that you’d think is cheap, but isn’t. Iceland is a very expensive country when it comes to souvenirs.

- Look at different shops to see if they have the same things on sale

After checking some more shops with no success, it was time to have my first Icelandic hot dog. They are famous here and I can see why, and it was one of the best hot dogs I’ve ever had. It has remoulade, fried onions, ketchup and a darker thicker mustard than I’m used to.

From there I walked some more and wound up at “Austuvöllur” and “Althing”. Every building here is so cool, I love it because of the older style.

When I got back to the hotel, I realized that the sun was going down, so I had to seize the moment and take some great sunset shots. It was so calming just sitting by the water, listening to the waves hit the rocks, and just relax.

This is vacation at its finest.

On my way back to my room I met a couple from Quebec who were visiting for four days, as tonight was their last night. It is so cool how friendly people are here, I love it, very different than other countries.

At around 7:30 P.M. I met up with my friend Vilborg, as we went for a walk around the city. She brought me some traditional snacks for me to try, which was very sweet of her. She brought me dried fish , an orange soda, a thick yogurt called “Ísey Skyr”, and for a joke fermented shark. I can’t wait to try that.

As we were walking down Laugavegur street, she told me that the main street where all the tourist shops are, was the road that women would walk down to wash their clothes in the water. I could just imagine what it would be like in the wintertime, especially in Iceland. We went to the hot dog truck, “Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur” as I had two hot dogs this time; a mans gotta eat! From there she took me to the parliament building, which was the “Althing” building from before.

We had a great time walking around and she told me so much about the city, and she really knows her stuff. It’s great to have someone who knows the history of where you visit, so you can be even more immersed into it.

Tomorrow her and her sister will be taking me to the Golden Circle, somewhere that I am very much looking forward to.

More to come...

[marcellusbitsandpieces]

Bits and Pieces - Castles as Hotels   11/7/21

There is the old saying, “King of his castle.” Ever really want to live in or at least stay in a castle and feel like a King or Queen? When a friend of mine hosted a birthday party (to which I regretfully was not invited) for her husband – I began having thoughts about being in a castle overnight or for an event at least.

Fortunately, (I guess) I was raised on “you’ll get what I want you to have” and “make a mortification” so the wishful thinking doesn’t last long nor gets too pitiful. However, I had a feature piece come to me the other day about castles and palaces that also serve as hotels. It re-stirred my interest.

Not only am I a third generation German American, I am also a fifth generation Irish American. So, the first castle listed grabbed my attention because it is located in County Mayo, Ireland.

The original portion of Ashford Castle was built in 1228 near the Atlantic coast. Additions were made periodically to become a truly legendary structure. It has been in the Guinness family since 1852 when a descendant of the famous family bought it, added Victorian touches and additional acreage.

In 1939, the family began changing it from home into a hotel with luxury accommodations added over time. The good news is that the modernization of this historic castle has in no way affected its magnificent character.

I looked into the cost of an overnight. Knowing that this is not a Super 8 or even a Hampton Inn, I braced myself for something outrageous – this is after all a Forbes Five Star Hotel.

Of course, the date of the stay determines the amount. I just chose April 11 (springtime) and the best deal of two nights in a Corrib room was for about $640 each night: “decorated in an individual and elegant style, with views of the River Cong, king-size beds and fully interactive plasma screen TVs with movies and music on demand, you’ll enjoy a host of thoughtful touches for a memorable stay.”

“Offer Inclusions:

·         Luxury two-night stay

·         Five-course dinner in George V Dining Room on one evening

·         Full Irish breakfast daily

·         Complimentary relaxation pool, steam room and fitness studio, advance reservations are required

·         A complimentary round of golf around our nine-hole course”

 Also on the list was one castle closer to home. The beautiful Chateau Frontenac is an old-style French castle in the New World. It was built in the 1800s by Canadian railroad companies as one of many castle or huge hotels along the route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It majestically sits overlooking the Saint Lawrence River on one side and Quebec City on the other. Just a short walk from the Chateau is the site of the Battle of Quebec during the French and Indian War.

 Unlike the Irish castle, Chateau Frontenac has not been a family home, has not had many additions over the centuries including no extra acreage and is also 600 years newer. Thus, the updates have not had the same impact on any changes to interior structures.

 Though I have been to the Chateau (even stayed in a less palatial room down the street) and inside its lobby, I again steeled myself for the cost. I tried to keep the comparison as close to “apple to apples” as I could. I chose the same dates, a view of the Saint Lawrence River rather than the city and king-sized beds.

 Chateau Frontenac’s inclusions for $436 a night are:

·         High floor river view

·         Continental breakfast

·         Lounge access

·         Evening canapes

Castles don’t come cheap, and anyone who has had to maintain and HEAT an older home knows the costs involved. Everyone has his or her own dream. I wish the Marcellus Band and chaperones lots of fun with their trip of a lifetime in Disney Word at Walt’s castle and acreage, but I think I’d rather stay at Ashford Castle.