Quebec City - Old Europe Just a Few Hours Away

As avid travelers, people often ask us why we enjoy traveling to Europe so much.  For me, it's the historical center of the world during the Renaissance and Reformation, and led to the founding of our great nation.  For both of us, the different food and cultural options that you can immerse yourself in within a continent the size of the United States is wonderful.  The problem for many is that traveling to Europe can be too long, too expensive, or some may not be able to travel because of travel fears.  Don't worry, if you are looking for historic towns to wander through and get a sense of the old European life there are choices for you.  You can always visit Savannah, Georgia or Charleston, South Carolina.  Two of the oldest cities in the nation, the core of each of these cities dates back to the 18th Century English settlement of the southern United States.  You can go even farther back in time and visit the old Spanish cities of Saint Augustine, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Both of these cities date from the 16th Century Spanish explorations.  But for those of you who are looking for a French vacation, without ever having to cross the ocean, there is no other place for you to visit but Quebec City, Canada.  I don't know that I can put into words for you how much we enjoyed our time in Quebec City.  We have been traveling seriously for more than a decade, and for the most part have enjoyed almost every place we've ever visited, but some places just speak to you like you are meant to be there.  In 2014, we fell in love with the picturesque medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Taub, Germany.  In 2017, we were blown away by our time in Kilkenny, Ireland.  In the summer of 2019, the same overwhelming experience occurred for us in Quebec City.

Montreal - Where the Old and New Worlds Meet

The last leg of our Canadian vacation was a trip to the melting pot of Montreal.  As I mentioned in the last post, Montreal is the middle ground between the British lands of Ontario and the former French colony of Quebec.  For years I've heard travelers talk about how visiting Montreal was a must, and that it was the closest thing to Europe that you could find in North America.  While I disagree with that statement, we did enjoy our time there.  As we walked around the streets of Montreal it had a feeling of familiarity with it.  There were the skyscrapers that make someone who lives in a major city like myself feel at home, and the historic charm that many newer cities lack, but that wasn't it.  I felt like I had been there before.  After almost a week there, I began to realize why it seemed so familiar to me, it was like a Canadian version of Boston.  Both cities have a section of town that traces back to the European colonial days, both have a very diverse population, and both seem to be a blend of several cultures.  While the old town of Montreal was not nearly as large as I anticipated, there are several blocks of buildings from the 18th & 19th Centuries, there's plenty to do for anyone looking for a long weekend.