Not another USA and Canada TR :)

[Muppet501st]

First time poster (TR) long time lurker.
I'm no wordsmith, so this will be a pretty short post.

So both my wife and myself were both turning 40 this year, so as a gift for both of us, I had planned a last minute trip to the States and a quick visit into Canada in February. Was only going to be a very quick getaway, 8 nights in total.

Flying out of BNE on VA in Y, (I wont bore you with any the flight) we were flying out on the wifes birthday. I had contacted VFF a few days beforehand to see if they could add anything "special" into the flight. We were pretty lucky, we both had 3 seats each. So not long after dinner, the CSM approached me and my wife with a little surprise,

We were going to visit and stay with a friend in Cincinnati, so after a couple of hours in the LAX DL lounge, we were on our way.

The next morning, we were awoke to this sight , Just so different to our everyday middle Australian suburbia. Never visited this part of America before, we felt like, we were in the heartland of real America. So many different industries and factories in Cinni. Im a bit of a nerd at heart, so went and visited Kenner Street- the home of the vintage toy manufacturer Kenner. Also had a look at the building that was the inspiration for the Super Friends Hall of Justice building. Also having a friend show us around, you learn so much more about the city.

Its not high on the list for visiters, but I really like the town, pretty similar to Brisbane, with the river flowing thru the city.

Im having problems uploading images from my work laptop, so the next post will be off the Quebec City part.

 

[sausagefingers]

Very interested in reading this.

I hope my US/Canada trip report next month won't be the straw that broke the camels back lol.

 

[UP4014]

THanks for the report, always good with some photos.

The Union Terminal (aka cincinnati station) is a classic 1930's build.


Matt

 

[Denali]

3 seats in Y, that's a winner!

Happy birthday to both of you and thanks for the photos/report

 

[RooFlyer]

Great performance by VA crew ... and good to see a different US city visited & presented, thanks.

 

[kermatu]

Can never have too many TRs. Thanks for posting.

I also like it when I have friends or cousins out in the suburbs of a different city - gives me a reason to see a different and more 'real' part of life.

 

[Muppet501st]

It was nice to get out to the "real" America.

So we had just 2 nights in Cinnci and was great catching up with friends there.
Next stop was Quebec City via JFK with DL. I'll just mention, that we were only able to secure Economy Comport + (VA WP perk ) between JFK and YQB and back to JFK. All other sectors were chockers.
We checked to see what the weather was up to in Quebec City,..


HOLY S#*TBALLS . Both of us had never experienced a true northern hemisphere winter.


Whilst waiting to leave CVG, it started snowing petty heavily. Slight delays while the aircraft was de-iced. We were pretty lucky to get out before the airport was closed down. Fun fact, CVG is not in Ohio but in Kentucky

 

[Muppet501st]

I was lucky enough to snag a really good deal on our accommodation, and if you're ever going to Qeubec City, of course youre going to want to stay at the Fairmont le Chateau Frontenac. You can submit via email, to various upgrades. Since I paid a really low price, around $130canadian, I didn't hold much hope of any upgrades. We ended up "winning" the river/city upgrade with. This was our tiny window

But waking up the next morning, we were blessed with this view

There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the sky was so clear and it was freezing. The temp stayed around -17 ish for the whole day. So exhilarating and so lucky to be alive.


* currently on laptop, and have all other pics on ipad

 

[PLANT]

I got that view in summer for free..... Just walked up the stairs and took the pics via the stairwell windows ..... Just acted like I owned the place Also watched the changing of the guard from virtually the roof!

 

[RB]

Thanks for posting. Some great photos already!

 

[Muppet501st]

So we spent our first morning exploring the lower old Quebec City. We missed out on seeing the Winter Festival by a day, but there were still lots of ice sculptures around the town.

 

[Muppet501st]

After exploring the lower part, we drove ( friends had a hire car and are used to driving in icy/snowie conditions) up to the Ice Hotel.


Was blown away by this. Just so foreign to me. A couple of fun facts, the Ice Hotel is open up till around the end of March. And after each season, they have to completely destroy all of the buildings. Not just push them all over as the walls are so thick, they wouldn't completely melt by the next winter. Each season when they build it again, its a different theme. This year was the ocean. There are around 20 themed rooms, all with different ice carvings.


We also enjoyed the Heineken bar, when we first walked in, the music was pumping, and ACDC was playing. Another fun fact, they use fridges at each bar, but to keep the drinks from freezing!!

You can have a drink at the bar in a ice cup, but only spirits, as its takes a bit longer to freeze. We had "sex on ice" and it started to freeze up in about 7minutes. You cant have beer in them, as it freezes up nearly immediately.

 

[Muppet501st]

You can also get married in their Ice Chapel


That night, we gave escargot a try with dinner, Wasn't too bad.

 

[Muppet501st]

Old Quebec City is very beautiful at night as well, we did a little exploring, before we needed to retreat to warm up. The forecast for the next day wasn't looking good, snow, then freezing rain.

 

[Muppet501st]

The next morning, we had a little play in the falling snow

We went exploring again around the lower old part


Since we were in Canada, we had to try Bison and Poutine

Since we were flying out early the next day, for the remainder of day, we did some shopping for the kids and took it pretty easy.

 

[24601]

It was nice to get out to the "real" America.

So we had just 2 nights in Cinnci and was great catching up with friends there.
Next stop was Quebec City via JFK with DL. I'll just mention, that we were only able to secure Economy Comport + (VA WP perk ) between JFK and YQB and back to JFK. All other sectors were chockers.
We checked to see what the weather was up to in Quebec City,..


HOLY S#*TBALLS . Both of us had never experienced a true northern hemisphere winter.


Whilst waiting to leave CVG, it started snowing petty heavily. Slight delays while the aircraft was de-iced. We were pretty lucky to get out before the airport was closed down. Fun fact, CVG is not in Ohio but in Kentucky

Thanks for the report, I also love to ee bits of more "ordinary" things overseas. And the de-icer looks like it is out of Star Wars.

 

[Major]

That sure looks cold...great photos

 

[robtemt]

Great photos. I hope you enjoyed middle America! So many people never get to see that part of America, and meet those Americans (All Americans aren't from LA, NY, or Vegas....) This last year, we spent Christmas in Colorado at my brothers house. Christmas eve, we made hot chocolate with Bailey's, and walked around the neighbourhood in the snow looking at all the Christmas lights, and listened to Carolers. Anyways, thanks for the post, it made me feel a bit nostalgic this morning!

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for these lovely photos. We will be in Quebec City in just over a month and while the conditions will be a bit different your photos have really whet my appetite.

Can you remember where you had your meal of poutine & bison? (as long as it tasted nice)

 

[Muppet501st]

Thanks for these lovely photos. We will be in Quebec City in just over a month and while the conditions will be a bit different your photos have really whet my appetite.

Can you remember where you had your meal of poutine & bison? (as long as it tasted nice)

Le Chic Shack. It was a short walk from the Hotel.
I wasn't impressed with the Bison, but a big fan of their Poutine. Make sure to have a milkshake