2022 Fordham Preparatory Canada Cultural Journey

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6/17

Written by Dany Drotos

Madame kindly gave us an extra hour of sleep to rest after the bike tour. We enjoyed the McGill breakfast options which included a buffet. We finished our late breakfast and headed to the Notre Dame Basilica. The Church was beautiful and had a heavy English gothic influence. The group had a 40 minute free time outside of the cathedral to do some more souvenir shopping. We ate at Ô Four, a delicious middle eastern cuisine and departed back to McGill. We enjoyed free time in the building. Bruce and Zach lost to Danny and Milo in basketball twice. We enjoyed dinner at Alto’s Italian Restaurant and headed down to Cirque Du Solei! It was an amazing show and a once in a lifetime experience. It was a perfect mix of acrobatics, comedy, and intensity, which made it the highlight of the trip for many of us.

6/16

Written by Milo

Today was our first full day in Montreal. As we toured the city it was clear to see that it was much more similar to New York than Quebec was, as it was much more urban with a subway system, more modern high rises, and skyscrapers. Also, while walking through the streets hearing conversations in English was not uncommon, like it was in Quebec. The city was not all too similar to NYC though. For example, on our bike tour through Montreal we stopped for bagels which were much thinner, sweeter, and lighter than the signature New York bagels and the central hole was also much wider. After our bike tour, we had lunch accompanied by a graffiti lesson where we practiced different styles and finished with designing our own trucker hats. Even though we got caught in a wild thunderstorm twice throughout the day, during our bike ride and upon our return home from lunch, it merely added excitement and the day was very enjoyable nonetheless. We wrapped up our first day in Montreal with an exhilarating basketball game and a quaint dinner from an Italian restaurant not far from our hotel.

6/15

Written by Matthew

We arose this morning and had our final breakfast at Le Concorde Hotel together. After breakfast, we embarked on a pleasant stroll to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, a short walk down the Grande Allée. At the museum, we saw several interesting and unique exhibitions, including a large one showcasing contemporary American artists and their work, and artwork inspired by the Eskimos, among others. After touring the museum for a few hours, we had a pleasant lunch in the cafe in the atrium. After lunch, we bid farewell to our excellent and helpful guide in Quebec City, Madame Boucher. We walked back to the hotel and collected our luggage, before boarding the bus to Montreal. The ride was rather comfortable, and we passed the time playing cards or some such. After over two hours of travel, we diverted from the highway and into the countryside, where we stopped at the renowned sugar shack, Cabane du Pic Bois. The proprietor Andre gave an informative demonstration about the syrup-making process, and led us on a brief tour of the woods to show us the maple trees that produce the sap. Afterwards, we indulged in a sample of each of the three primary maple syrups produced there. Each one was excellent, and we all purchased some wares from the shop. We boarded the bus again and soon arrived in Montreal. We had a pleasant dinner together at an Asian eatery in Montreal’s Chinatown. Despite a snafu with our initial hotel, we found excellent lodging in the dormitories of McGill University. The accommodations were nice, and there were plenty of amenities for us to enjoy. The group was quite tired after an exciting day and we adjourned to our chambers shortly after arrival.

6/14

Written by Tyler

Today we are going to the citadel of Quebec. I heard that Quebec is the only walled city north of Mexico and that this was the main fortifications of the city if they were to be attacked. When we got there we could see active military soldiers walking around. Then we meet our tour guide and he explained the flags that were flying. One was the flag of Canada and the other one was the provenance of Quebec but there was one flag to the side which was for the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth the II. Then we went and saw the practice of the changing of the Guard. After that we saw the old prison and it also was the last line of defense if the citadel went under attack. We had to leave a bit early from the citadel because we had an appointment at the parliament of Quebec. It was almost like going through the airport we had to show our ID’s then have our bags go thought a X-ray. When we got in we received a name tag with our name and a scanner so you could scan into the building. They showed us the new part of the parliament first that was made in 2018. Then we went up a staircase to the old part of the parliament that had all the conference rooms where all the people in the parliament talk and discuss. We were allowed to sit down and take a picture in the chairs. Then we got dinner and settled down for the night.

Day 3

Written by Kaine Tipton

After another day of French class, our small group of adventurers began to embark on another journey. Our next destination was one of Quebec’s most beautiful works of nature , the waterfall known as Chutes-Montmorency. It’s one of the provinces most spectacular sites, standing 30 meters higher than Niagara Falls. It’s beauty and majesty captivated our minds as we viewed the waterfall from above and below. Many of us took pictures and were in awe of the sight. For me personally, looking up at the waterfall was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I’ve always found water calming, serene, and beautiful to watch. The Chutes-Montmorency really calmed me as I watched the water spill over the falls and flow into the ocean. It’s amazing how nature can be so beautiful.

After we had a quick lunch, rode a cable car overlooking the falls, took a long bus ride, and ate pizza for dinner. Then we walked to our next destination: The Ghost Tours of Quebec. There we followed a tour guide around Quebec and Old Quebec, where he told stories of haunting and murders based on true stories. His stories tantalized us as we sat eerily listening in the dark, waiting to hear the outcome of the story. The stories contained a hint of terror and fear, just enough to have us on the edge of our seat, hungry for more. Conclusively, the ghost tour gave us insight into the supernatural things said to have happened in Quebec while entertaining us with stories that kept us hooked. The ghost tour was an exceptional part of the trip and one of my personal favourite events.

In my opinion, the best part of that day cannot be decided. The Chutes-Montmorency took out breath away with it’s beauty as we watched, bewitched by its glorious elegance and allure. In addition, the ghost stories told by our guide we’re very interesting and enchanted us as we listened. Perhaps the best part of that day was the time spent together as friends looking for new adventures. Either way, the day was exciting, satisfying, and amazing from beginning to end. Let’s hope tomorrow is even better. Until next time, au revoir!

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Written by Bruce Williams

Today was the third day in Quebec. We started off the day with breakfast in the restaurant in our lobby with french toast, eggs, bacon, jam, authentic maple syrup, and a plufthera of fruits. Then we all headed to our second day of French classes. We spend our class learning more French vocabulary, grammer, and pronunciation. It was great in my class because I felt like we were all getting a better grasp on French which half of the group never learned before. After French class, we sat in the cafeteria and ate sandwiches and bonded more with our tour guide, Niko and tested the French we learned on him. After lunch, we headed to the most anticipated part of the tour. Le Chutes de Montmorency. We took a 40 minute bus ride up to the falls that was worth every minute. The falls were incredible and mesmerising. We walked around the whole waterfall including over it on a bridge, where we held our phones tightly while we took many pictures. Then we saw a zipline that went over the waterfall that Madame Morris said no to because she didn’t think our parents didn’t sign waivers. Then we walked about 500 steps down to the funicular where madame Morris treated us to some snacks and then rode the funicular up and went back to the bus and most of the boys including me had a great nap. Then for dinner, we ate special Quebec pizza with ham under the cheese and diced sausages on top, Finally, we went on a ghost tour of Quebec where we learned about ghost stories from the history of Quebec with ice cream in our hands treated by our tour guide Niko. I was interested in the history of Quebec and the ghosts that were in the city. Then when the tour was over we went on the bus and played some music and then went to bed when we got into the hotel. I can say that this has been one of the best days and I’m looking forward to many more experiences like this in Canada.

Day 2

Written by Zach Woloff

Today was our second day in Quebec. We started off the day with the extensive buffet in the lobby of our hotel, Hotel Le Concorde Quebec. After that, we took the bus to school. We were in school for 3 hours where we worked on our writing and speaking. It was a great experience where the group was able to express their French knowledge and feel free to try new words and expressions. After French classes, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed down to the lower city of Quebec. In the lower city is the Museum of Civilization. The museum had many fascinating exhibits including ones on poop, Eskimos, and Pompeii. The exhibits on Pompeii had many artifacts and tools the civilians of the city use on a day-to-day basis. There are many forms of interactive experiences where students were able to ”dig up” and “rebuild” artifacts digitally. It was a great museum with tons of fun and exciting information. After we left we had some time before dinner, so we walked around the local neighborhood finding many interesting art galleries. Myself, Bruce, Aidan and Nicolas all went inside one of the galleries and found many abstract paintings. My favorite one was a painting of Time Square at night. Finally we had dinner at Asia: an Asian restaurant located in the old city. Before we left for a hotel we got a quick bite of ice cream and then headed back to get some well needed rest. It was a great day and I loved it so much, and I can’t wait for tomorrow!

6/11/22

Written by Aidan Cassidy

After a long day of traveling, our group was excited and prepared for the beginning of a great trip. After waking up, we prepared ourselves for the adventure that was to come after a good night’s sleep and ate a great breakfast before Nicholas gave us the orientation for the journey. During the orientation, we talked about how we would try to use our “Grad at Grad” values through reflecting and having an open mind to the new things that we would find in Canada. Having this mindset created a better experience for the whole group, as we can get better exposure to the amazing culture of Québec.

After the orientation, we walked through the Plains of Abraham Park exploring all of the cannons and forts that stood there to defend the city from attacks. Our group especially enjoyed the views of the St. Lawrence River and the city itself. We walked the entire length of the park until we ended up in Old Québec. The Architecture really made you feel like you had stepped right into Europe. One of the best parts of the city is how walkable it is. We must have taken 15 thousand steps yesterday. We strolled through the cobblestone streets of Old Québec until we got lunch at Le Casse-Crépe Breton. After we ate, we took a guided tour of Old Québec, where we eventually made our way down to the Champlain area.

After exploring the beautiful streets of this part of the city, we practiced our French when we ordered popcorn from a small shop. It was a little intimidating at first, but we were glad we did it after because having a real interaction is probably one of the best ways that we will improve our French. We then went back to the hotel to have some time to relax before dinner. We then went to dinner and took a ferry ride across the river to get a different perspective of the city at night and it was beautiful. All the buildings were illuminated with different colors. When we got back to the Québec side of the river, we got ice cream and then headed back to the hotel for a good night’s rest. One of the highlights of today was strolling around the streets of old Québec. It felt like we were in France due to the beautiful architecture and the prominence of the language. We are all very tired and excited for our French lessons to begin tomorrow!