Voyage à Québec: Day 2

Disclaimer: I am not sure why the video quality is so poor. If anyone has any advice for that please comment. Thanks!

The second day of our trip to Québec was dedicated to experiencing the Québec Winter Carnival. The Carnival is truly an amazing experience, and something that everyone needs to experience in their lifetimes. The Carnival has things for people of all ages, and to make the experience even better, the carnival was very budget friendly. As mentioned in my earlier post, for simply $15 Canadian, one can access all the attractions for 3 weeks. I can not stress enough how much we enjoyed our trip. The people were nice, the food was good, and the experience was unforgettable.




Part of our beautiful walk to the Carnival

In front of the Capital Building

To begin our day, we ate breakfast in our apartment then headed over to the carnival dressed in many MANY layers. At the carnival we ate some tire d'erable (our favorite snack) then headed over to snow tubing. At the bottom of the tubing hill, we each grabbed a tube then walked up to the top of the hill. Once at the top you could decide to either go down solo or in a pair. Each time I went down in a pair. I would recommend leaning in towards the chute walls for some "turbulence" to add excitement to your ride. Another important thing to mention about the carnival is that the lines were not bad at all. The longest we ever waited in line was about 8 minutes.

After snow tubing, we looked at some magnificent snow sculpture and the many exhibits that were set up lining the path to the main "food/warmth tent".

Walking through the Carnival

Ice Furniture

Snow sculpting (soldiers carrying a casket)

After warming up we went dog sledding. Dog sledding was a great experience! The workers and dogs were in good spirits. The worker leading my sled even let me drive! I will worn though, the dog sled rides are short in length, but you will certainly get your money out of this amazing experience! Unlike the rest of the events in the main carnival area, dog sledding and sleigh rides DO cost money. Dog sledding is $8 for kids and $10 for adults. Sleigh rides (which we weren't able to do) are $7 per person.

Ice fishing

Next, we went ice fishing (which is free, but upon catching a fish it does cost to have it cooked). This was another great experience. Just like everywhere in Québec, the workers were very friendly and ready to help. The area for ice fishing appeared to be a large tank stocked with trout. In the tank there were holes cut into plastic which was covered in a thick layer of snow. Covering each hole was a bucket. To fish one would move the bucket (I would sit upon mine) and put the bait in. A fish was caught anywhere from 1-7 minutes later. It was a fairly fast experience due to the fish being so hungry.

Beautiful icicles on a wreath

After fishing we went into the city for lunch, then hiked back to our apartment to warm up. Once warm, we prepared for my most memorable experience of the entire trip. We grabbed our towels, a warm hat, and our swimsuits and headed back to the carnival to enjoy the Arctic Spas Village. In this unique Scandinavian experience one goes into a "heated" changing room (hardly felt warmer than the outdoor air) and changes into a bathing suit with a winter hat on to hold in body heat. Once changed one ventures out of the changing room into a hot tub heated to about 97 degrees. Once in the hot tub you hardly feel cold... But you don't forget the chilly external air due to the ice forming atop the hot tub's foam and in your hair and hat. To add to the experience it is highly recommended that you get out of the hot tub and roll around in the snow. At first we thought anyone who would do that was crazy, but to our surprises we each got out and rolled around in the snow then quickly hoped back into the hot tub. After the hot tub you get into a sauna to warm up before finally changing out of your swim suits and back into your many winter clothes. The entire experience was unforgettable, and afterwards we were each feeling very energized and ready to take on the world.

For dinner, we grabbed some soup at one of the carnival vendors for only $2 Canadian, and it was some of the best soup we have ever had. After the soup, we continued to explore the carnival,  including a stop at Bonhomme's magnificent palace, until we were overwhelmed with cold and fatigue and headed home. At home we ended the night with some delicious raspberry pastries (that only cost $2 Canadian for a box of 12) and milk before we crawled into our warm beds to end a great day in Québec City.

Delicious $2 Canadian soup!

Inside Bonhomme's Ice Palace

Bonhomme the (creepy) snowman