Selena and I went to Canada this past weekend to ring in the New Year. On Thursday evening, we picked up friends Catherine and Tom in Columbia and made the 10 hour trip to see our neighbors to the North.

DRIVING

Ten hours is a long car ride, fourteen hours (for the return trip) is even longer. We discovered that The Simpsons DVDs are an excellent source of entertainment, even for the driver who is only listening. Entourage and The Office (British) are very poor choices to just listen to, as everyone sounds like the same person.

Other learnings include:

• When you leave DC at 4pm, you get to South Philly cheesesteak district at a perfect time for dinner.
• According to a rest stop, America stopped the British coming down the Hudson River by placing a super-large chain across the river (a la the Battle of Kings Landing for those A Clash of Kings fans).
• There is no good shortcut around Albany.
• Cooperstown is way too far off the highway to just “bop over”.
• The NJ Turnpike is a far faster road than the Pocono Mountain-climbing I-81.
• Every street in Canada is named after a Saint.

QUEBEC

Quebec, not to be confused with l’Quebec (the province), is the walled city on the hill overlooking the St. Lawrence River. I’ve never seen a walled city in America before. Other interesting findings about Quebec:

• The US attempted to invade Quebec during that Revolutionary skirmish in the late 1700s.
• Maple Syrup can be used for a LOT more things than just waffles and pancakes.
• The Basilica of St Anne de Buparte, just outside Quebec is absolutely gorgeous; it rivals St. Paul’s (in London) in my mind.
• It is really cheap to book a nice room in the heart of Quebec City.
• It is really really really f’n cold in Quebec in the middle of winter.

MONTREAL

We stayed with our friend Danielle and her family who live outside the city. The Veins were extremely hospitable and cooked us this great breakfast called Eggs in a Hole (hallow out the center of a large piece of bread and fill that hole with a friend egg and serve, it was delish). Further knowledge from Montreal:

• Montreal is named for Mount Royal, the very-generously labeled “mountain” where you can look down over the whole city.
• Les Six Fantastik rocks. They are the bilingual Montreal-based equivalent of Corduroy, but with more to work with; they have a horn a fiddle and a hot chic in the band.
• Montreal ATMs do not recognize Wachovia as a banking institution, but they are familiar with Chevy Chase Bank
• The Viens family know how to cook, to drink and to party. Fun times.
• Eucharistic items double as curse words in Canada. “You Tabernacle” = very hurtful insult.
• Poutine (French fries with cheese and gravy) is the greatest food ever.

There was so much to the trip, and I’ll tell the rest a thousand words at a time. Click here to jump over to Flickr and check out the photos from the trip. And since International rates would have applied, and therefore we get a chance to say it sooner.

Happy New Year!

technorati tags:montreal, quebec, canada