Day 2 Tour -Boston to Quebec City

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Monday 11 October
Day 2 Boston to Quebec City 450miles


No need to mention it was an early start. This being our first organized tour we need to get In to the habit of the 6am early morning wake up calls luggage out the front of the room at 645am. It was to be a long day on the road. 

We made a pit stop at a supermarket, it was the most normal looking suoermarket I had seen in the whole trip so far. We bought some snacks for the bus for a few days and again were on our way.

Henk informs us of the overnight news as well as the upcoming temperatures and other facts and figures that are relevant in the areas traveling through.

The countryside just North of Boston was similar to the South. But as we travelled out of   Massachusetts through the states of New Hampshire and Vermont the terrain became more mountainous and the onset of fall very noticeable. I had to stop myself from laughing too loud when Teresa pointed out a sign indicating Mount Carmel. I wasn't quick enough to pull out my camera for the next sign. This time I couldn't contain my laughing, it read, "Park and Ride Mount Carmel Here". Lunch today was in the sleepy Town of Newport, Vermont. Sam our bus driver was led on a wild goose chase by Henk but the wait was worth it. A lakeside quaint restaurant and giftshop was our destination. A great meal was enjoyed by all, it was quite cheap for what it was. Keara bought some bling sneakers and I sneaked a quick small anniversary present for Teresa for tomorrow. 

We approached the Canadian border and got our passports ready, disembarked and stood in line for immigration to check our documents. 5 minutes later we were back on board and Sam had us in Canada. A few hours more we were in Quebec City, the capital of Quebec Province.  Two things were very noticeable to me, the first was that all the signposts were in French.....dammit I should have paid more attention to Madame Maskill in Year 10 French!!!!!!!! The second was...... It was damn cold. 

The Hotel Universal was our hotel for the night. My first impressions as we arrived was hmmmmmmm. From the look of the outside it reminded me of motels in the seventies, wrought iron balconies with chipped white paint and the sign was retro style lettering but actually from the seventies. We walked in and it was a bit better, to the left was a nice atrium with a lovely small heated pool and a sauna and spa. There was a day bed in there as well with some of the rooms walking out into this area. We made our way to the large room with2 double beds. Luckily the inside looked much much better than the exterior. 

We received our bags and after knocking on the wrong door summonses the Edwards family for some dinner. Carmel had already eaten her bagel and fruit from the bus, so wasn't too hungry. A quick walk to a shopping complex and we were seated in the first restaurant we could understand the menu, which happened to be a pasta joint that had 277 combinations of pasta sauces and ingredients. Again a nice meal for a reasonable price. A quick trip to another supermarket and then back to the room.  

As I said, it was a long day. We showered watched a little tv and then hit the sack for another 6am wake up call.      

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