Those of you who have been following all the articles might remember reading that in December, I celebrated my birthday. It was a big one; it was my 21st! So did I go home for it and for Christmas? No! Although I missed my family and friends very much, I did do something a little more unusual and exciting instead. Along with four other UK British Council assistants, I road tripped across Canada and the States in order to celebrate New Year’s Eve in… drum roll please… New York City! We stopped a few times along the way and ticked off some cool destinations which I’ll tell you about now.
Terrebonne (very close to Montreal)
Terrebonne is where we spent the first night. We were all very excited and began the trip by treating ourselves to a manicure. It was a girls trip after all! In the evening, we went to a light show called Illumi Cavalia. It was incredible, both the light installations as well as the accompanying sound effects. There were themes in each section, starting off with a safari/ jungle set up followed by many others including a very heartwarming Winter Wonderland theme with penguins and igloos.
Ottawa (the capital city of Canada)
Before we reached Ottawa, we stopped at Parc Omega. What an amazing experience! It was a drive-through park where you could discover the wildlife of Canada within its natural environment. At the shop before the start you could buy carrots and feed them to the moose who would sometimes stick their heads into the car!
At the end of our first full day in Ottawa, we went to see an ice hockey game. The Ottawa Senators were playing a home game and won! The atmosphere was incredible too; at one point there was even a “kiss cam” where the camera would randomly zoom on people and those on the screen had to kiss!
The rest of the time was spent sightseeing and I also ate a Beaver Tail, which has nothing to do with meat! It’s like a flat doughnut with toppings such as chocolate hazelnut or cinnamon sugar. I had the pecan pie one – yum!
Before leaving Ottawa, we also did some food shopping because soon we would be somewhere more rural called Mississippi Mills where we would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in a very fancy cabin with a hot tub and sauna! It was incredible, although unfortunately there wasn’t enough snow to go snowshoeing!
Toronto (the largest city in Canada in terms of population)
I was incredibly impressed by Toronto; I’m sure that that was partly due to the fact that it was the polar opposite of the rural town of La Pocatiere where I’ve been living. One of the assistants on the trip had a friend in Toronto who gave us lots of advice and a tour of the nightlife too, full of cool dive bars and microbreweries! It ended with a plate of poutine of course…
Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake
It was very rainy when we visited the Falls, yet that didn’t take away from the sight at all. The town of Niagara-on-the-Lake was the physical embodiment of picturesque. It is very much worth a visit! We ate lunch there in an Irish pub and felt a little closer to home for a bit.
New York City
On Day 10, we reached the place in which we would say goodbye to 2019. What better place is there to celebrate NYE than NYC? I spent the night at a rooftop bar with a stunning view of the Empire State Building. It really was an unforgettable experience. The rest of the time, again, being very fortunate to have one of the assistant’s friends there to tour guide us, we spent our days discovering NYC through food. The NYC friend was a huge foodie (best kind of people) so I learnt invaluable information such as where to find the best cake in NYC (Plaza Hotel) and the best pizza (Brooklyn); that’s just to name a few!
Sherbrooke and Drummondville
After our first excursion out of Quebec since August, upon our return, it felt right to stop over in Drummondville and eat some poutine. Drummondville is one of the places that claims it is the hometown of poutine, and the diner where we ate claimed to be the exact place where it was invented! For those who have forgotten, poutine is the fast-food dish engraved in Quebec’s culture and consists of chips, gravy and cheese curds. Normally, the cheese curds are on top of the fries, but according to this diner, the original poutine had the cheese curds under the fries so that they would melt even more. A fact with which I’ve managed to impress even the Quebecois locals, now that I’m back in La Pocatiere. So there you go, if you ever find yourself in Quebec and you need a conversation starter, feel free to use it. Thank me later!