I got back a few days ago and damn....I'm already bored. I guess that always happens after going on vacation then coming back to normal life. I haven't been inspired to sew anything, which is really all the fills up my time. But, on a good note, if getting out of Texas did anything for me...it was re-enforce how much I want to get out of Texas. So, my job search begins yet again, full power this time. SOMETHING. I got a contact though, my cousin's cousin works for Save Darfur in Chicago, so if nothing else, I'll be able to ask her questions about how to get into the field...or something.
Well, my trip. Spent a lot of the time looking at houses for my
parents, I won't bore you with a lot of pictures of those though.
After seeing quite a few houses, they found one they liked and made an
offer on it right before we left. They got a counter-offer and then
counter-offered back on yesterday, so it is still up in the air whether
they will get the house or not. Here is a shot of it.
On the days we weren't looking at houses (and sometimes the days we
were) we were still going, going, going. Sightseeing (amazing there
are things we haven't seen up there), book shopping, etc. Out to the
cape (a few times. Once to search for a Tibetan store in Hyannis,
where I ended up buying some cute skirts, another time because we were
searching for a book store and where my uncle works and my parents
nearly starved me to death, and another time to go to some gardens in
Sandwich). We also went to a house/mansion/garden in Bristol, went to
Boston with my cousin, and then went up to Quebec.
Oh, and two things I learned about Massachusetts: 1) People will
actually stop for you to let you cross the street 2) 'Regular'
coffee=cream and sugar. Doesn't 'regular' generally mean 'as it
comes'? Not 'with crap added'? Whatever. Only made that mistake once
:P
Here are a few pics...We'll go backwards, first, Quebec
The first 2 pictures are actually in Littleton,
New Hampshire (Last one is Chateau Frontenac). It is a really cute
little town and we found the most fantastic little cafe right on the
river. Ahh, they don't even have rivers like that in Texas. The place
had a covered bridge and a water-wheel run griss mill that still made
pancake mix daily :P Other than that, the town didn't really have
anything. But it had potential.
Quebec was great. MUCH more French than I ever would have imagined, I don't know what I expected. Since the trip was last minute I didn't have time to brush up on my French so I had quite a bit of trouble ordering something without meat that night, which is apperently a rarity in Quebec, plus we had some problems finding people who spoke English outside Quebec City. I had trouble with food the entire time I was there actually.
Anyway, cute town. I'm still amazed that the central focal point of the town (the 'castle') is actually a hotel. Damn impressive looking, but I had no idea that it was built as a hotel and not a chateau turned into one or something. Just shows my ignorance. It was pretty though and I have MANY pictures of it. The city itself was very touristy. It was like a larger version of the French Quarter, tacky souvenir shops, lots of people, street performers, small streets, etc. I was impressed by their golf course though, where you had to dress in 19th century clothing to be able to play on it. They should do that everywhere. We took a bus tour and spent the rest of the day walking around, I don't want to bore you with details, lol.
The next morning I made my parents go back over to see the changing of the guard at the Citadel. LONG. 45 minutes! Longer than the one I had seen in England, but....there was a Tibetan goat mascot. Which made it all worth it.
Ohh, just a little detail, I really enjoyed Chinatown. I haven't been there in years and totally forgot what it was like. Not that it mattered, I went with a different view of it after being in China. It was fantastic. Definitely not geared towards tourists (like I sort of remember San Fransisco being), nothing was translated, no touristy shops. It was actually like a little China for the people that lived there. They would never have to leave! They had small hole-in-the-wall restaurants (just like China!), markets, electronic shops, salons, etc. All in Chinese! God, it made me want to go back so bad. Or at least start studying Chinese again so I don't forget it all!
I should have taken more pictures of things, but I'm there fairly often so I ever think about it. Anyway, more pictures and details about the trip can be found at the album I made up. It's easier for me that way :)
Quebec Album
The rest of the pics
That's it for now!
~Nikki
