Day 7: City & Falls Tour

Just when you think things can't get any better!!!

Jenn Anderson & Jenn Michalchuk organized a bus tour of the cottage island, Montmorency Falls and downtown Old Quebec City.  The whole team, plus parents, Kassidy, Bailey, Rowan, Ryan and grandparents signed up. We were a group of 51 in total.

Our driver, Alain, spoke clear and fluent English. He was gracious and knowledgeable an expert driver and had a great sense of humour.  We were on our best behaviour as Alain told us he phones his 91 year old mother each night and gives her a summary of his day. He even waved towards her house as we passed it on the highway.

We shopped at a chocolate shop on the island. We stopped for an hour at the Falls and to take a tram to the top if we wanted to.

Then we grabbed lunch at Old Quebec, down by the river, and lastly took a driving tour which included the Chateau Frontenac, the Plains of Abraham, the Parliament and more.

Here are a few of the 84,000 photos that we took today.

**** Just a quick note to our families, if you are on an MTS cell plan, your data is only 'unlimited' in Manitoba. You could be racking up a big bill sending photos etc, unless you are logged into a wifi location. Just something to keep in mind so you don't have an ugly surprise on your MTS bill. Rogers customers have unlimited across Canada, with nearly all their plans.****

Best team selfie yet!! Thanks Rhonda!

Lost my goalie, so a D-man stepped in & made the photo save! 

Join us!! Got Air Miles?

If you feel the excitement at home, and wish you were here with us, you still have options.

Our next tournament game is Thursday, February 19th at 9:15 AM. (Opponent to be determined Monday.)

To buy a flight at retail, at this late notice will cost between $810 & $1000 depending on whether you choose Westjet or Air Canada and your flight times. However if you have 3250 Air Miles and $138 we can get you here.

This flight as shown will take you right into Quebec City, which is much easier. We speak from experience... if you land in Montreal it will take you an additional 4 hours to get here by car/bus. If you come all the way to Quebec City (YQB) you are a 15 minute taxi ride to the hotel. Much less stressful. 

The return flight, however, is the 24th from Montreal. (There are no Air Miles or Aeroplan options for the 23rd when we go home.) However, if you choose to use Air Miles just for a one-way ticket here, it will cost you 1950 miles and $78. To pay retail for whichever flight home you choose, is $400 or $500. Flying HOME from Montreal will be much easier. Jump on the team charter from Quebec City to get you there. 

If you are here already and you are hoping to make changes to your return flight and stay with us longer, you will have to pay a change fee to the airline. (Ranges from $50-125 depending on the airline and type of fare you purchased) PLUS you will pay the difference in what you paid for the flight segment previously, and the current market price of that new seat.  So, if you originally paid $250 for the flight home, and the new cost of your chosen flight is $500, you will need to pay the $250 difference and change fee to make that possible. 

Looking at aeroplan.com for last minute flights looked like a terrible way to do it. 14 hour flights with connections and 42,000 points. Not worth the time to look at. 

On the plane

A backpack is an excellent choice for your carry-on item. It will free up your hands for your boarding pass and identification, plus make life a lot easier if you are already toting a suitcase or hockey bag to the check-in desk.

Plus, backpacks are easily stowed at your seat on both planes and buses.

In whatever you choose to carry-on for our 12 hour journey to Quebec City, consider having the following items:

• ear phones
• hand santitizer (if liquid, put it in your liquid bag) 
• granola bar/protein bar/fruit bar
• gum
• empty plastic bag
• kleenex
• change of clothes
• medication 
• tylenol for headaches/ear pain etc
• ipad/tablet/phone/camera
• charger cables for iPad/phone/other
• book/magazine/cards 
• wallet

You may also wish to have a small travel pillow and/or blanket as airlines don't provide them anymore. 

You won't be able to take a bottle of water through security, but you can buy one, or refill a container once you are through security to the boarding area.

Westjet will offer a choice of soft drinks/juice/coffee and a choice of a salty (tiny flax crackers - kinda good if you are over 40) or sweet (chocolate wafer/cookie) about an hour into the flight at no charge.  They will also have a couple choices of snacks (like Pringles or beef jerky) and a couple sandwiches for sale/purchase. Note that the plane is a cash-less environment, meaning you must pay with either a visa or mastercard.

As a word of travel-safety, don't place your wallet in the outside pocket of your backpack as it makes it vulnerable to theft. And don't stow all your identification, cards and cash in one place.  

Wear comfortable clothes that don't have big zippers, belts or buckles as they will slow you down in security. Do wear your most bulky shoes/boots on the plane, as it will save you valuable packing space in your suitcase. 

As far as plane etiquette goes, consider it a church. (If you are an uneasy flier, you may end up praying anyways!)  There is NO SUCH THING AS 'JUST KIDDING' regarding terrorism, bomb jokes and airline safety. So, don't even think about whispering a joke that could get your team in trouble. Keep your language clean, your hands to yourself, use your best manners, and this will be a breeze.... and that goes for the players too. 

If you'd like to see another sample packing list there are several on-line, including this one. 

Here is the definitive list of rules and regulations regarding travel safety, from the government website itself. 

Language Barrier

Don't worry for one minute that there will be a language barrier that could prevent you from having an amazing trip. Speaking from experience, the people of Quebec are warm, helpful and certainly excellent hosts.

Hockey is hockey, in any language. And we are there to play hockey.  But, also know that you won't miss a meal or get left behind because you don't speak french. A warm smile and the word "merci" (thank you) will go along way in bridging the gap. You could also say, "merci beaucoup" (thank you very much).

"Bonjour" is hello. "S' il vous plait" means please.

This is another situation where teamwork is key! Know that Ty, Carter, Lex and Matthew are French Immersion students with a good command of the language and will help along the way. (Forgive me if I've missed our other Immersion students.)

If you haven't been to Quebec before, you will be in awe of the contrast to the Prairies. As one of the first points of access to Canada by settlers, you will quickly recognize their architecture, and history outdates ours. The architecture will look familiar to anyone who has been to Europe. Quebec City is recognized as one of the most european and most beautiful of all Canadian cities.

Did you know that Le Chateau Frontenac (A Fairmont hotel that resembles a castle) is THE most photographed hotel in the world? It's true! Google it!

If you'd like to see a few photos from Quebec City, you can check out this link. Riley and I visited Quebec City last summer and I wrote a few pages about it in my travel blog.

But this trip is all yours, so don't forget your camera, and your smile!




Cathie

Planning Tip: Packing

Our hotel has a guest laundry room. Considering the players wear their team gear religiously is makes good sense to pack lightly and plan to do a load of laundry while we're on the road. According to their website, the hotel does not have a pool or a work-out room.

To make the most of your luggage space, you can roll and store your t-shirts, underwear, socks, etc in jumbo ziploc bags. (See photo) You can further use this system as an organizational tool to know which shirts are still clean & which aren't. Once it's out of the ziploc, it's used.

Carry on bags (Your free bag that you tote onto the airplane yourself to your seat) can be a few different things, including a back-pack, purse, briefcase, 20" wheeled bag, or a gym-bag type thing. When you are packing it, make sure that any liquids are less than 100ml. YES, toothpaste, lip gloss and hand lotion are considered liquids. Each passenger may carry one liquids bag, up to 1L in size (provided at Security) in their carry on. You can pack bigger bottles etc in your checked baggage.


Sample 6 day packing list.

7 pairs of socks
7 underwear
3 t-shirts
1 turtleneck
1 long sleeve shirt
1 pullover sweatshirt
1 zip-up sweatshirts

8 or more ziplocs can fit in a 19" carry on.

2 track pants
1 jeans
pajamas
sneakers

toques/mittes/boots/ski pants
Dress shirt, pants, shoes/ties (2)

Cloth laundry bag
Laundry soap if you are brand sensitive

When packed in ziplocs, you can easily stay organize and present well for security checks.

Since 80% of checked baggage is black and/or very similar it is imperative that you have luggage date and your name/address/phone number on the outside and something on the inside should your tag get knocked off in transit. It is also highly recommended that you have an identifiable bright tag/scarf/charm/something so you can spot it on the carousel or, more importantly PREVENT someone else from mistakenly grabbing it thinking that it is theirs.

Both are carry-on size. The black is a wheeled 19".
Note the easy to see shark luggage tags.

Westjet Baggage Fees: Including Sports Equipment

Here are the relevant regulations.

Baggage fees and overweight penalties are paid at the check in counter.  Fees are per segment, not per round-trip flight. In our case, one checked bag is included for the return segment (YUL to YWG) because we have paid the 'Flex' fare.

Join us for a weekend?

Air Miles often offers last minute flights and sometimes you are lucky enough to grab them at a discount. A quick search today, revealed this option.

Searched at Noon on January 19th.

This would enable you to join the team for the final weekend, and travel home with us. Pretty amazing for $140. (And some Air Miles.)

I find though, that discounted flights are snapped up immediately. So, if this interests you, act quickly.

You can phone them at  1-888-247-6453 or log on to your account at www.airmiles.ca and search for flights.