Usually people are homesick for, well, their home. The place they grew up, or somewhere near, or just a place that holds a lot of memories for them. Sure, when I go to camp, I get homesick, or something like that, but I have found that even here at home I get homesick. Well, I can't really call it homesickness. Perhaps Canada-sickness would be better. Because the the place I miss superly a lot is Quebec City, in Quebec, Canada. Oh. My. Gosh.
I've always thought that I loved cities, the hustle and bustle of everyone going place to place. But after traveling to Quebec City during Spring break of 8th grade with my parents, that view has completely changed. I LOVED it there. We stayed in Le Chateau Frontenac, a beautiful and majestic hotel built for the Canadian Pacific Railway. It's that building in the center left background of the photograph. Again. Oh. My. Gosh. It's beautiful inside and out, and the staff actually upgraded our room for free, which just added to the magnificence of it all. And once we left the hotel and went outside, I was basically in Heaven. The hotel is located on an elevated bluff looking out on the St. Lawrence River. We could take a Funicular (keyword: Fun-icular; they rock) down to the lower level (the funicular station is a little convenience store converted from the explorer Louis Jolliet's old home) where a lot of the shops were located, and all the quaint European type streets, narrow and filled with tons of colors. And the city is filled with historical landmarks as well, such as the Plains of Abraham, as mentioned in one of my favorite songs, "Acadian Driftwood" by The Band. Great song (the blog title is a lyric to the song; don't worry, most of the song is in English =]). But we drove there, and although it was closed that particular day, it was still awesome to witness the spot where the French so bravely fought the British, even though they were not victorious. Finally, everyone there speaks French as a first language. Nuff said, French rocks. It's gorgeous there, and I think about it too often. Perhaps I'll live there someday, among the beauty, the quaintness, and the Canadians.
