Quebec City - So Europe, So Close

After using up quite a bit of my 2014 vacation time with a February trip to Europe, an April trip to Florida and my final week tied up for a December destination wedding in Punta Cana, I was excited when an opportunity arose for a little weekend getaway in Old Town Quebec City. 

I knew very little about Quebec City prior to arriving, other than that it was one of the oldest cities in Canada, the only North American ‘walled city’ north of Mexico and also the holy grail of French culture in the country.
                

Upon pulling up to our hotel (Le Manoir d’Auteuil) within the fortified walls of Old Town, we were quickly immersed in shades of our European adventure a few months earlier. Old Town Quebec is split into two historic segments, Haute-Ville (or Upper Town) and Basse-Ville (or Lower Town). The Upper town sits atop a plateau overlooking the region and the majestic St. Lawrence River, with Lower Town down below. Both parts of Old Town are quite interesting, historic and worth exploring. 
  
We began our time here with a walk down Rue St. Jean, a tourist hub with a variety of restaurants and shopping. The main part of the street was blocked off from traffic which turned it into a European style pedestrian zone which was pretty cool. When we were done wandering we set in for some good pizza eats at Mille Et Une Pizzas. The thin crust pizza was excellent and on par with one of my favorite Toronto Pizza restaurants, Pizzeria Libretto. As night was approaching and we were tired from the travel we decided to settle in for some gelato and catch a (fully bilingual!) street performance in a city square in front of the historic Notre Dame de Quebec cathedral. 

Bustling Rue St. Jean

Street Performer in the square

Saturday we were up early and first headed to the Citadelle, a military fortress just outside of the walls of Old Town. While it may have been interesting to walk around the Citadelle, we were not prepared to pay $16 per person to enter its main core. We got there just in time for the ceremonial “changing of the guard” (10am) and were able to see some of the action from the common areas outside of the paid center. 

'Changing of the Guard' underway at the Citadelle

From there we ventured to the neighboring Plains of Abraham. A formal battle site turned public parkland. We strolled across some of the many different paths weaving through the rolling hills. There isn’t all that much to see here, but a visit to the south edge of the park which overlooks the St. Lawrence is a must. 

Finding our way at the Plains of Abraham

After taking in the views we decided to head down a massive wooden staircase to Lower Town. These stairs were unlike anything I had been on before and seemed to go forever. If you are nervous about heights then I would definitely avoid them as they are quite steep and imposing. Once we (finally) reached Lower Town we were able to walk alongside the river bed with some nice views, cool old houses and plenty of other walkers, runners and cyclists. We eventually reached Rue du Petit Champlain, a narrow pedestrian zone street with plenty of souvenir and boutique shopping along with a slew of restaurants. This was a charming area, if you can get past the thick crowds. Upon reaching the end we choose to skip the pay-per-ride funicular back to Upper Town and instead took another set of lengthy, however less imposing, stairs back to the top. 

Cool looking homes along the river-front

View of Rue Petit Champlain

Our next stop back in Upper Town was the centerpiece of Quebec City architecture, the Chateau Frontenac Hotel. This towering giant of a building can be seen from all over the city and we spent some quality time walking around it’s perimeter as well as the surrounding area known as the Dufferin Terrace. We were able to enter the hotel and explore the lobby areas, but felt the views from outside were much more impressive. 

  

The beautiful Chateau Frontenac

View of the St. Lawrence River from the Dufferin Terrace

While in that area we stopped for lunch at Le Chic Shack. A trendy little quick-service spot which specializes in burgers and poutine. We were impressed with the food although felt it was a bit overpriced for a quick lunch. Afterwards we headed back to Rue St. Jean and enjoyed some sunshine on a patio with a beer. While the beer and people-watching were nice, the service was terrible so we quickly left and had a 2^nd drink on our hotel’s patio. 

Smoked meat poutine from Le Chic Shack

Ice cold Boreale on Rue St. Jean

Dinner that night was spent at La Pizzalo, the top-rated Pizza spot in the city. While the pizza was unique and service excellent, we agreed that their signature cheese overflow was a little much for our tastes and made their paper-thin crusts almost disappear. 

Our final evening saw us grabbing a drink on Rue Grand Allee, a hotspot of nightlife with several bars/restaurants in a row all with jam-packed front-facing patios and music pumping. Definitely the spot to be if you’re looking to party in Quebec City.

Mike @ Palms & Pints 
@palmsandpints

The Guys Trip: Tampa, Florida - Part 2 of 2

Our third day in ‘The Bay’ began with another early morning to maximize the fantastic weather. After a quick stop at the breakfast buffet we were on our way to Fort De Soto Park. This is a protected beach area with pristine sand and sparkling water. While it lacks the action and amenities of Clearwater Beach, we figured it would be a nice change of pace for a few hours. It lived up to its billing, however the winds became quite intense and started to take away from our beach-going experience. After getting sand-blasted for a good hour or so we decided to pack up and head to a beach bar for lunch and drinks.

The calmness of Fort De Soto Park

Gotta love that crystal clear water

Using my handy iPhone equipped with a US roaming data package, I was able to find a highly regarded beach bar called Bongo’s in nearby St. Pete Beach. It covered our criteria of great seafood options and an ocean-view patio. This was actually the in-house restaurant of a popular beach resort complex. Good eats, drinks and cigars followed and as usual I received a healthy dose of “props” from the boys for this clutch find. After lunch we decided to take advantage of what would be our final hours of sunshine on the trip by catching some more rays on famous St. Pete Beach.

Little lunch action beach-side at Bongos

Aside for the equally impressive white sand and clear water, St Pete Beach was nothing like the bustling Clearwater Beach. It’s possible that the fact that it was quite windy and a Monday could have had a lot to do with it. We took our waterproof camera into the ocean and got some great shots while avoiding the sandstorm that was building on land.

Going for a TD pass at St Pete Beach 

Once back in Tampa for the evening we chose to head back to Ybor City, as there seemed to be quite a bit going on there a couple nights earlier before we had to leave for the game. We started off the night yet again at Tampa Bay Brewing Co. for some more cider wings and other assorted apps. While deciding where to head next we were approached by a group, led by two suggestively dressed women who advised us that there was a great karaoke night happening at a bar down the street. The single friends in our group were instantly sold, and we headed on over.

Tampa Bay Brewing Co. - One last time 

The bar, Dopple Decker, was a tad divey, but had a decent crowd and reasonably priced drinks so we decided to stick around. My buddy John, riding high on 'liquid courage' asked me to sign him up for some karaoke, which I did. What followed was a decidedly awful, yet hilariously entertaining rendition of Nirvana’s “In Bloom”. (R.I.P Kurt, 20 Years). We stuck around for a few more songs after that, before heading back to the hotel to try and make a little more of a dent in our in-house booze stash as we were now in our 2nd last night of the trip.

A 'legendary' performance, and by 'legendary' I mean 'drunk'

We woke up the morning of our final full day in Tampa to cool temps and a steady rain. As we were expecting this, we had made plans to drive out to Ellenton, for a little outlet shopping. A combination of crappy weather, big crowds and lack of any significant deals caused us to tire of the shopping experience rather quickly. As we were in line at the mall’s disappointing food court, my iPhone and data plan once again came to the rescue and we were off to an authentic BBQ joint only a few minutes away.

Hickory Hollow provided us with some delicious southern BBQ fare including pulled pork, ribs, rotisserie chicken, and of course delicious corn bread! We were soon stuffed beyond proper function and returned to the hotel in preparation of the main event of the trip. A (sadly, nearly meaningless) hockey game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and our hometown Toronto Maple Leafs!

The boys are ready for game time! 

After cleaning up from the beach and indulging in a few pre-game adult pops in the room we headed down to the hotel’s happy hour for a couple bites and of course the free beer. We had the front-desk call us a cab, and we were advised it would be up to a 45min wait. Well over an hour later (with the free beer still flowing) there was no sign of our cabbie. Eventually one pulled up looking for “Shane”. Since no one else was in sight we decided ‘what the hell’ and jumped in with our incognito coffee cup brewskis.

Lots of coffee consumed on this trip

We arrived at the stadium to a large crowd and some pre-game festivities out front. As beer prices were through the roof, we just decided to head to our seats a bit early. Our group had to split up into two packs of three, but all of us had awesome seats to the game. We passionately belted out O’Canada, but unfortunately that’s where our cheering ended as the Leafs were bounced 3-0 in a rather dull affair. After the final buzzer we made our way back to the Bud Light Party Deck for some more of their famous $2 draughts. While drowning our sorrows we met a couple of friendly locals. One of whom was a Lightning fan/season ticket holder who was originally from Toronto, and now is living and working in Tampa. We also met a chick who came to the game solo after her friend bailed on her and she kindly offered to take us to some hot spots downtown.

Loving their seats 

Making friends @ the Bud Light Party Deck

First stop was Hooters, which was closed (common mid-week theme apparently)… so we sauntered a little further to a really cool adult slushie bar. Basically a room that looked like a high-end ice cream parlor with about two-dozen flavors of alcoholic slushies. Being the frozen drink connoisseur that I am, this was quite the find. We stayed here as long as we could until they (politely) kicked us out. After that we hung out on their patio a little longer before heading back to the hotel. We spent our final hour with a few more drinks, before retiring for the night and catching a flight back to reality in the morning.

Alcoholic slushie anyone?

Random Musing – with a return connection in DC, I realized that the North American terminal @ Ronald Regan National Airport is a joke. No duty-free, under 5 food options, tiny and crowded.

Mike @ Palms & Pints
@palmsandpints

Bavaria and Bohemia

After a happily uneventful flight across the pond, we exited the Munich airport and headed towards the S-Bahn station. We were greeted by a beautiful modern outdoor terrace, featuring no less then it's very own brewery... AirBrau! I had come to Munich for the beer culture, and though Oktoberfest was not in the recent past nor approaching future, I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed.

German beer culture starts at the airport.

First stop was Marienplatz, the historic centre of Munich. You are instantly taken in by an "awe moment" as you raise up the subway escalator and into the square. The towering Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) is the focal point of a magnificent collection of architecture.

There is nothing "new" about the New Town Hall (by North American standards)

German beer and cuisine were an integral part of the stop. We visited two historic beer halls, Hofbrauhaus and Augustiner. Both of which had the expected excellent beer and great authentic eats. From what I had researched, Hofbrauhaus was more famous yet considerably more touristy (probably because of it's location a stone's throw from the square). This turned out to be quite accurate, however I would advise any beer lover, or really anyone interested in Bavarian culture to definitely make both of these spots high priority when in Munich.

PS - Try the pork knuckle!

One delicious litre of Munich's finest.

Our time in Munich wasn't long, so other than wandering the Marienplatz area, the only other outing of note was to Olympic Park. This massive area of the city was designed for the 1972 Summer Olympics, however it was tough to get excited about it in 2014. A sprawling series of facilities that were no longer state-of-the-art, nor even really in use (granted, it was February). We paid about 5 Euro to head up to the top of the Olympic tower. The views of the distant Alps made the admission almost bearable, but all-in-all I would leave Olympic Park off your Munich itinerary.

The next stop on our journey took us to Prague, the historic capital of Bohemia. Prague had been on my bucket list for quite some and it was almost surreal to think I was finally getting there. As we stepped off the bus and began walking down the cobbled streets towards our hotel, I couldn't help but feel more out of place than I had ever felt before. The city felt very eastern to me, sort of how I would imagine Moscow or Belgrade. The streets were constantly intersecting and the names nearly impossible to pronounce. When we finally came into the Old Town Square, we were relieved, but at the same time excited to explore this fascinating city.

The unique language certainly adds to the allure.

The "City of a Hundred Spires" is home to the most beautiful section of urban land I have ever seen. Staroměstské Náměstí (Old Town Square) is a marvel of architecture, a functioning work of art. Each of our three days in the city started and ended with a stroll-about/photo session with the historic centre of Old Town.

Tyn Church & Old Town Square - at it's best at night. 

Coming in an admirable 2nd place on my Prague attractions list is Charles Bridge. The beautiful old gothic bridge connecting Old Town with Lesser Quarter. Hopefully the crowds aren't too thick and you can casually walk across while taking in the immense history and breathtaking views. 

Charles Bridge - Beautiful sites galore in Praha.

Other highlights of Prague included the mammoth Prague Castle complex and the historically important/modern shopping destination Wenceslas Square.

I wouldn't consider Prague a premier destination for foodies, but a great traditional restaurant to sample Czech cuisine was Kotleta, right in Old Town Square. The Czechs do know their beer though, Pilsner Urquell, the original Pilsner is the nectar of the gods! 

While my next venture to Germany will likely see me head north to explore Berlin, I can easily see myself returning to Prague soon, as three days was not enough to uncover it's vast beauty and intricate history. 

Thanks for reading. I'm currently continuing my European adventure in Northern Italy, and looking forward to posting again on Monday, ciao!

Hotel Reviews:
Hotel Stadt Rosenheim - Munich
The Emblem Hotel - Prague

Mike @ Palms & Pints