Q for Quebec

I miss Mumbai (even though I am right here). I miss taking you around in my adopted city. I miss writing about my life here and now. My vivid travel around the world in 26 days has caught up with me. Full stop. At Q. How convenient (not). I'm sitting here staring blank out the window. What do I do now? And Q? Where on earth do we have a dream destination starting with a Q?

Well, in Mumbai we have Queen's Necklace, a wonderful promenade along the sea shore. Good for walks and to see and be seen:-) It's getting hot here now, and every evening people are gathering at the beaches and sea shores - to cool off a bit... Or you can cool off in Snow World in a mall. You put on a jacket and boots and are inside a fake snowy cold room. I found it hilarious, but then one day my son told me that he has friends who have never seen snow in their life. It was exotic to them. I shut my mouth. I love the climate in Mumbai, but imagine I lived somewhere extremely hot - maybe my idea of a dream destination would be to go somewhere extremely cold?

And then it hit me. I could see my Q coming sliding towards me, on an icy slope... Yes, this city I had wanted to travel to, and it was in a country I had wanted to visit for so long (not at least after having a Canadian as my best friend in Greece a long time ago). 

You see, the Canadian city Quebec is known for winter carnivals and ice sculptures, and that sure seems like a tempting destination on a hot Mumbai day. What makes it also interesting is that it is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one to have French as its only provincial language. The Quebec Act of 1774 was an act that provided the inhabitants their first charter of rights and made way for the official recognition of French language and culture. I always indulged in these wars of the British and the French, it pops up anywhere in the world, doesn't it? Quebec is therefor rightly called the center of French-speaking culture in North America. It's culture is a mix of historic roots with aboriginal heritage and the contributions of recent immigrants, but also with influence from the English-speaking North America.

Quebec looks appealing and so does the nature surrounding it. My main attraction today though are those giant ice sculptures... How cool and cooling are they?Every year in the end of January / beg of February - the big winter carnival is on! Snow sculptures, dog sled rides, ice skating... So, sitting here sweating in India, I can just picture the freshness of walking around on snowy roads, feeling the cold crisp air, having my cheeks get red - refreshing!

And those sculptures look pretty awesome, don't you think?:

And the ice castle.. I cool off just by looking at it..

So, are we like that? - always dreaming of going somewhere opposite of where we are? Today Quebec seemed like a refreshing choice, at least for a quick visit.... And I needed a cool ending of a busy week. Because it really has been... Monday we started home in Lofoten, and we strolled a bit down Memory Lane, before flying off to Farah's New Zealand, partying with the Olympic Gods at Olympus before ending the week in peaceful Pondicherry.

Tomorrow we have a travel-free day, so re-load your luggage  and take some deep breaths, dear reader, because on Monday I will take you to a jewel of a place... R... will charm you, I am sure:-)

1-30 April I participate in the A to Z blogger challenge, and this post is written as a part of that challenge. Check out some amazing participating blogs here. My theme for the challenge is Dream Destinations. I hope you had fun coming along? Please stay tuned for a new destination on Monday. 

Go to a-to-zchallenge.com