On Christmas morning, Liam came back over around 10am and we opened presents. Somehow the only photo taken was this of me wearing my new dry robe – a robe with a fluffy towel like inside for warming up after a cold water dip. Also included in the gift bag were 2 tickets for John and I to do the polar bear plunge in late January at the lakefront! He has a dry robe too. Wish us luck! Other notable pressies were a toaster for Liam, a book of short stories for Miles, t-shirts from Canada for both of them,…

John and I both had Dec 22 off work and decided to check out the grand avenue design / vintage shops. Salvage one was particularly impressive, with huge spaces that are also rented out for events and generally so much massive scale! Liam has talked about needing a coat rack and we found one there that was about the size of his whole apartment! (Only a slight exaggeration!) Miles arrived Friday evening and we had a nice dinner out with him at local segnatore. Then on Saturday we had our traditional outing in the city planned. The plan went from…

Last weekend we hopped on a bright and mild moment and went to Northerly Island for a walk. After walking on the official path the southernmost tip of the island (ummm, peninsula) we noticed that there’s a really sturdy walkway along the harbor side headed back north. Great views of the city from there! The views from the whole area really can’t be beat. We have both been sick for the last week – with John having about a 4 day head start and so he’s better now, and I am getting over this bug now. Other people we haven’t…

On Saturday we went out to the national museum of Mexican art in pilsen. It was a really nice sunny day and not too cold, and we first walked up and down 18th street, stopped for coffee and treats at a coffee shop, then went to the museum. We then went home and read and relaxed some, had thanksgiving leftovers burritos ( turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy rolled up in a large flour tortilla and toasted on a griddle) – delicious as always. Nice day!

We had a lovely thanksgiving celebration at Debbie, Jeff and Maddie’s place in Naperville. We were 11 people total, with Bronwyn and her sister Kaylee joining us this year. We had a great time chatting, playing Nintendo switch sports, eating the salmon, turkey and many yummy side dishes. After dinner Maddie played some songs on piano, giving us a preview of her upcoming recital. Lovely music, maddie! We also took a walk around the block to see the neighbors’ Christmas lights. Very impressive but we forgot to take photos. Then some friends joined us for dessert and it was lovely…

On our last full day in Quebec, we decided to walk near the ramparts or old city wall, and also visit the Jean-Baptiste neighborhood. Back to the map! See the red circle where we stayed? The walls are a shaded area just to the left of that, following around the edge of the gray circled old city. However, the walls were not maintained for decades, while the gated areas are in really good repair, the other walls are currently undergoing some construction. Instead of walking on the walls now, you can walk near them, at the street level. So we…

On Monday afternoon we took an Uber out to Siberia Spa in the forested mountain area outside of Quebec City. It was so nice – with many features like previous spas, like a series of buildings and pools all outdoors, and you can stay as long as you like, going from a sauna to a hot pool, to a cold pool, to a relaxation room. We really enjoyed the forested setting at Siberia. it was so pretty – and the pools / rooms were arranged so they felt secluded from one another. There’s a relaxation yurt with hammocks inside, and…

On Monday, we set out to explore the Petit-Champlain neighborhood. A quick description from the tourist office describes the neighborhood as having picturesque pedestrian streets (confirmed!) and as being the first permanent French settlement in North America, over 400 years ago. It’s a lively area to stroll around, day or evening! Our day started here then ended here too, with dinner in the neighborhood. Another map although a flat surface doesn’t describe the extreme (to a flatlander’s eyes and legs!) variations in altitude! The red circle is where we’re staying, gray loop is the old city, purple loop is petit-Champaign.…

There are no direct flights from Chicago to Quebec City this time of year, so we flew by way of Toronto. Here’s our maple-leafed air Canada wing over Lake Ontario as we approached for a landing. Love flying over the great lakes! And also thought we’d start off with a map – this is a historical map of areas in French and British North America where forts were held by one, the other, or both. Note Mobile in the very south and Quebec City in the north in this area of French historic influence. We got to Quebec city after…

We tried out the new Guinness open gate bar in the Fulton market area. Our analysis was that it has a fun vibe, cool design and really good Guinness and food. It’s very table based though so felt more like a restaurant than pub, interesting that it was set up like that! There’s an Osage orange tree in the park that has just lost all its hedge apples, something we note and talk about annually! Thus tree produces so many hedge apples, it’s really hard to believe. And every year I say the only thing I know about hedge apples,…