Ottawa - Part 1

Our next stop was Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. We started our visit at the Parliament Hill.

As you correctly guessed, the main attraction of the Hill is the Parliament building.

The most known part of it is the Peace Tower, i.e., a clock tower that you will find on the 20-dollar bill and the 50-dollar bill. Until early 1970s it was the highest point in Ottawa.

Behind the main building you will the the building of the Library, which in turn can be seen on the 10-dollar bill. It is the last part of the original building that survived until our days, after the terrible fire in 1916.

Finally, we went to see the inside chambers. We entered by the Rotunda.

Here you can see the House of Commons ...

... and the Senate.

On our way out of the Parliament we admired the changing of guards.

Canadian Guards are known for their nice red uniforms and hats. Most of the girsl are crazy about them. But this time it was the opposite - the guards were so charmed by Aleksandra that they asked me to take a picture of them together.

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And here a little a bonus - a backstage picture.

Montreal

Now we move from Quebec to Montreal. On our way we make a stop at the Montmorency Falls, a large waterfall on the Montmorency River.

The falls are really high, even higher than Niagara Falls.

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The city of Montreal is the second largest city of Canada. It was the host of 1976 Summer Olympics. It was probably the biggest event in the history of the city and the Olympic Stadium is still the biggest tourist attraction. It is now used for various sports and cultural events. Just have a look at this nice swimming pool.

The Oluympic Stadium also has an observatory on the top of the tower.

Here you can see the panorama of the city from the top of the observatory.

And the athletic field.

Quebec

We finally arrived to Quebec City, the capital of the Quebec Province. It is located next to a narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River. Therefore, it has a large harbour.

The city itself is located on a hill.

The most impressive building is the Château Frontenac.

If you think that it used to be a residence of some local dukes or kings you are wrong. First of all, there were never any dukes in Quebec. Second of all, the only kings that ever ruled Canada were the British kings - the country is a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elisabeth II as its head of state. And third of all, Château Frontenac is and has always been a hotel.

Anyway, I thought it would be nice to have a closer look at it. So we started to walk up the narrow streets.

The city walls of Quebec are officially a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These are the only remaining fortified city walls that still exist in the Americas north of Mexico.
As I walked, I saw everywhere the blue-white flags of Quebec.

The colours and the motifs are a reference to the flag of French kings as this part of Canada used to belong to France since the 16th century. In fact, Quebec is still a French-speaking region.

We are approaching the castle.

Here you can see it in its full beauty.

I really enjoyed the walk but to be honest I was already a bit tired. Aleksandra told me however that we definitely need to see one more thing - the statue of Samuel the Champlain, the French explorer who founded the city of Quebec.

Finally, its lunch time.

Quebec proved to be a very nice city, with lots of friendly people. But it is time to move to new adventures. I hope it is an "au revoir" not an "adieu".

Rick goes to America

My last trip to Asia was so nice that I decided it is time to visit another continent again. As travelling alone proved to be dangerous, this time I will go with Aleksandra.

Just like me, Aleksandra is a celebrity - she is number 1 Polish Postcrosser.

We started our journey in her hometown Jelenia Góra. The niciest building in town is the Town Hall.

Literally, the name of the city is "Deer Mountain". I have not met any deers though. At least, I have seen a mountain - it is Chojnik. Aleksandra told me that on top of it there is a castle.

Unfortunatelly we did not have time to climb up the hills as we had to hurry to catch our plane. It was the first time I was at the Wrocław airport.

We first took a connecting flight to Munich.

And then a really long flight to Toronto.

Finally, we arrived at our destination - Bienvenues au Quebec mes amis!

Rick gets kidnapped - Part 2

All my friends, this is Rick here! Thanks a lot for all your help and support throughout the last days! These pirates were horrible. Nobody taught them what a toothpaste is for! Luckily, they were also not very smart. In my prison they left one window without bars. "Too small" they thought. Well, they were wrong.

At some point, I realised that we were approaching the Pirates' Creek.

When all the pirates went to bars and taverns, I run away to the wheelhouse.

After a couple of tries I managed to jump on the rudder.

We sailed safely far away from all those nasty pirates. Time to go now, the adventure is calling.