Cold, Wet Greetings from Quebec City

I arrived yesterday afternoon, and, as expected, the computers at the hostel are indefinitely out of order.

The train ride from Montreal to QC was beautiful. Once you get an hour or so north of Montreal, the flat farm land turns into rolling hills, and this far north, the trees are just beginning to change color, so it was a lovely trip. The weather was beautiful yesterday, but today its (again, pardon the lack of apostrophes) windy, rainy and all-around nasty. Not surprisingly, being a Pacific Northwesterner, I'm handling it much better than everyone else.

The hostel here is enormous and much more hotel-like than Le Sous-bois, but it is clean and I have found no sign of fleas. Even better, theres a bar downstairs where you can get a pint for just $4! That's a real bargain around here!

Last night, because I was tired and unfamiliar with the city, I chose a so-called French restaurant on the main tourist drag for dinner. Afterward, I felt the way victims always feel--violated, ashamed, as though I should have known better, as though I could have somehow prevented this from happening to me. Now, I feel the only thing I can do is educate others. So if you come here, no matter how enticed you are by the handsome waiters lingering outside the front door, no matter how romantic the accordion music coming from within may sound, no matter how hungry you are, DO NOT eat at Cafe Paris. If you do, you will find yourself sipping a $10 glass of Yellow-Tail-ish wine (no, I'm not saying theres anything wrong with Yellow Tail, but those of you who drink it know that a BOTTLE of the stuff doesn't cost $10) and nibbling on leathery meat and a dessicated, foil-wrapped (yup, I'm serious) baked potato while the accordionist hovers near your table playing Moon River for the seventh time since you sat down. If you order dessert, you may get a slice of cheesecake that is ABSOLUTELY NOT cheesecake and a really lousy cup of coffee (and bad coffee is pretty hard to find in these parts).

The food situation improved greatly at breakfast. As much as I hate being tied to a guidebook, I have to admit that the Lonely Planet folks know what they are talking about when it comes to restaurants, so I chose a spot called Le Petit Coin Latin for breakfast; here, I had a fantastic omelette and a perfect cafe au lait for about $10 (thats about $9 American--not much more than Id pay for breakfast at home).

The rain appears to be letting up a bit, so Im off to explore--and find an ATM. I FINALLY figured out that my debit card troubles were due to the fact that cash machines here accept EITHER Visa or Mastercard, but not both, and Mastercard is more commonly used in Canada. Finding an ATM that accepts Visa takes a little more time, but once you find one, theres no problem.

Until tomorrow...