Canada

Good morning from our home away from home. Love the cityscape!!! A quick reminder to always check under the beds…. What a fun 🐻 hug this morning!!! TODAY is a very special day. My sister Sue celebrates her big (zero)…

Tomorrow we leave all of the nice people in Canada for the Windy City. Can’t believe we left home 120 day ago and covered so many miles and had so many adventures. Today was quiet, we spent another glorious fall…

A must do is to take the speed elevator to the observatory at the iconic CN Tower. But first breakfast at the corner diner. The service & food were excellent. Hmmmm feels a bit like Switzerland prices…are these damn tariffs…

Super fun way for a couple of hockey fans to spend time walking through hockeys exciting history The “Original Six” Era | Les « Six équipes originales. During the 25 years that the NHL operated with six teams, the term…

Today was a glorious day with plans on reconnecting with my cousin Marina who’s made her home in Toronto. She & her husband Gabe have two adorable children. Easy to get to them. Walk a few blocks and take the…

Today I am doing my NO KINGS protest from Canada. The 🇺🇸 my country, is one I don’t completely recognize anymore. We are in peril and our hope of getting the 🇺🇸 back on track is to have a blue…

An oasis in the middle of the city for over 80 years, the Montréal Jardin botanique (Botanical Garden) is recognized as one of the largest and most beautiful in the world. Its rich collection of 22,000 plant species and cultivars,…

The jet lag and head colds are murder. We’re sleeping good it’s just falling asleep early and waking up in the middle of the night. Finally getting over this dreadful cough and it’s time to bundle up and take a…

This will take some time to get our body clocks in sync. Arrived at our place in Old Town Montreal and were asleep by 5pm local time. Up at 2am and a more 💤 waiting for a cafe to open.…

Yes, it’s time for the rest of the news from our trip.  I’ve been struggling with this.  Its hard for me to write this.  We (and by that, I mean me, Jeff), had a bit of a scare while in Quebec City for…

We ended 2025 by visiting our 12th country this year…what a year for JEllens excellent adventures. We’re already planning our getaways for 2026 and 2027, that’s what retirement is all about. We heard an earful from our UBER driver about…

We had a nice brunch and a morning walk in the fresh snowfall that fell overnight. A dashing looking English man, holding his pug, is giving a superior stare at Notre-Dame Basilica, symbol of the religious influence on French Canadians.…

The Notre-Dame Basilica is Montréal’s mother church and was the first Gothic Revival style church in Canada. Its history has been marked by the Sulpicians since its foundation and is inseparable from that of Montréal. It speaks to its Catholic roots and…

It was 10 below with 30+ mph winds now that’s cold 🥶 bone chilling, extremities were numb. Our local wall art walking tour was still on so we walked to the meeting place. Chris was fantastic and even gave us…

Last night the temps rose and the rain and sleet started at 4am. We watched the weather and made a break out around 11;00. We slid to the entrance of the RESO which is Montreals underground city. It wasn’t well…

We decided to try a local cafe for breakfast and it was excellent. At noon we slid back uphill to meet our tour bus for a half-day trip to Montmorency Falls and Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré from Quebec City. First ARRÊT – Chocolate!!!…

One last stop at the cathedral to light some candles & to say some extra special prayers 🙏 On to a local shop for Illy coffee ☕️ before our next tour With friends And the Italian beauty of all time…

We filled our day reading & saved our energy for our Christmas meal at Le Clan a Michelin starred restaurant. Jeff is a foodie I’m along for the ride and if something isn’t to my liking he’ll finish it for…

The city is buzzing with tourists & locals treading the newly fallen snow. ❄️ Today is 100% chance of ❄️ which means it’s a bit warmer than yesterday. We saw a sign yesterday telling us that there are Isaac Cordal…

The ‘raison principale‘ for our trip to Quebec City was to visit the site where Jeff’s family ancestors first came over from France. The ‘Furnia’ name is the anglicized version of the original French ‘Fournier’. It turns out that one…

Train travel is the bomb. We arrived around 9pm, stepped off the train and the Arctic blast hit us The lil freezing train that could Woke up with a strong desire for a latte & crescent at a local cafe.…

Air Canada was awesome. We loaded quickly flew fast and arrived on time. In case there’s a line going through customs. We went through customs quickly & jumped in a taxi (tariffs included) to Gard Central train stain. French is…

Easy squeezy to check in at Air Canada not sure Montreal/Quebec at Christmas is #1 travel destination The lines were longer at Starbucks where we paid $18.55 for 2 baby lattes. Affordability is a thing no matter what “they” say…

That’s right, after spending 6 months on the road in 2025 (May-Oct), we’ve already got itchy feet. It’s time to get our ‘go-in drawers’ on and get outta town!!! We’re not even waiting for the new year to show up…