mybigadventures.com

It was another early start this morning for our train to Quebec. We set alarms and were packed up and checking out just after 8 ready for 9.06 train. The train station was only a short walk from the hotel so we arrived in good time, aiming to get some breakfast at Starbucks. Alas, when we arrived Starbucks was closed, so we carried on into the station to see what else was inside. There was a McDonalds but the queue was massive so we decided we would get something on the train again and before long we were queued up and climbing aboard. The journey went pretty quickly, it wasn't so far this time taking just over 3 hours and we arrived in Quebec City just after midday. 

It took about 15 minutes to walk from the station to the hotel and we found it fairly easily. We were too early to check-in so we left our luggage at the hotel and went for a wander. The hotel is set outside the walls of the citadelle and so we spent some time walking up hill further into the old town. We stopped in McDonalds for some lunch and wandered a bit further, calling in at a phamacy to buy some more drugs (we're both still a bit ill). We decided to head back to the hotel for check-in just after 3 and to take a break before tea.

We headed out to Matto for tea, which is an Italian restaurant in a nearby hotel. It was pretty busy so we ended up sitting at the bar. I had spaghetti carbonara whilst Dani had meatballs, all very tasty. Feeling pretty tired we had a fairly early night, ready to spend a bit more time exploring tomorrow.

So today we decided to have a go at another of the walking tours that we found online. We got up a bit later as breakfast was being served until 10.30. Eventually set off around 11. The starting point for the tour was piazza del quirinale so we decided to walk there from the hotel. On the way we passed the via del quattro fontane which basically was a cross roads with the statues and fountains carved into the corner of each building. Arriving at piazza del quirinale we found out it was the home of the Italian president, and that on Sunday mornings they opened for tours - the only day of the week! Our luck was soon quashed however when we found out you needed to pre-book and there weren't any tickets left. The tours were scheduled to last 2.5 hours however so I'm not sure we were really up for it. 

From there we made our way down to the Trevi fountain which unfortunately was drained and clad in scaffolding for restoration work. We moved on relatively quickly to the next stop on our tour, the Spanish steps. We actually approached from the top which gave a nice view down over the steps and the piazza below. It was hot and sunny again today so we joined the small group of people sitting on the steps - in the shade, watching people in the piazza below. It was very busy with lots of people refilling water bottles in the fountain which we later learned had only recently reopened after restoration work. 

We temporarily abandoned the tour to go and visit the piazza del popolo which was a little further along the via del babuino (home to many designer shops, Chanel, Armani etc). Along the way we bought a slab of potato pizza sold by weight by way of lunch. The piazza del popolo was very quiet but is home to a nice fountain and Egyptian obelisk. We took a few photos before picking up our tour. 

We wandered along some back streets until we reached the mauseleo Augusto, the precursor to castle Sant'Angelo that we had already visited. It was a ruin and surrounded by a tall railing, so not much to see. We also went into the nearby museum ara pacis home to the large arc of peace which was very grand. Feeling tired we headed towards the last stop on the tour which was a piazza designed by Bernini. When we arrived we realised we had already passed through on Monday walking home. We caught the metro back to Termini and went back to the hotel to cool down.

In the evening we went to a nearby pizzeria and followed it up with a gelateria for dessert. Tomorrow we have timed tickets for the Vatican!

Well its certainly been a hot week this week I'm absolutely cooked! Looks like we might get some rain tonight though so with any luck that'll cool things down. Been a very expensive week with the car in the garage twice for repairs although hopefully now it should keep going for a good while . . ?!

Not really any updates to speak of, other than some pictures from New York last year I'm aiming to get some more uni pictures up soon. If anyone has any to contribute let me know and I'll try and sort something out. Other than that going to try and speed things up a bit as am beginning to notice loading the photo gallerys can take a bit longer than I had anticipated.

Anyway I'm off I've had two 13+ hour days this week getting to work on the train/bus so I'm knackered. Time to sloth in front of the tv and catch up on some sleep.