Part II

Day 7 Friday May 28 New York to Boston
- Day one of Contiki, hopped on our bus in NY and headed north.
- Tried my first Dunkin' Doughnuts, mmmm Jelly Doughnut, ewww really bad coffee!
- Had lunch in Newport RI, where rich Americans come on holiday (including the Bush's), saw some truly gorgeous, and huge, old mansions.
- Got to Boston in the afternoon and did a mini tour explaining some of USA Revolution history - I now understand why the area is know as New England (yes i know).
- Had dinner at Dick's, the idea of the restaurant is that the staff are 'dicks' & you through stuff at each other! They also make you a paper hat that they write offensive statements on... Mine said "The reason my waiter loves men", yep they're dicks alright!
- Boston has more pubs than clubs because of it's heritage, I forgot to take my passport out and they wouldn't let us in anywhere except this one cute bar, the waitress was great, strong drinks so we tipped her well.


Day 8
- What a day in Boston!
- I totally recommend to anyone coming here to take the Old Town Trolley Tour, the guides are really knowledgeable, funny and helpful, it made getting around easy because you can hop on and off all day.
- We got off at Copley Plaza, end point of the Boston Marathon, & walked to Newbury Street for amazing shopping, finally made it to the Karmaloop retail store, and MAC.
- Ended the day at Boston Common Park, currently holding holding a Memorial Day Installation of flags representing fallen Massachusetts soldiers.
- Bought 7/11 for tea - a ham sammie with 8, yes 8, slices of ham.
- Spent the evening doing some washing, watching movies and went for a wee jog on the treadmill.


Day 9 Sunday May 30 Boston to Quebec
- Today we left Boston on our journey north to Canada. We stopped in Maine for lunch thanks to Walmart, what a place, so cheap!
- We made it across the border late in the afternoon and watched most of the movie 'The Departed' starring Leonardo DiCaprio & Matt Damon - based in Boston.
- Had dinner in Quebec at an Italian restaurant, then headed across the road to Le Degobert for a dance, definitely the coolest nightclub i've ever been to!


Day 10
- Today we set out to explore Quebec City, first with a guide (Carole) on our bus, then with a walking tour. This city is packed with beautiful buildings, statues, and views of the Saint Lawrence River.
- FYI Jean Cartier was the first recorded Frenchman to come to Canada so there are lots of references to him, with bridges and streets etc named after him.
Also, the native people of Canada are called 'First Nations' - the first people.
- We had one of the many street artists to draw a caricature of us shopping in Quebec.
- Had an early night, not to mention some puffy eyes.


Day 11 Tuesday June 1 Quebec to Montreal
- Off to Montreal, what a wet morning!
- Finished watching The Departed, it was a really good movie, bloody, but very cool.
- It only takes a couple of hours to drive west to the second largest french speaking city in the world, behind Paris, pop. approximately 3.8 million.
- Named after the large mountain in the middle of town, Mount Royal, visible, just, through the fog.
- Lunch consisted of Le Poutine - fries, gravy & cheese... mmmm.
- Our second 'optional' was jet boating, all i can say is OMG! The boats are massive barges, engine at the back, not designed for speed, rather riding rapids. After our 5 layers of clothes were put on & we looked like idiots, we were off for a total drowning, what fun!
- Dinner tonight at 'Essence', first time for me to try creamy vege soup, wasn't bad. Also had fish and delicious chocolate mousse.


Day 12
- By now i'm kind of over the old buildings and monuments (kind of), so today we went to La Ronde, Montreal's amusement park.
- First ride 'The Boomerang' - my first upside down rollercoaster! Talk about a sore neck! But a good wake up.
- Second ride 'The Monster', a rickety wooden coaster - soo fast, but really fun, and it didn't go upside down.
- Last ride for me was 'Goliath', you can see this baby all the way from our hotel, so long and high. Now this was my favourite ride, no upside down, and no change of falling apart... We did see some flying jandals though... The drops were so high, loved it!
- Took the subway for the first time too... glad we don't have them at home... Claustrophobic much?