Yes it's True, I Scream Like a Little Girl

We are starting to feel the end of our journey approaching here, so of course I'm starting to panic about all the things we haven't done yet. It's what I do best. I know we won't be able to see everything we'd like to, but today we got to the Quebec Aquarium and had a great time. What we didn't realize is that the mammals are all OUTSIDE while the fish are inside. We decided that since we were taking a taxi to the aquarium and back again, we really didn't need toques and scarves (aren't we clever to think ahead?) Thankfully I had stashed some mitts in my purse so at least we had that. The Aquarium is a pretty neat facility, not as big as some I've been in, but still new information and new experiences and you can't beat that. They are also building an entirely new building as expansion, it's bigger than the existing building to our eyes so I'm curious to see what this Aquarium will look like in two years.

They have two polar bears who were pretty lazy, but it was neat to see them lift their snouts and sniff us as we came to the fence - we were definitely upwind of them and they kept sniffing the air. "Mmm, lunch! Ennh, let's have a nap instead." These two are rescued animals and have quite a large enclosure which they obviously make use of - just not when we were watching. The walruses were awesome!

Inside, the Aquarium is unusual in that it has pretty much equal displays of freshwater and saltwater. From what I can tell, the St. Lawrence around Quebec City starts to be both brackish and freshwater, and they find both saltwater and freshwater fish here. We were also surprised to note tonight that the ice is flowing in the opposite direction, and I remember a guide saying there are regular daily tides here, but I didn't really get it until I saw the river going the opposite direction.
Here, Morgan is face to face with a cod. We talked about the Grand Banks and the cod fisheries there, and connected it with an old map we had seen at the Musée de la Civilisation that showed huge shoals of fish off Newfoundland. Since Morgan loves to watch River Monsters, he's pretty quickly made the connection between overfishing fish like cod, and hey, maybe we should just use the same tactics for the snakehead. Apparently it's good eating too.

My Dad used to tell my brother stories about the Muskellunge. They are creepy! A freshwater fish.

Here the display shows the length of the largest Northern Pike (on the left) with the Muskellunge (on the right). See that image of the fish and the man? Yes, apparently, Pike get ALMOST as long as a six foot man, and muskies do! Aaaahh!

There are thirteen species of whales (including the blue whale) and seven species of sharks (including occasional Great Whites and many blues) found in the St. Lawrence. Here is a scale model of a diver in the front with all the different species of whales that have been seen in the river. The diver is the complicated looking figure between the humpback and the blue:

After the Aquarium, we went exploring in Quartier Petit-Champlain. The area is decorated for winter, and is magical. These are all shops with apartments above.

We stopped at Le Cochon Dingue for supper. When Morgan ordered pasta, plain, no sauce, just salt pepper and parmesan, our server was quite shocked. She insisted on bringing him the sauce and vegetables on the side, and laughed when I said they were simply going to be decoration. But she felt better! He ate the entire plate of spaghetti, half of my fries, and then devoured this double chocolate cake (he has up to this point preferred vanilla but by the look on his face he might have a change of heart):

We then made our way back to Carnavale to work off the sugar high that resulted from Morgan eating all but two bites of that cake. Morgan is getting to be so good at finding his way around - he told me I could call him my "organic guide to Quebec City". I think he'd be able to find his way somewhere safe if he needed to here. He's still reticent to speak to anyone but even that is improving. He said tonight that he wants to go home, because he misses Dad, the pets, etc, but he's sad to leave on Friday "because Quebec is so freakin' cool!".

We went up a "Nocturne Alley" as Morgan calls them, up the funiculaire to the upper city (you can see the top of the Chateau at the very top of the photo). Then we walked past the Citadelle to the Carnavale grounds.

We found the beautiful ice sculptures! This is a carousel - really amazing, and surrounded by tons of other beautiful ice sculptures as well.

And here is Morgan going down the snow rafting lane ALL BY HIMSELF in this giant raft. If you watch closely, on the second and third bumps he just about gets tossed out. He thought it was awesome. I only went once, screamed all the way, then sent him back up on his own ha ha! You can witness the screaming on his posting tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NCTfWvwjKs

Here is the view from my room tonight:

Tomorrow, we have an ambitious day. We are heading for a tour of the Citadelle (less than an hour), then to the Observatoire to see the city from up high on what will be our only clear day since the day we arrived, then to the Ice Hotel, a swim, and maybe Carnavale. Friday is our last day, and since we don't leave for the airport until 3:30 we do have some time to catch up on those things we didn't get a chance to so far - maybe a sleigh ride in the park, or the ferry to Lévis just for the journey across the river. We'll see! Morgan is just starting to settle in and really enjoy his time here, and it's time to go home - but we will get in as much as possible!

Carol-Lynne