Winter blues.

Encore une fois, ca fait dont ben long-temps!

This month has been quite tough and I’ve been feeling home sick à plusieurs reprises. I’m assuming it’s just because it’s the last day of November, and the holidays are just around the corner, meaning home time. Let’s not forget it is indeed the very first time I’ve been away for such a long time, and by away I mean 3,100 miles away.

Before jetting off abroad, the study abroad office did warn us about this roller coaster of emotions. The sudden euphoria once we arrived, then the feeling of nostalgia, and finally a more stable feeling. I’m probably on the emotional part of the roller coaster. Fantastic.

Classes aren’t going amazingly well either. The two educational systems are completely opposite to one another, so I mean it’s difficult to suddenly change habits that have been engraved within me. Also, my brain cannot seem to be accepting the fact that I am here to study, and not for a holiday. Although to be completely truthful, that is kind of how I’ve been living. Motivation also seems to have taken it’s own holiday. Zero of that these days.

I don’t want to bore you with complaints, but clearly that's the direction this blog is taking. I do think it’s normal to miss my life, yes, quite depressing. I absolutely enjoy living out so much, and if I had the money, I could definitely see myself living out in London. It's just being so far away, and alone gets to me. But, the blog helps, I guess you could call it a modern day diary. My flatmates are also definitely are a big reason as to why I do not stay curled up in bed 24/7, and even if I decide I can't go on with the day, they’re always here. Definitely appreciative!

Exams seem to be never ending here. My finals are this week and the next, so not really excited. I feel like I've just finished exams too. Clearly they don’t like the idea of breaks here.

Other than that, I have a few things lined up before I leave for the holidays. Can’t wait to show you all. For now, here are a few random things I’ve been up too.

Parlement de Québec, visited the inside on a trip

Here's the inside 

What we get up to on our Friday night

Red Bull Crashed Ice

I am so excited for Christmas in London, and of course even more excited to finally see some of my favourite people. If they haven't forgotten me of course.

Cannot believe it is almost 2016 too.

Bisous.

Toronto.

Hey guys! After another unexpected and prolonged break, I am back and ready to talk to you about the one and only, Toronto…

Now we’re talking.

 Before I start blabbering on, I’d prefer to let you all know that I fell in love with this beautiful city. In the twenty years of my existence, this is undoubtedly one of the best places I have visited. I have decided I really want to move there.

I do not usually fall in love so easily with the cities, as I am in one of which it is truly an impossible task to compete with. However, having said this, Toronto was nothing but a wonderful surprise. I was genuinely not expecting this city to offer so much and talk of this amazing city seemed to be lacking in all area’s. I think this was another important thing, because of this I had not set my expectations so high.

 I guess I should really stop doing that.

As I previously mentioned, my friend and I spent 5 days in Toronto- minus one as we went up to Niagara Falls- and this for me was not enough! Despite this, we pretty much made use of every single second we had, literally. Fair to say exhaustion does not seem to emphasise how we felt at the end of the week. But, we managed to fit in a whole lot in a short period of time.

The hockey hall of fame!

Downtown Toronto

The first day we were gifted with the presence of the sun, this made our day that much more agreable. I was taken aback at the various skyscrapers, I really was not expecting there to be so many. All so beautifully constructed too. We were in the heart of the city, but something about it was different. The streets were not compiled with- what sometimes feels like millions of people, making it indeed an unbearable chore to walk straight, nor were the neatly dressed professionals brushing past you angrily, constantly huffing and puffing. People were happy to help and incredibly nice! (I guess what they say about Canadians is true) The grey and depressing atmosphere was missing. I don’t know whether this is just because I felt like I was on a cloud of candy floss but I know I felt something!

I love the fact that the city does not overdo it, there seems to be an equal amount of everything. That is the other thing, there is literally a bit of everything for everyone. You have the city of course, the historical parts, the touristy places, food places, outdoor places, shopping and the beach (yes!!!). It is never-ending. There is no dominance in a certain area, and I love it!

Toronto Island, stricken by allure of this small island, and also shocked that people live here!

I think my favourite part of Toronto was definitely going up the CN Tower. It is indeed worth the pennies, or should I say monopoly money (!). We decided to go around 5pm and stayed till roughly 8pm. This allowed us to view the city in all its splendour in the daytime as well as at night. Simply beautiful.

The great CN Tower!

The given view in daylight 

As the sun is setting...

Finally, in the evening

I truly see myself settling there, the multicultural, modest, and accepting city seems to be only but a hopeful wish. Plus, the thought of having a Tim Horton’s at every corner makes me so happy. I do hope everyone has the opportunity to visit Toronto at least once, for it is worth it. I know I am definitely returning.

St Lawrence Market, a must when in Toronto!

Casa Loma, with the moon glowing right beside it

The Distillery Historic District at night... Spooky.

Frans!

Montréal

I feel like I haven’t written up a blog for ages! I strangely missed sharing my stories with you guys. I’ve been crazy busy, and still am (currently typing this up on the train- whilst half asleep). 

I had quite a few exams and coursework due in last week, and as usual, left everything till last minute causing me to fall deep into my usual stress mode (which for me, is a phase of denial and ignorance). In terms of how they went, let’s just not go there…

I would have typed up a blog as soon as my exams finished, but on Saturday morning I left Quebec City to do a bit of travelling- how exciting!

So, my friend and I thought, why not make the most of our reading week, and we decided on a short trip to the city of Montreal and then straight off to another big Canadian city- Toronto! We left on the morning of Saturday to do as much as we could fit in, and I must say, we've done quite well so far.

The given view of downtown from the summit of Mount Royal

Montreal. A gorgeous city, with the right amount of everything. It isn't excessive in what it has, giving it a humble atmosphere, also making and it so special. The city is so diverse and probably offers just about anything to anyone. I feel like anyone could find their place in Montreal and fit in straight away. Some parts of the city were really quite eccentric, with unique street art at every turn. In general, it was really quite different to how I imagined it to be, much smaller than what I had in mind. Perhaps I had bigger expectations of the city (in terms of mass, and city life) as everybody would describe Montreal as ‘another world’, and so of course I had mentally prepared myself for this. I wouldn't say I was disappointed in the slightest, but instead, pleasantly surprised and glad to finally travel here. It was quite interesting to see the similarities between my small town of Quebec and Montreal. However, I did feel as though the mentality there was completely different to that of Quebec City, Montreal is without a doubt a much more multicultural and seemingly more open-minded city. 

The subway was amazingly easy to understand, a weekend is enough time, and I wouldn’t call it a crazily expensive city. I also met up with my friend from King’s, which was lovely! Safe to say, he now thinks of himself as a true Montréalais. 

These are a few places I managed to visit,

Mount Royal Park

St-Josephs Oratory

The Botanical Garden and Insectarium

Olympic stadium

Rue St-Catherine

Eaton Centre

Vieux Montreal

In all honesty, by wandering through the streets, we ended up in some really nice places (sometimes dodgy), but I had, and still have no clue where we were.

View from the Oratory

Whether I could see myself living in Montreal, I’m unsure. I guess it just wasn't love at first sight.

Notre-Dame Basilica in Vieux Montreal

It’s now past 8PM, and I am currently on the train towards Toronto, we are spending 5 days there, but minus one as we are planning to spend a day in Niagara Falls. I already have my rough idea of the city, and am bursting with excitement to do some exploring.

I can’t wait to update you guys!

The Botanical garden

Entrance to the Chinese gardens

The Mediterranean gardens