“Life In The So-Called Space Age”
It’s my mum’s birthday today, which means it was her birthday yesterday! But where I am now, it’s August 21, so Happy Birthday mum!
How old is she, you may ask? Well, let’s say she’s about 49 years older than she probably was when this shot was taken:
Next year is a big birthday for mum! I’ll be there to help her celebrate 🙂
It was time once again to visit the annual Altamont fair! It doesn’t change much from year to year, but I can’t resist the lure of the rides! Here’s twenty things we saw today:
1) A new ride, called ‘Pharoah’s Fury’. Basically a version of the Pirate Ship, this was notable for the 90 degree maximum incline that created sustained zero-g. KLS was screaming almost non-stop. A very fun ride 🙂
2) Another new ride, called ‘Vertigo’. I was impressed with how high it was! Unfortunately, since it’s a rotator, I didn’t ride it due to motion sickness.
3) All the old favourite rides returned, staffed by the usual gang of creepy murderous ex-felons carnies. We saw a guy ‘fixing’ The Zipper using a piece of string (not a joke!)
4) I saw KLS eat delicious fries with me, shortly after I had eaten a hamburger myself.
5) We saw this device, but for the life of us couldn’t work out what it was called or what it was supposed to do:
6) We saw a tiny, tiny goat:
7) And a kangaroo with a joey in it’s pouch. She bent down to eat some grass and the joey ate as well!
8) We saw a very special duck…
9) And an evil looking chicken…
10) And a happy sheep… in a barn full of happy sheep 🙂
11) Over in the art contest displays, we even saw Doctor Who!
12) Nearby, the first prize winning scarecrow wasn’t perhaps as scary as you’d imagine:
13) Here is a princess being defended by a dragon:
14) Heading back to the midway, past the vendors selling spa’s, blenders and insurance, I found an unusual sight!
15) We didn’t go on that many rides, mostly because they almost all go in circles. The Ferris Wheel is always fun though. Right next to it this year was a ‘cryptozoology museum’ with some extraordinary art hanging out the front:
16) Oh, I almost forgot! The giraffe was back:
17) As was the circus we saw last year. We didn’t go since we were a bit tired and it was very, very hot.
18) The games on the midway are as dubious as ever. Surprising prizes this time around included live goldfish and knives!
19) The animals are fun, but for me the fair is always about the garbage food…
20) And the big, noisy, scary and quite possibly life-threateningly dangerous rides:
I just wish I was 12 again, so I could ride them all without getting sick 🙂
We had booked the first train to Quebec City from Montreal, and had to wake before dawn to make it. The train was very comfortable, with spacious airline-style seating, and the trip was smooth and relaxing.
I’m taking Bernard’s comment from the other day to heart and today’s blog will feature only ‘street photography’ in accordance, I’m sure, with his exacting standards 🙂
We arrived at Montreal just after 9, and since nothing had been open when we left Montreal the first order if the day was breakfast. I’ll illustrate the event in a ‘visual tone poem’:
Quebec City has an old section inside a wall and up on a hill and our hotel – the Chateau Frontenac – is right at the top. Even so, it was a relatively easy walk up to the hotel from the station through the picturesque streets of old city.
And the hotel itself! Here’s the first you see of it:
And a couple of other views:
It’s 120 years old, absolutely massive and (obviously) built to resemble a classic European castle. Our room is large and comfortable, and the hotel sits atop a cliff with incredible views of the St Lawrence river. According to a plaque, it is the most photographed hotel in the world!
It’s also one of the most expensive I reckon! Ignoring for a moment the (ugly) $12075 sculpture of a violin in the gift shop, take a gander at this ‘fridge’:
It’s pre-stocked with all manner of beverage and if you drink any a charge is added to your bill. A can of soda? $4.25! A can of beer? $9! The total price if you drink everything (and eat the snacks as well)? $328.25 🙂
After dumping our stuff we went out and explored the near bye area, including a fort and a field upon which a historic revolutionary war battle occurred. Eventually we ended up in lower city at the base of the cliff on which stands Frontenac.
The rest if the day was – if you can believe it – spent relaxing! Here’s Jim snoozing the afternoon away:
I went exploring and found some old cosplayers in the hotel foyer…
A handsome horse just outside…
And a ‘Caramilk’ bar that I speedily shoved down my gulliver…
Later on I did some shopping (more postcards mostly), some eating, some watching of TV and then – after dark – a walk on the promenade. Here I saw a great acrobat show:
And a very large and very impressive castle-hotel looking beautiful with the lights on:
Tomorrow we’re going to visit the great outdoors…