After the start of my 4th/final year of Psychiatry Residency Training began in July, I decided to take a drive up to Canada from Massachusetts to visit the old, famed city of Quebec. At that time, this city was celebrating its 400 year anniversary since its founding by European explorers. The drive was about 9 hours, with the help of a GPS TomTom device that vocalized the route. Interestingly, there are some very, very rural/agrarian regions in Canada, reminiscent of what one may see in the Midwest (lots of farms and pastures). Moreover, the city of Quebec, is very similar to the small European villages & cities that I visited many years ago in France. So, that style/flavor of architecture was certainly carried-over and reflected. The city's inhabitants are young: there are a lot of schools/universities there; many of the young adults (in their 20's and 30's) walked, rode bikes, or roller-blades. The service personnel are very, very friendly in Quebec! Furthermore, more than 90% of them (wait staff in restaurants, hotels, businesses) are bi-lingual and willingly and kindly speak English to the American tourists.
The photos below are a sample of some of the landmarks of Quebec city. The river is very large, and there are some islands with the river, too. I took a river boat tour, as well as a country bus tour. The country bus tour delivered us to region that specializes in making real, homemade Canadian Maple Syrup...straight from the trees there. It was unbelievable. There are, in addition, some very large & old Catholic churches, with beautiful gold ornamental pieces and antique artwork and colored-glass windows.
Overall, Quebec is a romantic, European-reminiscent city to visit, and not too difficult to access from any state in the Northeast!
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