Montreal's Biodome: Penguin Feeding

Day two of our Eastern Canada bus tour started with an early morning wake-up call on August 9, 2008. For our 8 pm bus departure we did have enough time to go for a quick breakfast just steps from the Hotel Le Concorde in Quebec City where we had been staying. A quick stroll south on Rue Grande Allee Ouest, location of many restaurants and nightclubs, took us to a restaurant by the name of St. Hubert which featured an extensive breakfast buffet. Punctually at 8 am our bus drove us five minutes into the centre of Vieux Québec where we had about an hour and half to explore the old part of the city.

I walked down into the old port area where historic limestone buildings house dozens of restaurants, boutiques and specialty shops. On Place de Paris I came across a TV shoot for the local weather station that featured the host of the show all dressed up in historic French attire, surrounded by a quartet of singers and several other extras, also sporting 17th century dresses. A walk on the waterfront allowed me to take in views across the St. Lawrence River as well as a glimpse back up to the majestic Chateau Frontenac. For $1.75 I took a ride in the funicular, which whisked me back up the hill to the Place dArmes within mere seconds.

Shortly before 10 am it was time to leave for our next destination: Montreal. After a quick lunch in St. Hyacinthe, we reached our first destination, the Olympic Stadium, at around 2 pm. We took the cable car up the tallest inclined tower in the world from where we enjoyed a perfect 360 degree view of the City. Right next to the Olympic Stadium we had a chance to visit the former Olympic velodrome which was converted into the Montreal Biodome in 1992, a nature museum that features replicas of four eco-systems: a tropical South American rain forest, the Laurentian Forest, the Saint Lawrence Marine Eco-system and a polar area featuring animals from the Arctic and Antarctic. The penguin feeding was particularly popular among the audience.

At our next stop we were able to ...

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