Went to bed fairly early (11-ish, maybe?), so I was up at 4am. Went up to the buffet for coffee and to do the NYT crossword, something I’ve done nearly every day for a decade or more. They start out super-easy on Mondays, then progress to super-hard on Saturdays. Thursday is my favourite day, as those puzzles usually have a crazy gimmick or non-standard element to give them a nice twist. Today’s had clues that were spoonerisms - So for example, the clue “packed lunch” was answered with “FELL FLAT”, because “packed lunch” is a spoonerism for “lacked punch.”

Anyway, it wasn’t long before I was treated to a really nice sunrise.

…and shortly after that, the Chateau Frontenac came into view.

Went back to the room and Rob was waking up. We were both hungry and since it was late enough for the main dining room to be open, we opted for that “more civilized” approach to brekkie, rather than the buffet. And it is nice to have a sit-down brekkie with food brought to you… but the service on Holland America (at least this cruise and the one we took earlier this year in Alaska) is s-l-o-w. Coffee was finally poured 10 minutes after we sat down and our pancakes showed up around a half hour after that, in spite of being one of the first people in the door.

I know you’re wondering about the hockey pucks in front of the pancakes. That’s corned beef hash with a spoonful of some sort of veggie salsa on top. Very odd, but absolutely delicious, so no complaints there.

The ship’s shuttle basically just gets you out of the port proper, so it’s quite a long walk from there to the city. We eventually go to the funicular, which is way better than climbing stairs.

Full disclosure- we’ve been here before, so most of the ‘must-do’ things have already been done. We’ve walked the perimeter of the walled city. We’ve looked at the historical site and all of that. So this time, we just poked around in a few shops and enjoyed the ambience.

Quebec City feels more like a European city than some European cities I’ve been to. We had our fill of walking around and headed back to the ship in time for a bite of lunch and a nap.

Pete and Bas dropped at new song at 1pm, so I was blind to anything else for a couple hours while I unpacked all the hidden meanings, double-entendres, and unfamiliar slang in the lyrics. I’m getting pretty good at it - I didn’t even need to look anything up to decipher:

Now I’m banging on me chest like a chimpan / Stepped in an M&S vest in me jimjams / I were bagging up food like a binman / Went to a gaff with a gate from a tin can

Naps happened after that and it was nice. Basically had a lazy afternoon before meeting up with everyone for drinks before dinner, and I decided to try the slot machines in the casino. I found one with a chilli pepper theme.

Two spins. Put in $20. Left with $49.90
Yay. I’m done with the casino.

At dinner, they had PEI black mussels. PEI = Prince Edward Island, which is where we’ll be in two days. If you like mussels, PEI are hard to top. I wasn’t the only one who got two orders of them.

The cream broth these were swimming in was delicious and I could’ve just had that as a soup. Followed this with a bit of a risk - I ordered a Chile relleno. That’s a large poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, then battered and fried. Considering I grew up in Texas, the odds of getting a decent Chile relleno on a cruise ship in northeast Canada were pretty slim… but it might be the best Chile relleno I’ve ever had. It was also surprisingly spicy, which is never a bad surprise for me.

I hope that shows up on the menu again before the cruise is over, I’d absolutely have another one.

We’re currently sailing through a low-level sea fog. It’s really pretty and spooky at the same time.

That’s about it for today - see you tomorrow!

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