Travelog for: Muki

We come to Montreal for the dragon boat race.  It is held at the Jean Drapeau Park.

We see this big Bio Sphere soon after we get out of the subway.



We also meet the mascots from the Beijing Olympics.



We find this lion resting before the dance.



Here is the dragon dancing for the opening ceremony.  He chases the ball all over the place.



This is the ceremony to commemorate Breast Cancer survivors.  You can see the survisor teams in the water, many of them dressed in pink.  The audience on the shore shower them with carnations.  It is a very moving celebration.



It's exciting to watch as the dragon boats race across the finish line!  Dragon boat is a sports from China that has thousands of years in history, and is now popular all over the world.



We are really happy that our host's team wins a gold medal!

Today we continue our travel in Montreal.

This is the Basilica Notre Dame.



We take a walk in Chinatown, which is not far from Old Montreal.  There are a lot of shops selling interesting things.



This is the entrance to Chinatown.



We also visited Oretaire St. Joseph.  Legend has it that if you pray all the way up the 99 steps of stairs to the church, your wish will come true.  A lot of crippled and sick people get well in such manner and there is a wall lined with clutches believers left behind.




At night we visited Place Jacques Cartier in old Montreal.  A lot of artists are there drawing caricatures.



Look at the beautiful fireworks at the Montreal International Fireworks Festival.



Finally we make it back to the hotel.  It's a long day, we are tired but totally enjoy the sightseeing.

Today we go to visit Quebec City.  It's the oldest walled city still to exist in North America!

This is part of the city wall.



The houses are really European.



We first visit the Parc de l'Artillerie.  Here are remains of structures built to guard the St. Charles River and the Old Port.

This is where they made cannons.





This is the oven used for baking for the soldier.  I bet the breads were really good!


Afterwards we stroll the streets.





We found this bicycle in a shop window.  It's all made with candies!



Unfortunately our host can't figure out which statue this is.  She keeps looking at the map and first say it's this certain fountain but then realize there is no water.  So she thinks it's this certain statue but then when we walk on we find another statue that seems to fit the guidebook description even better.  But anyway, it's a nice statue.





Now this is Le Chateau Frontenac, a very famous hotel/landmark.



The houses look like toys.



We continue on to Lower Town after dark.  This is a famous 4,665 sq ft trompe-l'oeil mural at Place Royal, depicting 400 years of Quebec history.



The Normandy style houses at the cobblestone square are very quiant and romantic.



You can see the funicular in the background.  It transports people from the Chateau to Lower Town.



We find a shop selling Native American crafts.  A lot of dream
catchers to guarantee a sweet dream tonight.

This morning we go to a place called Chez Cora for a delicious breakfast.  The decoration is very cute.





The crepes and waffles all come in huge portion with colorful pile of fresh fruit.   



Loaded with food, we head to Montmorency Fall.  It's even taller than the Niagara.



It's amazing how calm the water is at the head of the fall.  You can even see the reflection of the trees.



We walked across the suspension bridge and take the stairs all the way down the height of the fall.  The view is really nice.  We do not go all the way down because it's getting really misty and I don't have a raincoat on.  The noise is  thunderingly loud.  Very cool!

Today is the last day of our trip.  We go to the Biodome, which is located at the Olympic Stadium.



This is a very scary looking catfish.  I wonder if it's called that because it has whiskers like a cat or if the fish eats cat? 



It's amazing how the birds do not live inside a cage.  We can stand really close to it.



I didn't know that porcupine can climb trees but this one can!



We see some starfish.



And many puffins.



This one is swimming.



These are really big penquins.



We can see how they swim.



I wonder what they are lining up for?

Today we go to the main library in Miami downtown.

The library is on a square, where there is also the Miami Art Museum.





There is a water fountain in front.



And here's the library.



We volunteer at the library to help sort books for the annual book sale.



On the ground level there is an art exhibition.



It's a nice, big library.



Afterwards we check out some books.  It's an automated system where you scan the books yourself.

Hi Mom, I have arrived and my host seems to be very bust but she said if I stay out of the way she will get done as fast as she can and will be able to take me out to see some sights in Colorado.

I found a very nice spot on top of the desk where i can watch her working without getting in her way.

Today I decided to go out for a walk and I came across some very large peaches.



I brought one in the house to show Wourpet and she said she would have to get off the computer and start harvesting.

We picked peaches and tomatoes and we washed and peeled and cooked and canned and boiled and dried and -- wow -- it was a busy day but we made many things.



I learned all about preserving in all different ways.



My favorite was canning and the jars were just right for playing hide and seek with wourpet.

Today we went somewhere finally.  Wourpet said I have been very well behaved and she had a surprise.

It was Apple Festival at Cross Orchards.  Cross Orchards is a living museum farm and we got to see all kinds of things.  Everything still happens her like a real farm but it is alos all the old antique things. 




We went in and checked out the bunkhouse where the fruit pickers stayed.


I got to sit on the bosses bed next to the office.



I also got to sit on his saddle. 



In the office there was a large desk for 2 people to work at.



And a very nice wood stove but there was no fire burning because it was hot outside.

Outside there was lots of stuff going on at the farm and lots of animals around.

I saw chickens everywhere but I couldn't get very close to them.



Beside the barn I saw some calves.



There were geese in a pen and wourpet said they usually get to wander around like the chickens but they bite and there were lots of little people and little mukis around today.



Around the corner we found a blacksmith shop and I got to watch him working on the forge and the anvil. 



The blacksmith offered to let me come in and sit on the anvil but wourpet was worried letting me do that.

Next we went over to the apple harvesting.  We walked through the orchard and I learned all about pick, pruning, spraying and even smudge pots.  Then we found the big apple press where the apples were loaded in and they squeezed the juice out of them.







Then we walked around and looked at some of the other old equipment on the farm.



There was a threshing machine



And lots and lots of tractors.  Some of them were running and they were pulling around a wagon giving people rides.

We went back to load up the booth wourpets had and I thought we were going home.

Then wourpet said she had more to show me.

We went to the Military Motor Pool.  It was a museum of army things.  And even antique soldiers.

I have arrived in Miami, Florida!  It's late and I'm going to bed early tonight after my long trip here.  I did want you to see the picture of me at Lago Luna.

The weather was absolutely miserable this morning!  It was raining most of the morning, but when it stopped raining, my host told me that we were going for a ride!

Our first stop was at Panera Bread.  My host is a member of Bookcrossing, and she wanted to leave some books in the book basket at Panera Bread.

We went to Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden next.  Wow, this garden is huge!

Here's a map of the Garden:


Here I am at the Visitor's Center:


There were lots of flowers and I had to smell all of them!






There were lily pads that looked like dinner plates!


and a tree that had rainbow colors for bark!


I visited the rain forest, the lake, and the spiny forest:






I read a few signs:






And I saw a ghost!  Fairchild will be having a harvest festival this weekend and they were getting some decorations up for it.