Saturday, January 31

Woke up leisurely today, explored the hotel, and planned to take the funicular down to the Old City. One step outside and I realized I was not going to survive the 10-degree weather in my cute skinny jeans, even with boots and my ski jacket! Back to the room, where we both changed into more appropriate clothes.  Didn't realize last week that I'd be wearing my ski pants this entire weekend! Boy are we totally not used to this weather!

Back outside, we did take the funicular to the lower city, walked the streets, toured a museum, then back up the funicular where we decided to tour the city by horseback...well, horse carriage. We didn't want the dogs to have all the fun carrying us around in the snow!  Had a nice little tour and found out that Quebec City was hosting its annual Winter Carnival, complete with its creepy snowman mascot, this very weekend. How lucky for us! We bought tickets and went to the carnival after a great dinner in Lower Quebec, slipping and sliding, but not falling on the icy streets. Had a great time tubing and dancing in the snow and taking in the sights. 

All in all, a great weekend in a beautiful, historic city. Check another box off my bucket list!  Au revoir!

Friday-Dog Sledding Day!

After not sleeping very well most of the night in my suffocation bag, I woke up and was shocked to see that it was already 8:45! Just as I was wondering why we hadn't been woken up by one of the hotel staff, as they told us by 8 a.m., one of the staff stuck his head through our curtain and whispered, "It's time to get up!"  I looked at Chuck. Still snoozing away.

We got ourselves out of those sleeping bags and dressed as quickly as possible in our freezing clothes and booked it to the warm locker rooms and a much- needed bathroom. We then said goodbye to the Ice Hotel and grabbed a shuttle to our nice room at the nearby Sheraton, where we showered and got a good breakfast, congratulating ourselves for surviving our arctic sleeping adventure! Yay for us!

Next on our list: dog sledding!  A shuttle picked us up at the Sheraton and drove us, along with other participants, about 25 minutes north of town, nearer the hills and ski resorts to a family-run dog sledding outfit.  We pictured ourselves seated side-by-side on a cushiony sled, covered in blankets while some professional stood behind driving and yelling, "Mush! Mush!"  Yeah. That didn't happen. Instead, it was way more fun and exciting!  In groups of two, we all learned how to drive the sled and command the dogs to go and stop.  Arnival! Whoa!  We were introduced to our two lead dogs, Naomi and Nordic, and then we were off, following a guide about 15 feet ahead of us.  We had five dogs total. The two middle dogs were blind and would run literally pushed up against each other the whole time.  Chuck and I both took turns driving and had a great time, especially trying to swerve the sled away from the trees that lined our path.  Chuck managed to tip us over during one curve and he face planted in the snow, losing hold of the guide line. I ended up sideways with the sled on top of me and the dogs trying to figure out what kind of morons they had behind them. Fun!

After our 40 minute ride, we toured the kennels and learned about the different breeds and how they are all cared for. Very interesting and I kept telling myself, the dogs really enjoyed pulling us, they aren't unhappy at all with this situation! They really did seem well cared for and happy.  I think.  So long, dogs! Free hot chocolate awaits in the cafe!

The rest of our day was spent enjoying an early four-course dinner at The Sheraton, revisiting the Hotel de Glacé for more pictures in the daylight and then checking in to our next hotel, The Chateau de Frontenac, the "most photographed hotel in the world," or so we kept being told.  It is beautiful and old and sits right on the cliff above Old Quebec and inside the walls of the old city.  We walked around town for a little bit before retiring to a warm and comfy bed, sans ice!

The Official Birthday! Thursday, January 29

Early start today; got up at 3 a.m. for our 7 a.m. flight from LAX. Ain't travel days fun? No traffic at all on the way to the airport. We left Pasadena at 4:25 a.m., parked the car in the long-term lot and we were on the shuttle by 5, checked and through security by 5:45 with a comfortable amount of time to buy coffee and food for the flight. Yay, no stress! 

The flight to Toronto was uneventful, both Chuck and I tried to nap here and there, watched bits of different movies and played games on the iPad.  Arrived on time in snowy Toronto, where it got a bit hectic.  I don't know why, but the Toronto airport was packed and even with our 2-hour layover, we barely made it to our next connection. The snow was really coming down, and once we boarded our flight, we sat on the tarmac in a long line for the de-icing area before finally taking off. I think our flight was delayed at least one hour.  I was super worried about getting to the Ice Hotel in time to enjoy things, but everything worked out perfectly.  We taxied to the Sheraton Four Points, checked into our room and grabbed a quick dinner, then shuttled to the Hotel de Glacé, tired, but excited that we made it! 

We quickly oriented ourselves and started taking advantage of the night's activities, namely, the Ice Bar, where our package included a bottle of sparkling cider that I didn't really like, but drank anyway (to help keep body temp up!), and the hot tubs and sauna.  It was pretty crowded and we were both surprised that there were over 40 rooms built this year!  We were under the impression that there would only be about 12 rooms, and we'd have a much more personalized experience. As it was, we were jostling a bit for space in a somewhat hostel-like environment - in the warm changing rooms and locker areas, in the hot tubs ( there were about five total and all were occupied). We decided we weren't going to be shy and miss our hot tubbing, so we politely invited ourselves in one with a much younger couple.  A bit weird, but they were super friendly and gave us some tips on what to do in Quebec. We found all the other guests to be very friendly and talkative, everyone excited to be sharing this unique adventure! We had a short orientation from one of the staff on how to prepare to sleep and then we were off to bed after one more nightcap around midnight eastern time.

So here's how you "prepare to sleep" in a hotel made of ice:

1. Make sure you are completely dry! Any moisture will make you cold!

2. Take your arctic sleeping bag out of its cover, unroll it, take out the liner, then shake it to get its warming properties started.

3. Lay your sleeping bag on the mattress, unzip it so you can get inside quickly.

4. Undress as quickly as possible (it is 23 degrees!), and put on all new, dry pajamas and socks, and a hat if you need it.

5. Quickly put all of your day clothes inside the bag that the sleeping bag came from and stash it nearby on the floor.  Note, all nonessential clothing and other items are stored in a private locker inside a dry, warm building nearby - this building is a refuge from the cold, where there are bathrooms and locker rooms and 24-hour staff in case of troubles.

6. Place your boots sideways to keep most of the cold air out.

7. Quickly get inside your sleeping bag liner, without touching the ice floor, then wriggle yourself into your sleeping bag and zip it up all around your head, till just a bit of your face is showing.

8. Ignore the candlelight that burns all night to keep humidity down, but also lights up your room.

9. Try not to let your thoughts of claustrophobia freak you out and tear open your sleeping bag which seems to be restraining and suffocating you!

10. Try to be happy for your husband that he apparently doesn't share your sense of claustrophobia and is already snoring inside his cocoon.

11. Really try hard not to let your claustrophobia ruin your entire experience! Focus on remaining calm and letting a little cool air into the sleeping bag. Try to breathe deep and relax, figuring out how much space you really don't have inside this smothering bag and see how hard it is to roll over onto your other side, then the other side, then in fetal position, and so on.  Keep trying not to freak out and remember that your husband is doing such a good job of snoring that it can't be all that hard to just go to sleep.

12. Pray that you do not have to go to the bathroom during the night, because it would require you to leave the warmth of the suffocating sleeping bag, get your coat out of the duffel bag, put on your freezing boots, then scurry to the opposite end of the hotel, outdoors past the hot tubs where really weird things could be going on at that hour, and into the locker rooms to do your business, then back through the process again to get back to your room and into the suffocation chamber! 

12. Eventually you wake up and realize that, hey! You actually fell asleep! And, thank goodness, you didn't have to go to the bathroom overnight (but now, you REALLY need to go)!

Surprise Party! January 27, 2015

Who has the best friends? Definitely, me! Started my birthday weekend early this week.  Dear friend, Jodie Kendall, couldn't bear the thought of me turning the big 5-0 without a party, so she invited me to dinner on Tuesday and lots of my favorite peeps were hiding in her house.  I never had a surprise party before! So nice to be celebrated! Thank you, Jodie, for arranging it all- you're a dynamo! Also thank you to everyone at the party. I am very lucky to have each of you in my life.

Monday, January 25

I'm turning 50 years old in four days, or as I'd rather say, I'm turning 50 years amazing!!! Don't buy it? I don't blame you.  Sometimes I wonder where did the time go? What have I done with my life and who is that wrinkled person in the mirror? Nothing that the heavens haven't heard before, I know.  Well, one thing I know for sure (thanks for stealing my line, Oprah) is that I like to travel and I love the unique experiences- like that time I talked a bunch of couples into the Dining in the Dark experience in Hollywood a few years back.  Picture 12 of us conga-line style, being led into a completely dark (I mean eyeball-straining, COMPLETELY dark) dining hall by our legally blind waiter. By the end of our dinners, I had totally given up any hope of successfully navigating a fork with food on it into my mouth. No, it was fingers in the food to mouth and, why does it sound like Kitty is sitting on David's lap? Oh, because Kitty is sitting on David's lap, doing God knows what, because we can't see them! I prefer to think nothing weird was going on over there while I was feeding my face with my fingers and laughing hysterically at what we were doing.  And then there was the multi-day walk through Spain with some friends, our pilgrimage to the cathedral de Santiago.  And my hike up Mt Whitney a few months after finishing chemo and radiation for breast cancer. My brother thinks Says he doesn't understand my idea of fun; my grandma says I'm her crazy granddaughter.  But I have friends that do these crazy things with me and a husband who loves to indulge me and, occasionally, accompany me, so I'm usually in good company!

So, yes, I'm turning 50 and feel like I want to celebrate with another "experience."  What to do at the end of January that won't take too big a chunk out of my husband's demanding job?  The Hotel de Glacé in Quebec City, aka, The Ice Hotel! Check and check; we leave tomorrow morning!