Day 4: Valcartier - Last Parade of the Quebec Carnaval

By Alexa and Anna

Today we went to the ice hotel and a tubing resort. While having a guided tour of the ice hotel, we learned that although the price to stay at it was already really expensive, the cost to build and demolish was just as unbelievable. Because all the thousands of tons of ice melt into water in the summer season, the company needs to take chunks out of the walls and ship it to an ice reserve or snow dump. Now I see that the starting price of 750$ per night is reasonable. Ice furniture needs to be frozen from the inside out, while the water is moving around, so the bubbles escape and form a glass-like solid. Then, the ice is finished with a blowtorch for a sleek and shiny surface. The cost of the hotel also comes with a spa session to bring up the body temperature before the cold night in the ice. There was also an ice bar in the largest room of the hotel where drinks were put in the signature ice cups. Although the idea of drinking from cups is exciting, it looks cool, but isn’t practical. The cup was really thick and didn’t hold much liquid. Along with that, your lips are stuck against a block of ice and go numb after a while. Yet I do not regret buying it.

Tubing is just like skiing, except you are going down the slopes on a tube. It was something new for almost all of us. The heavier your group is, the faster you slide down the slope. It was extremely fun, but you don’t get as much adrenaline as in a roller coaster. The angle of the slopes are pretty steep, but not long. I wanted the speed of the tube to go on for a bit longer. Just as I was getting used to the scary feeling of falling, it slowed down. The different slopes were very fun to try, but the exhilaration on the slopes only lasts for so long. Tubing, "c'est malade"! (It's really cool!).

After a long day of tubing, we came back to the hotel for an hour and a half to rest. After, we left the hotel and went to the winter carnival again. We looked around for a while for places to eat and finally found a place we agreed on. There were a lot of options but most of us agreed on getting the Quebec burger. We enjoyed a local band that was playing.

After, we ate we walked onto the busy streets. When we got to the parade, it had just started. We couldn’t really see at first because of how crowded it was. After numerous attempts of trying to find a place to stand and see all the floats go by, we finally found a place behind a fence up in some 3 foot deep snow where we all stayed and watched the parade. We all took many pictures but it was super cold and our hands froze. When the parade ended with fireworks, there was all these people flowing out. We had another snowfall fight again before getting on the moach to finish out the night and pack our suitcases.