Québec City, Québec, CANADA – Art is everywhere.
Indeed, art recovers the sensation of life, as Viktor Shklovsky wrote in 1917. It helps give a deeper meaning to our daily life. At the same time, it makes us more aware of the unique experience that we all share.
Listen to the author read this article:
Art shapes our personal perspectives and transforms the outside world. And it was very clear to me during our trip to Québec City.
Québec City is located in the only French province of the country. Although the official language is French, most of the tourist places also speak English. This inclusiveness is very helpful for those who don’t speak the language – not yet for me, but hopefully in the future it will be different! – which makes people feel very welcomed.
On our trip, we explored the Old Town. According to Quebec City’s official website, the Ville de Québec, this area was founded on July 3rd, 1608, when the French explorer Samuel de Champlain settled in. It was the first European settlement in the country.
This gem of a region has houses and buildings that are more than 200 years old. And surprisingly, they’re still well preserved. Its architecture really reminds us of Europe. It feels like we’re in a little France within North America.
Without any doubt, it’s one of the coziest cities that I have been to so far.
Speaking of people, Quebecoises are so kind! They seem very proud of their culture, but also very open to embracing others. Every shop entered offered a different story and smile.
Even in the small grocery store near where we stayed, the owner was very sweet and eager to help.
We did some street interviews to get to know more about local people (journalists never travel just for fun, haha.)
In a candy store, we had an interesting interview with a 16-year-old girl who works there. Her name is Ana Chu and she’s been working there for three months.
She showed us the process of making this traditional Canadian maple syrup taffy and got the chance to try it out. It was very sweet, but super yummy.
After that, we kept chatting with her, and to my surprise, we figured out that she’s also Brazilian, and coincidentally, from the same state as me, Paraná. She was from a city called Foz do Iguaçu, which is about 405 kilometers (251 miles) away from my hometown. But she has been in Canada for 10 years.
What truly impressed me about Québec City is the strong presence of art. As soon as I arrived at Québec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport, I saw a beautiful piano available to anyone who wanted to play it. Some little kids and I shared the same idea of playing it.
Along our walk to the Old City on Saturday, we also encountered another wonderful antique piano in a square, open for everyone to play.
Downtown, there were lots of street performances. There was one from a funny Latin guy who danced, stretched, and did some crazy acrobatics dressed in traditional Mexican clothes. It was a mix of a comedy and dancing show that made everyone laugh out loud.
We also watched a woman in an Ikea uniform doing some juggling acts and assembling a table. It was somehow intriguing.
Our experience in this charming area was even more delightful with the street musicians who were playing harp, piano, and guitar in the middle of the crowd.
I am passionate about art, and the fact that Quebec has paintings, sculptures, and installations everywhere made me feel like I was inside an enormous outdoor art gallery.
I strongly recommend travelers to get to Québec City. You’ll get to see a bit of Europe, but in a North American style. It’s without any doubt a very original place with lovely people.
And the trip will be even more special if you’re accompanied by amazing people, as I was with Youth Journalism International leaders and students.
Just out of curiosity, we walked around 26,000 steps in about 11 hours. Of course, we got home very tired, but sure that our hearts were filled with new sensations of life.
Nicole Luna is a Senior Correspondent with Youth Journalism International from Brazil. She wrote this article.
Leith Chikh Rouhou is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International from Tunisia. He contributed the audio recording.
See more from this mini-series on Québec City:
