The Quebec City I Love.

23/08/2019 by derwombat

Rue St. Louis – Photograph by Susan Seubert

Keith Bellows, Editor in Chief, National Geographic Travel

When I was growing up, Quebec City was something of an also-ran compared to Montreal, its brasher, more idiosyncratic sibling and my hometown. My family would often drive the 150 miles up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City, and as a kid I recall coming away a little underwhelmed. I

t seemed so dutiful and reserved next to the “sin city,” as Montreal was known. Sure, Quebec City could lay claim to a marginally more storied history—symbolized by the star-shaped Citadelle and the once bloody Plains of Abraham, where the British and French clashed over control of what would become Canada. But next to Montreal it lacked panache.

Notre-Dame de Quebec – Photograph by Susan Seubert

No more. These days the cities have reached a comfortable détente over which has the most to offer. They are simply different. Quebec City’s warren of cobblestone streets, hulking Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, and Upper and Lower Towns are backdrop to its francophone fashion shops, chansons echoing off centuries-old cut-stone buildings, and air heavy with thick Québécois accents—a combination that’s unique in all North America. The food has gone from pedestrian to a superbly traditional force of gustatory nature (many dishes draw on local ingredients).

Raclette – Photograph by Susan Seubert

When it turned 400 years old in 2008, Quebec City also seemed to turn a corner. Now it is a truly modern city with old bones. My advice: Learn a little French, try it out on the residents, and you’ll enter a world where the locals will help you unlock the keys to street-level Old France.

See more via I Heart Quebec City — National Geographic.

Lone Orca swims near Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.

11/08/2019 by derwombat

An orca swims near Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands), in British Columbia, Canada.

Image Credit: Photograph by Kevin Lanthier / Getty

The killer whale or orca is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member.

Killer whales have a diverse diet, although individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey.

Some feed exclusively on fish, while others hunt marine mammals such as seals and other species of dolphin.

Source: A Photo Appreciation of Whales – The Atlantic

The Colourful Themed Garden of Montreal.

06/08/2019 by derwombat

Mosaiculture “is a refined horticultural art that involves creating and mounting living artworks made primarily from plants with colourful foliage (generally annuals, and occasionally perennials).”

The 2013 was held at the Montréal Botanical Garden and features some 22,000 plant species and cultivars distributed throughout 10 exhibition greenhouses and 30 themed gardens.

via Monumental Plant Sculptures at the 2013 Mosaicultures Internationales de Montréal | Colossal.

Amazing Light Pillars Northern Ontario.

03/08/2019 by derwombat

by Giedrė

A lot of spectacular things happen at night, and luckily there is someone to capture them while we’re sleeping tight in our beds.

Photographer Timothy Joseph Elzinga was recently woken up by his two year-old boy Gibson at 1:30 a.m. when his son spotted beautiful color lights dancing in the sky.

Timothy quickly picked up his camera and shot some amazing photos of what he later realized is a phenomenon, called “light pillars.”

“I thought it was The Northern Lights because we live in Canada,” Elzinga said. “It was a super clear night, you could see everything.

These lights were [shooting] into the sky, blasting hundreds of feet in the air, and they were shimmering and moving.

“A light pillar is an atmospheric optical phenomenon, which is an interaction of light with ice crystals.

When the temperature drops and these crystals position themselves horizontally as they fall through the air, they act as “vessels” for light, shooting it upwards.

More info: YouTube (h/t: petapixel, twistedsifter)

See more images via Photographer Captures Amazing Light Pillars In Northern Ontario (10+ Pics) | Bored Panda

Man keeps mowing with Tornado in the background.

06/04/2019 by derwombat

Image Credit: Photograph by Cecilia Wessels.

On 2 June, it was a hot afternoon and my daughter woke from a nap saying, “Daddy doesn’t want to come inside – he’s mowing the lawn but there’s something in the sky!”

I asked my husband if he’d seen it and he said, “Yes, but everything’s fine; it’s moving away.” I took a picture of the tornado on its own to send to my parents.

It was really big, so I included my husband for perspective.

At the time, it didn’t feel dangerous at all – it was a strange moment.

See more Images via The best photographs of 2017 – by the people who shot them | Media | The Guardian

Frozen Bubbles, Banff National Park.

06/04/2019 by derwombat

Photographed in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, the bubbles are made from highly flammable gas methane. Paul Zizka/Caters News Agency

Methane gas bubbles underneath Vermillion Lakes in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

Normally the bubbles would break the surface but in low temperatures they freeze.

The gas, which is emitted by bacteria after they consume dead organic matter, is fairly harmless but the bubbles can cause an explosion if lit.

Vermilion Lakes are a series of lakes located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

See more Images via Frozen bubbles in Canadian lakes – in pictures | World news | The Guardian.

%d bloggers like this: