I've been asked more than once,"Wayne, why do you like to travel so much?" Here's the answer. My brother and I didn't travel a lot growing up. We lived in Vidor, Texas and just going to Beaumont was a big deal. Our mother was a single parent who made barely above minimum wage so trips were not in the budget.
I started working at age 16 while still in high school and then joined the USAF at age 19. Basic training took me to San Antonio and then Tech School in Denver. From there the Air Force sent me to Bitburg Air Base, West Germany.
My AF roommate, William J. Muzenski, ("Muz") loved to travel and since we had a lot of free time on our hands (30 day leaves), a VW bus and some spending money, we went on a lot of road trips, in fact, in all, to 16 different countries! Many of our buddies would spend their free time by flying back to the States. Not us. We wanted to see the world, well Europe anyway.
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| Chateau Frontenac: World famous landmark in Quebec. |
As a police officer/sergeant I didn't really have a desire to travel much, that is until I met my wife, Mary Alice Amsler. MA, as she likes to be called, was a Pan Am flight attendant and travel is her middle name. So the answer to the question is that two important people in my life, my wife and my Air Force buddy are the reasons I love to travel.
We are in our second full day in Quebec and it has been a joy to see this beautiful place. Our plans today included a Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour of the city and lunch. We've accomplished both so far.
The day began with breakfast in a basket, delivered to our door at 8:00 am this morning. The basket included 2 sweet rolls, 2 croissants, orange juice, yogurt, oranges, and jam. The room had a coffee maker so I made coffee.
Our first goal of the day was to walk up to the Chateau Frontenac (see first picture above) and buy tickets for the bus. The weather was cool and windy, making it feel quite cold. Nevertheless, we climbed up to the open air top so I could take some photos of the city.
These tour buses normally have a prerecorded narrative you listen to with an ear piece. This Quebec bus had a live tour guide, "Daniel" who provided us with more information than I could possibly remember. He was informative and funny and communicated one on one with the many different tourists.
The one thing that stood out from other places we've been to is the different roof lines with the turrets, angles and crosses that dot the Quebec skyline. The one structure that stands head and shoulders above all the other buildings is the Chateau Frontenac, now a 600 room hotel.
After our frosty trip around Quebec, we walked down the hill to the 1640 Bistro and had lunch. From there it was just six blocks back to our hotel, L'Hotel du Vieux Quebec.
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| 1640 Bistro on the right |
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| Plains of Abraham, where the Battle of Quebec was fought between the French & English. |
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| Street harp player: MA bought a CD from him. |
4am wake-up call tomorrow for our 6:50am flight to Newark and connection home to Houston (Hurricane Joaquin permitting!) All in all it's been another wonderful traveling adventure for both of us, it's time for home, church, Tanner and close friends! Then we'll start working on our next trip!
