Quebec Sunday 09/09 8:15 AM

So recap. Toronto. Just another city, even with the glits and the glams of the Filmfestival going on, it is still a city that will soon blend in with many others.

Time to move on. Again a long busdrive and a very old busdriver... New, different characters on the bus.
Next to me 2 japanese girls that dont speak a word of english, trying to communicate with Gothic-girl from Montreal.-The conversation seems basic, yet highly complex.
In front of me an Indian older lady wants to know all about the aspirations, hopes and dreams of the two fully accesoiressed rappers (one white, one black) next to her.
In the back the 3 heavy metal dudes get left alone by everybody.

The old black man right behind me snorrs.
I love it.

I m trying something new to get to Quebec, something called Allo Stop.
I registered before I left Montreal and can now use the service.
The idea is, you call up the office saying you want to leave from Montreal to Quebec on Saturday afternoon.
They say a car is leaving at a certain point at a certain time. Be there.
In my case:
I can hitch a ride with Noemie who drives a grey Golf and will pick me up 15h30 at the corner of Cremazie and Berie.
I pay the office 6 dollars, 10 dollars to Noemie.
It works: At 15h35 the grey golf arrives at the meetingpoint, a mexican young man studying architecture in quebec and myself get in the car.
We meet Noemie, a friendly young woman who studied music at the conservatory -violin-

The 3hour drive to Quebec is one of sharing stories, jokes, history.
I explain that I was normally travelling with a friend of mine, but that she got offered an internship in Madeira at the last minute....
she says her cousin is leaving for Madeira the next day to study Portuguese at the University of Funchal (Madeira is booming. a regular hotspot!). The cousin s name leaving is Ingrid.
Life is odd.

She drops me of nearby the house of JP and Dominique (also people I met via Hospitality), exchange emails, wish eachother well and say goodbye.

After a 10 minute walk I arrive at the hospitalityhouse and get welcomed by Dominique, her two cousins and her sister. Apparently I crash their family girls night dinner. I immediately get poored a good glass of wine and the girls shatter and laughter continues. Most of the conversation is hardly understandable to me (Quebecois is french but very highpitch, nasal and fast).
Lots of wine, good food and laughter are the key ingredients that evening.
I take pictures of the girls, so they have a souvenir of their evening.
Around 11PM everybody leaves and J.P comes home from work (the hospitality contact). We have another beer all together-Dominique, J.P and I -yes indeed, I have a buzz at this time-, before going to bed.
The young couple apparently loves to travel and to encounter new people.
Their cosy apartment reflects the way they are.
As the pick-up plays old records, they tell their travelstories.
J.P insists to show me around his town tomorrow, which I kindly accept.

After that, I fall sound a sleep. But like every night, I wake up in the middle of the night and it takes me 5 minutes to figure out where I am exactly. I backtrack my steps...Oh yes;
Warm welcome in Quebec... I turn around and continue my sleep.