Montreal

This past Saturday, we picked up our friends Kris and Kellie at 8:30am and headed for Montreal! It was our first school field trip of the year! There was a planners conference going on and so all the people from Carl's program were taking a bus to Montreal for the weekend! We decided to make things a little cheaper so the four of us drove together and booked a cheaper hotel. During the 3.5hour drive, we stopped once to of course get a picture when we crossed from Ontario into Quebec! The drive wasn't anything spectacular except of course for the mix of beautiful yellow, orange and red trees that are changing during the fall! We arrived in Montreal, and had a little trouble finding the hotel we had booked because there was so much construction going on right where our hotel was! We parked our car, walked through the construction, and into what seemed like a scummy part of town. Old, unkept brick

buildings surrounded us, a few homeless people walked by, we passed a strip club, a sex store and then there it was, right next door - our hotel! It looked nice on the website? As we opened the door to our hotel a man gave Carl a stern glance, shook his head, pointed into our hotel and said "No!". I think he was trying to tell us it wasn't a good hotel...To bad we had already put our deposit down! The place wasn't so bad on the inside. It was clean and despite the construction and certain "amenities" offered in the area, it was quiet! We shared a room with Kris and Kellie and shared a bathroom with the whole floor. What can I say, it was better than some of the hostels we stayed at in South America! We found safe parking for our car close by and then we headed towards the hotel that the rest of the group was staying in (about a 10min walk). The guys took off with their group to do a "planning" tour and Kellie and I decided to explore Montreal! We mostly stayed on the main drag where all the shopping was, going into stores and drooling over all the things we wanted but couldn't afford, dreaming of the day when our men finish their schooling and start making money! We already decided that when that day comes, we are coming back to Montreal, staying in an expensive hotel in a nice part of town and trading in window shopping for REAL shopping! When the group returned from their tour, the four of us plus Carolyn and Anna headed towards another popular street called St.Denis in search of food! We found a little Indian Restaurant that served up some amazing food and some of the best chai tea I have ever

had! Since we were the only table in the restaurant, the service was amazing too! From there we headed to Old Town Montreal and found a pub where we chatted and had a beer! Unlike the rest of the group that partied until the wee hours of the morning, we were in bed asleep by about 11pm! The following morning, we grabbed breakfast at a busy diner and went to meet the rest of the group again for a long day of touring, this time Kellie and I went with. We started at Mont Royal where we got an amazing view of Montreal! Enjoy some pictures...

Myself, Kellie and Carolyn

Beautiful Montreal

From there we headed to other parts of Montreal to learn about the way different communities were developed, who they were developed by, why they work and why they don't....ZZZZZZZZZ, Ooops, did I just fall asleep writing about it too?! It was a good tour, just a bit to long and a bit to cold! I definately did not pack enough warm clothes for this trip! We got back to our hotel around 6pm, put on another layer of clothes and headed out for dinner! We found a massive Italian restaurant and enjoyed a couple bottle's of wine and some amazing pasta and pizza between the five of us! Of course then we found a pub, had a bit more fun and retired into bed! On Monday, the SURP's were in a conference from 8:30am until 4:30pm so Kellie and I had the day to ourselves! We slept in and went for a lovely brunch in Old Town Montreal, eating our jambon and oeuf croissant under an umbrella in the crisp air outside, while watching horse drawn carriages stroll by on the cobblestone roads. It was lovely. This is what we saw:

Habit '67 built by architect Moshe Safdie for the Expo. From afar it looks like an old run down complex...

...but up close you can see it's a uniquely designed apartment building

We hopped on a bus and headed to the Jean Talon Market! Finding it was easy, we asked for directions as it seemed that everyone is fluent in English! Even when we attempted to speak French, people would reply in English!

At the market was neatly arranged local produce! We thought there would be a bit more variety of goods but we did see this multi colored cauliflower! At first we thought it was dyed to get it this was but the seller informed us that it was actually different seeds from different places that gave the cauliflower its color!

From the market, Kellie and I hopped on the underground metro and headed back in the direction we came from. We got off earlier though so we could stop in at Schwartz's, home of the famous Montreal Smoked Sandwich! It was a hole in the wall kinda place that had a distinct meaty smell to it that you got over once you sat for a bit. We ordered a pickle on the side for $1.60 - it was a BIG pickel! The sandwich was good, the service was quick and the place was always full!

Our next stop was "Juliette & Chocolat" for a warm cup of the thickest, yummiest, most expensive hot chocolate you can get! It was recommended to us by Anna, a SURPer who had lived in Montreal for the past few years. The hot chocolate arrived in front of us in a small pitcher with a spoon and a bowl. We looked at each other and looked at the hot chocolate, wanting so bad to drink it...But not quite sure knowing what the etiquitte was on drinking it?! So we looked around at the others in the restaurant and noticed them pouring the hot chocolate, into the bowl and then drinking from the bowl! Not sure what the purpose of the process was, but we followed suit! Yum!

We debated on renting bikes from Bixi, a communal bike system set up in the city where you can take a bike, ride it and return it to another stop near your destination! We decided it was to cold for bikes but I am however intrigued by this system! They are trying to encourage people to bike instead of driving and you don't even need to own a bike! It's cheap, convenient and good for you! I think Vancouver should consider :)

It was time to meet back up with the guys and they of course wanted to go get themselves a smoked meat sandwich to, so back to Schwartz's we went.

With our stomachs full and the evening upon us, it was time to head home!

Au Revoir Montreal!