Montreal - the unabridged version

When we finally settled in after our trying night on the train and our uninvitedly-eventful arrival, we had BBQ chicken (Bill went to the store to get supper and came home with a new skateboard deck?) and homemade hamburgers (SO nice after so much take-out/fast-food/restaurant eating in the Maritimes - I'm sure I've gained 15 pounds already lol) then vegetated until it was time to go to the fireworks, which were nothing short of mind-blowing.  Buzz on the street is that Canada's entry was spectacular enough to warrant placement in the top 3.  Our host, Fernando (who I wanted a pocket-version of - I love him!) said it was hard not to be blase about it since it runs eery summer for the same 10 weeks or whatever; I retorted that we come from Edmonton where we get fireworks on New Year's and Canada Day on a municipal budget and it was hard not to be impressed...

We tucked in three very tired children, and I proceeded to back up my pictures and start working on the official post-trip slideshow with a glass of wine and some air-conditioning ;)

At around 11 in the morning, my dear friend Alex and her handsome and funny fiance Ryan arrived for breakfast; we served up the last of the Prince Edward Island potatoes with a yummy omelette and cranberry juice.  The original plan had been to head off to the Tohu centre for some free cirque, a it was the last day of the festival, but we were having such a nice time visiting we lost track of the time and ended up instead taking the Metro downtown, walking around Old Montreal for a bit, then heading up to Jean-Talon Market for some yummy cheese, veggies, fruit, and bread.

Can I just pause a minute to mention two things.  

#1)  The public transportation system in Montreal is effing amazing.  Not only are there commuter trains between major centres like Montreal & Toronto/Ottawa (something I seriously do not get about our lack of a similar system for Ft. Mac-Edmonton-Calgary), but there is an incredible Metro System that someone has been kind enough to make an integral part of Google's GPS map system so you can single-click to pinpoint your current location, type in your desired destination, and it'll bring up not only your walking and bus or train numbers, but how much it'll cost you.  Damn, hey?  

#2) It is impossible to not fall in love with the eclectic architecture and people of central Montreal.  It is a bustling centre of culture, arts, history, cuisine, and more.  From street performers and buskers to theatre and dance, from incredible graffiti to fine art galleries, from turn of the century mansions to adorable brownstones, tolerance and acceptance seem to be at the heart of this bohemian haven.  I can't speak to the outlying areas, or the French-only/English-only neighbourhoods, though, and from what I understand there's no need to pay any mind unless you have a French vs. English bone to pick.  For me, tout est bon.

We had meant to hit Atwater Merket but it wasn't really en route to any of the places we were heading that day, so Jean-Talon it was, and there are no regrets here.  I don't understand why it's not possible for Edmonton to have a market open 7 days a week, too.  I especially loved the (stinky, Wil would say) cheese market - a giant horse-shoe shaped sneeze-guarded glass counter with nothing but hundreds of kinds of international cheeses.  We selected about 5 kinds (Serejane just about peed her pants when we told her she could get her own slab of feta, which she then insisted on carrying home in the 30-above weather...) and after a quick portrait with the blue cheese cow in the Hamel Fromagerie storefront window, we headed home on the Metro for a delicious meal... yum!

We turned in early so we could get a jump start on our second full day.  Our pilgrimmage to Schwartz's Deli for what we were assured was the finest smoked-meat sandwich in all of Montreal began with a walk through St. Catherine's to the skateboard shop Bill got his deck at, to get Wil a pair of shoes.  The ones he was wearing were purchased in September and smelled like he hadn't taken them off since getting them.  We were all pretty perplexed with the psuedo-sewage odour that filled the space whenever he removed his shoes.  The fact he only packed one pair of socks for himself didn't really help matters either.

Now, the skate shop is situated on St. Catherine's.  Which is the gay mecca of Montreal.  It is also the sex shop mecca of Montreal, replete with full displays in the store windows.  Of course, I was fine with the gay district, and didn't have any issues with the kids being there either - even the pictures of  same-sex couples embracing each other were cool.  However, as we got nearer the skate shop, the sex shops had a full array of butt-plugs, vibrators, dildos, lingerie, lotions, etc. in a rainbow of eye-catching colours.  While I wasn't particularly worried about the boys seeing such paraphernalia, I did have concerns about explaining it to the girls.  Hurriedly, we found a nice little store peddling African collectibles, where Madisyn picked up gifts for her Mom and Gramma, then amused ourselves hanging out in the alleyways and admiring the tame-by-comparison graffiti...

After acquiring said shoes and consulting with Google Maps, we discovered that we were right along the bus route to get to Schwartz's, bu the bus wouldn't arrive for another 9 minutes.  We figured it ould take as much time to just walk.  We went right through Chinatown and up into the Jewish Quarter, stopping along the way to admire the sights and sounds, and of course to grab Slurpees (which are slushies there...) and two lens caps as one of mine had busted and I had wanted a squeeze-release to replace the somewhat time-consuming screw-cap for the pancake lens.  We got our sandwiches and a few jars of Authentic Schwartz's seasonings then headed up St. Urbain Street to Mont-Royal where we refueled and relaxed (poor Serejane got a blister from the park), and decided that Mount Royal is really more of a grassy knoll, before walking back towards downtown via the University Area and embarking on our next mini-trip to the Biosphere at Montreal's Olympic Stadium Park.  However, when we arrived, we learned that the Biodome and Insectarium had been closed since June due to a labour dispute, so decided we'd go check out the Botanic Gardens instead.

All I can say about the Botanic Gardens is WOW.  The Bonsai exhibit was worth the admission alone, but the Japanese, Chinese, and Urban Garden exhibits were the icing on the cake.  I'm excited now to go home and redesign our backyard, something Bill & I had discussed but really had no clue how to start before.  We now have a kind of approach figured out and look forward to having our own little piece of urban heaven.

On our way back, since we kind of got shafted on the Biosphere, we decided to go in for a trip to the top of the Montreal Tower, which actually turned out to be pretty cool.  he first thing the kids noticed were all the spiders.  Thankfully, they were OUTSIDE the cabin of the tram, but there they were, freaking Madisyn out and thrilling Kaelan to no end - huge fat nasty-looking things.  The view from the top of the tower was spectacular, but was also definitive proof that Mont-Royal is merely a grassy knoll (see image above) with the downtown skyline almost dwarfing it.  But, I imagine it's the same thing for me to be unimpressed by their idea of a "mountain" growing up near the Rockies as their attitude toward their fireworks.

We took one last Metro-trip back to the apartment, where after a meal which included poutine (you can't go to Montreal and not have poutine, right?) Fernando joined us for a glass of wine and some picture-sharing.  Did I mention how amazing our accommodations were or how much I adored our host Fernando?  Let me mention it again, because it's so very true :)

We got up and packed early so we could have a couple of hours to walk around before picking up our rental van and driving to Ottawa.  We walked across the Jacques Cartier Bridge to Ile St. Helene to visit the Biosphere (the geodesic dome at the site of the 1967 World Expo, not to be confused with the Biodome at Olympic Stadium.) While on the island, the challenge was put forth to find a four-leaf clover, which is worth $5 to the first verifiable find.  With no successful find after about half an hour, we walked back across the bridge to the apartment, collected our bags, and cabbed it to the airport to grab our van and head off to Ottawa.

In a nutshell, I love Montreal, and will be adding it to my list of must-visit-again Canadian locations, right after Lunenburg.