Montreal Take #2
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| Driving to Montreal. |
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| Just kidding, it was more like this. |
I thought I would give Montreal another try. I knew we would
meet up again eventually, but I didn’t want to rush things this time. For this
second date, I would be sure to let Montreal talk as much as he needed. He
could tell me about his past, show me his real colours and even his “party”
side.
You have to remember though that I like a cheap date. So the
next five days we didn’t spend a penny on entertainment, just food, lots of good food.
We left Thursday and came back to O-town Monday evening and
this is what went down….
Thursday, we checked into our score of a deal, $50 a night
(thank you Priceline) hotel in Dorval. It is still technically on the island of Montreal, but a 15 minute drive from downtown. It was nothing fancy to say the least,
but it provided moderately comfortable beds, cold complimentary breakfast and
awesome views of the planes coming and going for Little Dragon to witness as we
waited for the bus. Did I mention his obsession with trains, planes and automobiles? (The actual things, not the John Candy movie). That being said, we were never aware of the noise because
the rooms had AC fans that blew air and made a constant humming. We didn’t mind
the sound and Dragon likes white noise so it all worked out. Rooms in downtown Montreal, even
on Priceline would have gouged us at $100 or more a night so we were thankful
we found this cozy little 2 Star.
After checking in, David was bound and determined to find a
little Italian Restaurant in, wait for it…Little Italy. He spent 8 months of
his mission in Montreal and apparently frequented this place so many times that
the owner gave him a “This one is on the house” deal. He remembered it was
close to a street corner (and the names of the streets, thankfully) but that
was it, as it had been close to 10 years since enjoying their scrumptious pizza
and sandwiches. However, we DID find it and enjoyed the food, especially Little
Dragon. David spoke with the workers and dropped names of the past owners. I
wanted to feel special and join in the conversation and ask them about if they
have had any run-ins with the Mafia. David thought it was best for me to keep
my mouth shut as they probably were connected with the Mafia somehow. Isn’t
everybody in Montreal? Come on!
After our tummies were filled we headed towards the Museum of
Architecture (I found a list of FREE things to do in Montreal on the National
Geographic website) as it was free admission on Thursday nights. On our way, I
vocalized “I want to find an old chair to paint, let’s look for one on the side
of the road” as I could see that the next day was garbage collection day in the
neighborhood we were driving through. Just a mere minute after I had spoken
those words, I spotted a chair beckoning to be preserved in ever-awesome chalk
paint that my sister had introduced me to that summer (not to be mixed up with
chalkboard paint, if you still don’t know what I am talking about google Annie
Sloan, but be careful as it is VERY addicting).
The Architecture museum was neat, small, and modern. Not a ton of
displays, but it featured how computer science became married to the
construction of practically everything in the late 70’s and 80’s. I couldn’t
believe how much math goes into making anything. It boggled our minds, even
Little Dragons.
They were featuring a Woody Allen movie called Celebrity in
a beautiful theatre. We stayed for 10 minutes. Little Dragon likes to crawl on
the floor during movies, in the dark and he’s fast, which makes a triple
threat of why he is not a suitable movie-watching companion any more. Gone are
the days of Baby Dragon asleep in my arms for 3 hours as Bilbo and his buddies
fight the goblins. Oh sad times on so many levels!
Day two: We walk through China Town to Old Port. The first
time we did Montreal back in November we quickly saw the Notre Dame Cathedral
and that was it for Old Port. It was very cold and the winds that blow in from
the St. Lawrence Seaway chill one down to the bone. This time it was sunny and
the slight breeze was welcoming. I have to say that I LOVE Old Port, it is as
close as you can get to Quebec City and I will go out and say that Quebec City
is my favorite Canadian city that I have visited so far. There, I said it.
The bustle and buildings and smells are wonderful. The
French conversations and clip clop of the horse’s hooves pulling carriages full
of tourists.
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| Outside of City Hall, they were doing interviews with various candidates for Montreal's mayor. |
We ducked into an Information center and got a FREE booklet
that included self-guided walking tours of each major district of Montreal. We
did 2/3 of the walks in Old Port. Saw the old court houses and had a tour of the
ever-expensive City Hall. Sheesh! No wonder they call Quebec, Canada’s Rome.
Gold plaited this and leather imported from Italy that. Still neat to behold!
And behold we did!!
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| City Hall. |
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| The Council room and it's magnificent stained glass windows. NOTE: General public is not allowed in here during actual "sessions", just the press. You have to be invited/selected to come in to talk to the city council about your case/issue.Government FOR the people...? Hmm... |
We went down to the docks and walked to the Clock Tower! It
was 192 steps to the top. Around the tower, just a few steps away is a FREE
public, white, sandy beach. You can’t go into the water (why would you want to
swim in the St. Lawrence? Are you crazy!) Awesome views of downtown Montreal.
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| The first step. They are all marked with a gold-like coin in the concrete, until you reach the spiral staircases near the top. |
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| Inside the clock. |
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| I chickened out at this point. I don't do well with heights (those see-through steps freak me out). But I still had sweaty palms watching Big Guy take Little Dragon to the top. |
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| I really like this picture. Maybe it's the blue umbrella's matching Dragon's onesie. Maybe its the green vines contrasting with the white sand. Or maybe it's the random lady in red, soaking up the sun and obviously loving it. See the tower you walked to the top of, Little Dragon?? |
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| Don't eat the sand!! Too late... |
Continuing our walk through Old Port we notice a bunch of
vendors clearing up some tables at an outdoor market. “Let’s check this out
tomorrow, Dave!” He readily agrees, as most of you know I do not have to pull
Dave’s arm very hard when I suggest anything that involves food.
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| He ate A LOT of apples during this trip. |
We explored St Catherine’s and discover some live Jazz music
playing near festival place because dun dun dun there was the International
Film Festival going on that weekend. Oh man, there were so many things going
on, it was awesome! At 8:30pm every night for the next week and a half they
were playing various “Classic” movies on a big screen in the middle of the
square. They close down TWO major streets for some of the summer in Montreal,
both St. Catherine’s and St. Laurent. If we were younger and more baby-less we
would have stayed for a movie, but we are old farts now with a Little Dragon so
no Skyfall, Godfather or Rear Window for us. And if you know me, you know how
much Abby loves her some Hitchcock.
Saturday we went back to the marketplace in Old Port to find
that indeed there was a bustling outdoor market. It was incredible! Everyone
who was selling or playing instruments were dressed in old fashion clothing. We
casually asked one of the seller’s if they do this every day or maybe just the weekends.
No. Apparently this was the only weekend in the year that the Museum of
Archaeology puts on a 18th Century Market. Dave and I high-fived
each other over this perfect coincidence, as I did not do much research as to
what was happening that particular weekend in Montreal, but more what would be
FREE to do. One of my favorite parts was a three-person band with a chick rocking the oboe! (I played the oboe in Jr. High school).
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| Seriously good chocolate truffles. |
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| Busy market streets. |
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| Umm... who brought the baby? Sheesh! |
We strolled through Chinatown and took the Metro to the
Museum du Beau Arts
(which offers
FREE admission to the general public for their permanent exhibits). I might add
that this museum takes up A LOT of space, I’m talking 3 buildings connected, so
let’s just say that it would take more than a few hours to speed walk through
the permanent exhibits.
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| This statue represents Big Guy (the horse) and Little Dragon's (the cougar on his back) relationship |
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| Three hearts and three Keyes. |
Little Dragon did not want to be in this museum. He
protested practically the entire time. Perhaps he had a similus overload, or
didn’t emotionally connect with the modern art, at any rate as soon as we got
out on the street again he was as happy as a clam. What a crazy little clam.
We walked again down the busy streets of St. Catherine and
Laurent. During the summer time they shut down St. Laurent street and have
music playing and the excess merchandise from shops laid out on tables in the
street. Montreal knows how to party.
Sunday we went to church. Well two churches. There are
enough churches in Montreal that you could attend a different one every week
and by the end of the year still have more to visit. We went to our “regular”
Mormon church and then went to St. Joseph’s Basilica to light candles by our
favorite saints. Not really, but we got pictures of the candles. And man, there
were TONS of candles. It was HOT like hell inside!
After our religious wanderings we went back to our good
friends home for dinner and entertainment (equaling 3 little monkeys and one
dragon putting on a show).
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| We love this family! |
Monday we hit the city hard one more time before heading
back to the little corner we call home in Ottawa. We took the Metro to the
McGill campus to snoop around and go to yet another FREE museum. McGill is an
absolutely gorgeous campus. The buildings, the ivy, the OLD feel of it all. Big
Guy of course wanted to check out the law buildings. Which looked more like the
old Louisiana type houses they have at Disneyland near the Haunted
Mansion. I guess that shows you
how limited my knowledge is of architecture.
After we had our fill of stuffed animals we headed our way
up the big hill that is also know as Mount Royal. We walked up, up, up a wide
multi-use trails full of runners, bikers and strollers, past Beaver Lake and to
the look-out. We really like this park and I guess you could call it “Montreal’s
Central Park”. Next time I would like to walk around the cemetery. Next time…
Well, that was my second experience with Montreal and I have to say, he wasn't that bad. Yes, the traffic is pretty crazy, but taking the Metro takes a little edge off that anxiety and well, when in Rome.
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