Old Montreal

We took the VIA rail train from Toronto to Montreal on Tuesday afternoon, August 18th. The ride was 5 hours long, but we got no sleep as the train was quite bumpy. We arrived after nightfall and walked the 10 blocks to our previously-booked hotel in downtown Montreal. By this time, the realization that we had taken too much has definitely hit as we were having a hard time lugging our laptops and our fully-packed backpacks. Our plan was to make it to Newfoundland and leave our laptops and other "we-thought-it-might-need-it" stuff with my parents, and not take it with us onto Guatemala.

Montreal was added onto our list of places to visit late in the game, as we were there primarily for business. I was applying for permament US residency and was required to show up for a scheduled interview in Montreal at the US consulate. Luckily, the date of the interview was set during the time we planned on being in Canada, so our itinerary was rearranged to accomodate. The interview was tougher than we expected: at one point they threatened to turn me down. It was the second worse part of my 'green card' ordeal. The full-body medical was somewhat worse. Nevertheless by about 1 pm that Wednesday afternoon, we were successfully done with a day and a bit to play in Montreal.

We spent most of the day in the beautiful, historic Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) down by the waterfront, admiring the buildings, eating gelato, and touring the inside of the gorgeous Notre Dame cathedral. Old Montreal had a very European feel with its narrow buildings, outdoor cafes, and cobblestone streets. We finished our day eating french cusine outside and drinking sangria while Eva was serenaded by three troubadours.

The next day, we checked out the birthplace of Montreal, which now sits the Museum of History and Archeology. The museum was literally built over the ruins of Montreal´s original buildings, which visitors can tour in the museum´s basement. We saw remanents of the Montreal´s first fort, cemetry, and sewer system, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately the area was dimly lit and thus the ruins did not photograph well.

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