Blogs from Old Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, North America
March 31st 2012
En route to Montreal: Rebekah and Dan are relaxing in the Euro-styled lounge here at the Toronto airport: we have about 30 minutes til our connecting flight to Montreal. We've availed ourselves of the free almonds, diet Coke, and coffee. I'm enjoying the Mac lounge where I can use one of a dozen free computers. During the first flight from Chicago, I had unusual success with Scrabble on my Kindle. Dan got his celebrity news update by reading "US Weekly" magazine from cover to cover, and Rebekah spent some time with Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse Five. Kind of a gender-role-reading-reversal, I think! When we arrive we'll find the HI hostel and then go exploring. Rebekah has a list of pubs that offer special "craft" beers, Dan wants to see an art museum, and I want to ... read more
Get Montreal! 2012
Published: January 5th 2012North America » Canada » Quebec » Montréal » Old Montréal
January 5th 2012
Soundtrack for Montreal, Canada 1) Nadia Ali, Starkillers & Alex Kenji - Pressure (Alesso Radio Edit) 2) Kaskade - Turn It Down 3) Martijn Ten Velden - I Wish U Would (Tom Novy Remix) 4) Jay-Z & Kanye West - In Paris 5) Gramophonedzie - Why Don't You 6) Avicii - Levels 7) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) 8) Inpetto - No More Serious Faces 9) Temper Trap - Sweet Disposit... read more
Day 57 Montreal
Published: November 8th 2011North America » Canada » Quebec » Montréal » Old Montréal
October 25th 2011
Hi again! I know it has been awhile since I updated our journey but I couldn't get into my blog account for some strange reason. Also, I am going to miss a small segment of the last of Quebec because I was without a camera for a few days. We had some amazing experiences from Montreal to Gatineau. After our day of work in St. Jerome, one of our team members arranged a team dinner at a "Sugar Shack". The maple syrop farm was really cool. I wish I had pictures. We had a traditional dinner served to us which included alot of maple syrop. Our first course was pea soup. Mom and Dad, I actually ate it and enjoyed it! Fresh baked bread, pork pate, pickled onions and beets, deep fried bacon, maple hot dogs, ... read more
October 2nd 2011
Montreal!! By Rachael We hadn’t originally planned to go to Canada, let alone to Montreal in Quebec but we heard such great things about the city along the way that we decided we couldn’t miss it! We were slightly concerned before arriving that our lack of French knowledge would be a problem but we were assured that everyone was bilingual and you can get by with just English. So unperturbed we rocked up in Montreal with only our English. We had a nasty surprise when we attempted to get something for dinner – we were feeling lazy and cheap so went to Subway and MacDonald’s. I was very surprised when the woman serving me in Subway, clearly a local, didn’t speak English and I had to order my tuna sub in broken French ‘un sandwhich du ... read more
September 9th 2011
We really enjoyed our all too brief trip to Montreal, a city that seems to suffer from an identity crisis but is a great city to visit with beautiful natural features, a fascinating history and a vibrant population. I started the morning in a very healthy way, going for a 10km run, the first half of which was along the picturesque McGill University, where all of the staff were on strike and protesting, and then up the very steep Mont Royal, a huge park on the hill that overlooks the city. The views from the top were fantastic on this very sunny morning so I stopped for a break and then ran back down the hill which was much easier! There were so many people out running, riding and even doing some weird sort of cross ... read more
August 19th 2011
Enfin ! ou plutôt déjà ??!! Après un gros mois de planification... et de booking d'hotel jusqu'à la dernière minute, de petites peurs à cause des émeutes à Londres, me voilà sur le point de partir... ! J'ai la trouille ! Je me sens nerveuse, excitée, joyeuse, fébrile, j'ai peur, j'ai hâte, j'en reviens juste pas de faire ça !! You'll never know if you don't go ! You'll never shine if you don't glow ! - Smash Mouth ''All Star'' J'espère que j'ai pensé à tout ! Sinon je ferais avec les moyens du bord !!! ;-) Je me donnais jusqu'à la date du départ pour vivre ma peine et le plan fonctionne à merveille, je me sens tranquillement reprendre le dessus... 2 mois après la séparation... un mois à pleurer toutes les larmes de ... read more
La grande aventure en solo !
Published: August 6th 2011North America » Canada » Quebec » Montréal » Old MontréalAugust 5th 2011
WOW ! Ça y est ! J'ai acheté le billet d'avion, booké quelques hotels et le billet de train... Je ne peux plus reculer ! Je le fait pour de vrai !! C'est pas une blague !! Loin de là !! OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! J'ai la trouille !!!!!! Bon ça fait les exclamations !!! Comme si j'étais pas énervée!! Vous me connaissez !!! :-D Bref environ la moitié du voyage est booké... à 14 jours du départ... pour une fille organisé comme moi est-ce que ça vous surprend !? ;-) Bon recommençons du début : --> Pourquoi une aventure en solo ? --> Pourquoi la Grande-Bretagne et l'Irlande ? Eh bien je vais répondre à l'envers : --> La Grande-Bretagne et l'Irlande parce que j'en rêve depuis toujours !! Les paysages à perte de vue, l'ambiance mélancolique, ... read more
Last Days in Montreal
Published: July 21st 2011North America » Canada » Quebec » Montréal » Old Montréal
July 21st 2011
If you’ve been watching the news, you may have seen that Canada and the Midwestern U.S. are experiencing a “heat dome.” “Heat dome” seems a euphemism for “hell on earth.” It is miserable, and apparently the worst is yet to come. I hate to complain, especially while on vacation, but the humidity and heat is taking its toll. Ain’t nobody happy. Fortunately, we were able to spend the entire day in air-conditioned bliss at the Montréal Museum of Science. The Indiana Jones exhibit currently on display combines movie memorabilia (props, costumes, etc.) along with the science of archeology. Each visitor gets a headset with an interactive device. As you make your way through the exhibit you enter numbers based on what you are viewing and the device provides sound and/or video clips. You are also taking ... read more
About some bikes and a basilica
Published: July 19th 2011North America » Canada » Quebec » Montréal » Old Montréal
July 18th 2011
Sunday: Since we got Arden situated on her bike, we’ve been riding along the canal each day. Last night we rode to the Vieux Port (Old Port) and back, which is about five miles round-trip. This afternoon we rode about the same distance but incorporated some streets downtown to make it to the Planetarium de Montréal. Shows are offered in English or French, so you have to schedule your trip for the language you prefer. Inside is a display of designs submitted by dozens of architects for the new planetarium. The building we visited today is slated to close in November; the new and improved building (which seems to be a complete replacement of the current structure) will open sometime in 2013. It was really neat to see all the designs, and I would imagine the ... read more
Stingrays & Knights in Armour
Published: July 11th 2011North America » Canada » Quebec » Montréal » Old Montréal
July 11th 2011
It’s 8:15 a.m. and I am sitting on a lovely patio at the campsite here in Quebec, enjoying the already hot morning sorting through photos and attempting to write a blog. We made it to the Montreal area yesterday afternoon and are getting ready to enjoy the new experiences of a province with another language. I should go back a few days first; I believe left off with us having spent an incredible time in Niagara Falls and heading to Toronto. Driving to Toronto was far easier than we expected, we left Niagara Falls after the rush hour so it made driving the 401 a lot less stressful. The 401 is Deerfoot Trail jacked up on steroids, a lot of steroids! There are collector highways that run parallel to the Express way that are 3 lanes ... read more
