Bon Appetit!

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I've given up starting off by saying that this will be a quick post because it never ends up that way. It is late (1:11 am) and I'm blogging on the laptop in the hotel room since I'm sleepy but not *that* sleepy yet. I went out with Candy and her friend who also happens to be in Montreal tonight - we went to eat chicken sharwma (like a gyro, but Lebanese) based on another friend's (a local) recommendation - it tasted okay but the place was a hole in the wall and Candy felt a bug drop on her arm, it turns out there were lots of bugs hanging upside down on the ceiling, EW!!! We were at the intersection of rue Crescent and Maisonneuve (sp?) which is the area where all the tourists party. Oops. It was hopping even on a Sunday night and the bars were packed... too bad we didn't go to one of those instead of the shady sharwma place O_o Candy and friend are meeting up with others to visit a strip club for the first time, I was going to tag along but decided not to at the last minute since I'm not entirely comfortable with one, let alone the "full contact" ones they were heading for >.< Plus I'm really sleepy, or was, not as much anymore now that I'm rambling!

Travelblog was down for a couple of days, so I couldn't update anything... let's see if I can recall what we did:

- Shopped on Ste-Catherine, which is like Robson Street except better. We spent an hour+ in Simon's, which is a department store targeted towards younger people and they had lots of great deals!

- Bused up to Mont Royal except we kind of got lost since my guidebook didn't tell us exactly how to get to the Chateau where the best views of the city are... so we ended up near a man-made pond and rented the little pedal-boats and enjoyed the sun. We did catch a bit of the view on the bus back down... and we watched the Brazil-France match on rue Mont-Royal, which felt a bit like Commercial Drive especially with the Portugal fans from the previous match tooting their horns and waving flags. Brazil was dreadful but France wasn't much better. Sigh. All the teams I was cheering for are now out =(

- We watched the Canada Day Parade! Well, Candy and Mom watched for a bit, but after ten minutes Candy said she felt like puking so Mom went back with her to the hotel and I watched the whole thing by myself for an hour and a half. I got the prime spot behind a stroller so no one blocked my view, and when the stroller family left I got to slip into the front row! =) It sucks that Candy's been sick for the past week or so, it's been a drag since we're paying so much money to watch her just sleep in on some afternoons... sigh x 2

- Went to the other end of Ste-Catherine and there happend to be a local artist festival which was quite neat! We ended up by the gay village without realizing it until we saw rainbow flags everywhere. Looks likea funky part of town! We ate at Chez Cora since Candy wanted to but didn't get to last time she was in Montreal, delicious and lots of gorgeously cut and displayed fruit on the plates!

- Had the best bagels EVER at St-Viatuer Bagel, we shared a Montreal-style bagel with sesame with a generous side of cream cheese and served with sliced cantaloupe. It's exactly as described in books - crunchy on the outside, sweet and soft on the inside - YUM!!! Bought a dozen more, some will go back to Vancouver for family and Candy and I will take a couple to New York, maybe we can do a taste test with NY style bagels 😊 I also tried sangria for the first time today, looks great but very strong in alcohol... Candy told me the ones in Vancouver are weaker, but I guess the Frenchies like their booze strong!

- Had my first smoked meat sandwich at Ben's which is a block away from my hotel - wanted to go to Schwartz's but it was too far to go for a late night snack. Very old-school diner, I wouldn't have gone in if it wasn't mentioned in the guidebook. I enjoyed the sandwich but I shall have to compare it to Schwartz's when we go tomorrow.

- Visited Old Montreal, wanted to do Ed's walking tour but Candy was feeling like puking and fainting (again) after we visited the very gorgeous Basilica so we had to stop and backtrack to Chinatown where my Mom wanted to eat because she missed Chinese food. Chinatown was one street long (short) and very touristy, we ended up eating at the grossest, dirtiest little HK-style cafe where the tiles were coming off the floor and the spoons and forks were all stained like they had never been washed before. The food was disgusting.. bleechhh... we sacrificed a meal at a bistro in Old Montreal for *this*?!

I can't think of anything else right now so I'll turn in and try to post my Montreal pics tomorrow or the day after. Candy's still out so maybe she'll have some stripper photos - sorry, those won't be going on the internet :D Toodle-oo, and have a nice day, my next post will be from New York, New York!!! (does a little happy dance)

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Comments

[anonymous]

funny got back from penticton to read your post! sounds like you are having fun cept for puking part! haha. do the quebecors cheer for france during the soccer games?