Montreal Church and Pub Crawl

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I slept a bit better than Sharon who complained of sirens and noises and sounds of a bustling city; and, I’m awakened to “What is that moving outside our window?” Two skyscrapers are rising from below. One is already above our 28^thfloor level; but, the nearest is well below us. A massive yellow crane is perched above the top of each, and the distant one had just rotated its upper section to be visible through are window. So no Sharon, it was not a big bird to answer her next question. We showered and did our daily Sudoku Challenge using the “Enjoy Sudoku” app on our smart phones. We do both the daily “Intricate” and “Difficult” puzzles; although we only count the intricate as the challenge on weekdays and the difficult on weekends. The other is just for practice, to keep our wits sharp for when we play Sudoku challenges on the cruise. Sharon is much more evenly matched when playing Sudoku on the phone; although, now she’s resorted to playing on her tablet. I’m sure that she’d tell you that she wins most of the time now. This app will grade your score against others, giving you the time it took you to finish; and, the percentile that you finished in. We only go by the percentile; and, by doing the “Daily Puzzle” we are sure that we are doing the same puzzle. The app also supports random puzzles, where you can play more than one of the same level in a given day. We both paid the one-time price of a couple of bucks for this capability. If you only want to do the Daily Puzzle, the app is free. I finished the two puzzles at 92% and 93% (intricate for Friday) and I won’t embarrass Sharon by reporting her scores. She just wanted me to feel good to start the cruise, or so she told me.

Erin called to go to breakfast, and I’m still struggling with this cordless handset phone that you must pick up and then find the “On” button to push before you can speak. I asked Erin, if she was just testing me, after I hung up on her the day before when going out to dinner, or whether she was hungry. We met in the lobby and concierge recommended an All-Day breakfast venue near where we had our Italian dinner the night before. Again the concierge mentioned, “Just past the firehouse.” Dennis complained that he hadn’t seen any firehouse, and frankly, neither had I. Erin couldn’t believe he could have missed it. And I think we both missed it again on the way to breakfast. The restaurant was an upscale diner. They took the notion of “Pigs in a Blanket” (something I would NEVER order at home) to a whole different level, with their buckwheat and sorghum crepes wrapped about 3 sausages served with a mountain of fruit. The fruit, including apple, orange, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, kiwi, pineapple, strawberries and banana, was artistically displayed, and it was that picture in the menu more than anything else that made me choose it from the menu. Sharon had French toast and roasted potatoes. Dennis had the egg skillet. And Erin had the French Toast with tons of strawberries.

We walked back to the hotel, and reassembled in the lobby, before catching a cab waiting outside. The four of us took a ride up Mount Royale to a viewing point overlooking the city. The panorama was magnificent in the morning hours with the Olympic Stadium prominent in the center of our view. Our driver took us next to St. Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royale (a minor basilica). Our driver made it past the parking attendant without paying the $5 admittance fee by smiling at his cousin (according to Dennis), and waited for us while we ascended four flights of escalators and then took an elevator to the basilica entrance. This massive Gothic structure features one of the world’s largest domes. While the interior was impressive for its scale, Dennis and I both felt it wasn’t quite as awe inspiring as some other (gaudier?) churches and cathedrals that we’d seen. We didn’t want to spend too much time here, we still had to make our way back, and our cost of having the driver wait for us turned out to be just $15. We could have taken the elevator all the way up if we’d known where to get on, and all the way down again as well (if we’d known where to get off). As it was we had hoof it and use two of the down escalators, and found our way right to where our driver was waiting.

He took us next to Notre Dame Basilica, and this is where we left his company. The interior here was more to the level that Dennis and I had come to expect from old Gothic style churches; but, we have to appreciate that we’re in North America, and not where these structures have been around since the middle ages. There was some loud organ notes as we walking thru the church which Sharon said it sounded like they were tuning the organ. Then we heard a tour guide tell her group they were tuning the organ because there was going to be a concert there this weekend. We took lots of pictures, and then started our nearly one mile walk back to the hotel. Erin was making this trip with her crutches. We struggled some with our map at Victoria Square, trying to piece together what street was what, and finally made it to where we figured St. Patrick’s basilica. We had to sort out which was the front and back; but, finally found the entrance. For me this was becoming just another Gothic structure and after spending a few minutes inside, I knew I couldn’t stay in its steamy bowels much longer. I found a comfortable spot on the outside steps to sit in the pleasing autumn chill. Even Sharon had to admit it was too hot inside and had given me here Monte Carlo Grand Prix Pilot jacket to hold. Dennis joined me and we both waited for the two Catholics among us to get their daily dose of Jesus. They were a few minutes too early for daily mass since the bells started ringing as we walked away. If we’d been a bit later they probably would have wanted to stay for that.

We wound up at McClean’s pub and grille, and it must have been a popular place because the din was almost unbearable but they were able to get us a small table downstairs. I ordered an Alexander Keith’s Red Amber Ale, and had a choice of 10, 20 or 60 ounces. I chose the 20; as did Dennis but he opted for the craft red amber ale featured at this pub. Sharon is sticking with Sprite and Erin seems happy with water. Sharon ordered the fish and chips and we were asking her if this cruise is the one that we are in quest of the best fish and chips. She still maintains she doesn’t need to do that quest, because she knows the best that she’s had was in Sydney ordered at room service; although, the halibut fish and chips in a small Alaskan fishing village was right up there (and way ahead in the value department). I noticed that there were two prices for each of the burgers in the pub menu, and I had to struggle a bit to decipher the difference. I did finally piece together that the second price, about $2 higher, was the same “burger style” but made with an 8 ounce chicken breast. I chose the chicken-burger with cheddar, bacon, jalepenos and grilled onions. It was a mouthful, and every bite delicious. Erin went with the minestrone, again. I asked her if her quest was for the perfect minestrone. She wasn’t going for that. On my previous New England cruise I’d been on a quest for the perfect lobster roll. Dennis went with the daily special, the “007 Burger”. They offer about four daily specials which they discount by about $1.



We made it back to the hotel after lunch, and took some time to relax before dinner. Dennis had seen “The Keg” on our walk back from lunch and it was on his list he’d looked up before the ship, and had gone back during our rest-time to check it out and to also explore the underground mall. He said that he found a Dunkin Donuts that looked promising for breakfast. But he’d also done some internet research and though that Ye Olde Orchard Pub and Grille would be a nice place to eat, as The Keg tended to be a bit pricey. We got some directions from the bell hop, because the concierge was busy helping someone else. Erin had even hobbled over with her crutches hoping to distract him for just a second, but to no avail. The bell hop asked somebody else for help, and neither spoke English that well, so we head off. We never found the Orchard Pub, but did pass a couple of pan handlers and one person seeking signatures on a petition hoping to assert that animal lives matter too. He said it didn’t matter if you weren’t Canadian, any signature would do. Dennis said that perhaps he could help us, which he agreed to do, for perhaps a small donation or a signature. The man promised that it wouldn’t hurt. Dennis said, “Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that before. The last time I signed something like that he had wound up joining the Air Force.” The solicitor had noticed my hand rummaging around in my pocket, and asked, “How about you, I see you jingling some coins.” I pulled out my hand to show him I had some keys, nothing else. So we left him, still not knowing where the Orchard was. The hour growing later, we made our way back the other way towards the Keg checking out a few places like Hurleys on the way but the menu didn’t work for Erin so ended up at the Keg. We had about a 30-minute wait. I ordered the small filet with a twice baked potato. Sharon had the grilled chicken with seared Brussel sprouts wrapped with bacon with mashed potatoes. Dennis and Erin both had the grilled Thai Chicken. Again, Sharon had Sprite, and I decided to get one of those Canadian Coca-Colas, made with real sugar, and it was great. Dennis chose a red wine and Erin also had water. And I was happy to hear that the Dodger’s had made it through the first round of the playoffs. It’s been a long time coming, and they had to pull off two wins in a row not to be eliminated.

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