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Published: February 10th 2006
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Walk up Mont Royal
Sun shines and the air is crisp
Lovely views up there.
I saw the sun peeking through the windows and was excited to see that the nice weather is still with us. It's a perfect day to go for a nice uphill trek to Mont Royal. I believe it is one of the must see places when in Montreal.
My Korean roommate kept pushing bagels on me. She bought a dozen and then realized she bought too many and didn't want to lug them all the way to Ottawa with her the next few days. So it was nice to start the day with bagel and cream cheese. After quickly reorganizing myself and packing my backpack, I was off towards Peel Street and then up Mont Royal.
The walk was really nice because it wasn't super steep and it wasn't too crowded either. There sure were a lot of people out walking their dogs on a Friday morning! I walked past Beaver Lake which is supposed to be full of paddleboats in summer. In the nearby field there were some cool stone statues "sprinkled" around the squishy lawn. Since the grass seemed soggy, I
didn't venture too much. I continued my walk and stopped at Maison Smith which has a little interpretive centre on Mont Royal. Some of it was interesting but after a while it just became too many facts.
After visiting so many museums and art galleries this year, I've been starting to think I'd like to become a museum/art gallery curator. Or whatever you call it. I'd make a pretty darn interesting museum/gallery. Not like some I've been through. Mind you, that's easy enough for me to say. 😊
Anyhoo, it was great to learn a little and also warm up a bit too. Always nice to be able to feel your fingers! I continued my walk towards the Chalet where a look out point is supposed to be located. Bingo! Found it relatively easily and spent some time up there. Took some pictures, people watched and had a few snacks in the process. It was really lovely up there but after a while of sitting around, I started to get a bit chilly so I got up to walk around some more.
Next up was some cross that they apparently light up at night and then a monument of Georges Etienne Cartier. The monument was in the process of being restored so the area was all roped off so I'm not too sure what he is famous for...I'm guessing I should know?? I'll have to look that one up.
Anyhoo, no worries, by this time it was close to 2PM so I thought I'd stop off at Schwartz's for some of their World Famous Smoked Meat. If the line ups outside are any indication, this has got to be some fine food. The people in front of me had a fancy video camera and were filming some documentary from what I could tell. What, I do not know. Being by myself it made it easy to get a place to sit. I got a seat at the bar and was able to see all of the action first hand. I ordered a small plate of smoked meat which comes with some bread and I ordered a side of fries. I was gonna order a side of coleslaw too but didn't think I could finish it. Good thing I didn't because I couldn't even finish my meat! But that's okay. I got it wrapped to go. I hope all the meat I ate wasn't a shock to my digestive tract...not used to so much meat that isn't chicken. lol
Apparently Schwartz's is always busy...even on nights they stay open 'til 2:30AM! Crazy! From their flyer you find out that many celebrities like Celine Dion, Burt Lancaster, Nana Mouskouri, Jerry Lewis, Guy Lafleur and Raymond Bourqe to name a few have enjoyed the smoked meat of Schwartz's.
Schwartz's is in the Mont Royal Plateau District of town and it seems like a cool area with some funky shops and eateries. I have seen a competitor for Starbucks here in Montreal and it is called Cafe Depot or Coffee Depot. It's got a nice atmosphere and yummy snacks as well.
I decided to wander back to my hostel at this point and thought I might as well cut through Chinatown while I'm at it. Chinatown isn't much to write home about. lol So I didn't stick around for too long. From Chinatown it was only a leisurely 30 minute walk along Rene-Leveques Boulevard. I thought I'd warm up a bit and catch up on this journal before heading out for a snack (since I'm still really stuffed) and then go catch a movie tonight. Not sure what is playing though.
I ended up watching “Elizabethtown” with Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. It's a cute little movie. Basically Orlando's (love how we're on a first name basis!) character Drew travels back to Kentucky to bury his father and figure out where his life is going since his career as a running shoe designer is down the tubes. Kirsten's character Claire is the love interest that helps Drew to see the light out of his depression. There are some entertaining moments and apparently the director, Cameron Crowe made this film in honour of his deceased dad.
Sitting in the theatre waiting for the show to start it made me think that this was the first film I've been to on my own! Or at least that I could remember. 😊 It's not so bad. You know how at Famous Players they have the trivia up on the screen and the actors face is all fuzzy? Well, they had that going on yesterday. It was half in French and half in English. It was fun trying to see how much I could translate from the French. Some of it was more obvious than others.
I had a pretty early evening and was home by 10. The streets outside were pretty busy with people going out on a Friday night. When I got back to my room, my Korean roomie, Soo Jeong, was already there and it was just the two of us in the room for the night.
Staying at such a large hostel I find it is harder to meet people. Or perhaps it’s just timing because there seem to be an awful lot of school groups checked into the hostel. But that's okay cuz I'm at the point where I'm not feeling all that motivated to make new friends...it's nice just doing my own thing. Perhaps that will change again when I move to another hostel...who knows since I seem to change my attitude everyday. lol
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