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Published: October 6th 2006
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Montreal
After checking out of our cell, we went across the river to the province (or is it state?) of Quebec. Yes French was most definitely predominant here and yes the people were just as.....polite. Mmm. Anyway in Gatineau we visited the Museum of Civilisation to learn about the aboriginal people of Canada. Went staight from there to Montreal. Our downfall with the whole driving thing was actually getting into the cities. Other than that we were perfectly fine. Everyone want to go on a road trip with us now?!
Anyway in Montreal we run into 2 Welsh brothers that we did the tour of the jail with in Ottawa and we couldnt get rid of them for the rest of our trip (only joking boys, was it really the other way round!). They got to know us pretty quickley as we manage to blow all the electricity in our room by using our hair dryer, cue a lot of girlie screams. The people in the room rush out to see what the hell is wrong and it turns out to be them. It was friendship at 1st scream from there on in.
That night we had a massive
night out (well it is meant to the best night out in Canada) where we discovered Geoff's love for Tim Hortons (sorry Geoff I couldnt not put it in could I!) and ended up in a club with mirrored ceilings (no not that type of place believe me!)
The next day after a recovery brunch by the river we had a guided tour of the old town courtesy of Jane, then through Chinatown where we tried Dragon Beard sweets and Jane bought some tea bags that turned into flowers. A random morning. We walked through the Latin Quarter with a few short stops for beer and ice cream. At dusk we decided to go up Mount Royal that looks out over the city. Not being able to get the car out of the car park we opted to walk. Just bear in mind it is called Mount. But despite the puffing and mosquito bites on the way the view of the city as the sun set was amazing.
After pesto pasta for dinner (which I still don't feel the need to eat ever again!) we had a bit more of a chilled evening at a Jazz club that
Montreal is known for, at a place called Upstairs that was actually downstairs. See what they did there. Clever.
Now no offence to my Canadian friends but we had already noticed that Canada did have more than its fair share of weirdness, people in particular only to be confirmed that night as we were shown where the nearest coffee shop was (this was about midnight) by a guy called Eric who was carrying a tray of cutlery and a potato masher. Yes it really did happen. But wait till tomorrow night.....
Next day was more chilled, we waved Jane off and then went to the cinema and shopping. That evening we had booked tickets to see an ice hockey match between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston. The stadium was massive and the atmosphere was good, but they didnt seem to be able to play for more than 2 minutes at a time without stopping - get them to play a football match!! At least the fights were entertaining. We headed out again that night (well $5 doubles were too good to turn down!). This time on the way home we met 2 extremely drunk Canadian sailors who proceeded
to call us kippers (because we were English - does anyone know why?) and do Russian Dancing for us. Yes the randomness continued.
Quebec
The next day we were off to Quebec with Geoff and Owen in tow this time. Stopping off at a lovely Italian restaurant on the way, we arrived thanks to Geoff's navigating in Quebec about 5. It was my favourite place by far, it felt totally like you were in a European city not in North America. It was all cobbled streets, horse and carriages and beautiful builidings. It is also the only walled city in North America. That night was the start of a little friendly challenge between friends that tended to dominate the next few days (how are you going team Wales?)
The next day we did a full on walking tour of the city and the Citadelle which is a still working army base that was established when the British were there (we get everywhere!) Quebec is a beautiful city with amazing architecture and a distinct French influence. That night turned out to be quite a big one as it was the boys last night. We started off in a bar
that had 200 beers, no we didnt try them all only 1...or 2.... After a bit of live music we ended up at a club called Le Drague, and yes before you ask...it was. All good fun!
The next day after apparently quite an effort to wake me up 😉 we went up the observatory for some great views of the city then walked round the Lower Town and Old Port. Quite touristy but picturesque area and you can't fault them for their ice creams! Although by now the weather was more winter like. After seeing the boys off we went out to dinner and it was starting to hit home that soon it was just going to be me, as our group had diminshed from 6 to 5 to 3 then soon to be 1!
The next day was taken up by travelling as they girls dropped me off at the bus station in Ottawa as I was flying from Toronto. It was weird to be back there and also bit lonely. Where were all the Welsh accent and giggling!
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