Blogs from Montréal, Quebec, Canada, North America - page 3

Time to pack it all up and head back home, I guess. And watch some England-Sweden in the World Cup. I have enjoyed some of my time in Montreal, so I'm glad I made the trip. And I know that the heat wave has obviously affected my experiences, but Montreal has not been my favorite Canadian city. I enjoyed it last time I was here, but it was only for 2 days and with a friend. This time, 5 days and solo travel didn't go as well as I had hoped. All that to say, I will be happy to be back home. One of the things that I do enjoy about solo travel is being free to make my own plans. And yesterday was a great example of one of those days. In fact, I ... read more

After only one afternoon in Montreal, I was already exhausted! Perhaps I should've taken it easier after I got to my hotel, but one thing is for sure: that taxi ride from the train station to my hotel was the best $15 I've spent so far on this trip. In truth, I seldom take taxis. Maybe I should get into the Uber or Lyft mindset, but it's just such a weird concept to me, on top of the whole trust issue. Anyway, I walked around for at least 15 minutes after getting off the train, trying to figure out what my GPS was telling me to do on my phone. It had said the hotel was a 30-minute walk from the train station, which I've done in the past. But it kept telling me different directions--mainly ... read more

After our hotel breakfast, we met our guide for the day, Christian, in the lobby for our tour "Facets of Daily Life in Montreal," which is to include the Theater District, McGill University, the Golden Square Mile, and the Underground City (a taste of that yesterday). One of the things that Christian emphasized was the immigration trends, and how that shaped the neighborhoods in Montreal. Christian talked a bit about schools in Montreal; some are primarily Francophone (French speaking) while others are Anglophone, and still others are bi-lingual. In addition there are public and private variations of both. It can be a complex decision for families, but some of the decision is simplified by the constitution, which eliminates some of the conflict. Non-citizens must send their kids to Francophone schools, but English-speaking citizens may choose the ... read more

We awoke in Gananoque, ON, ready to head for Montreal. Though we didn't have time to visit the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY, we decided to try the Great Lakes Maritime Museum in Gananoque. FAIL. It apparently had been a large and interesting museum, but they had to move to a different location, and have not yet opened at the final location. What we did find was a) REALLY hard to find and b) a room about 10' x 20' that was part of the yacht club office! Maybe next time! We hit the road for Montreal to meet up with our Road Scholar travelers. But on the way, we stopped in a small town, determined to eat in a local place (I think there was a Subway in every place we went, and in ... read more

After breakfast we gathered for a talk focusing on Canadan history through the lens of diverse peoples, each region with their own unique history, and the importance of the transcontinental railroad which linked the political and economic development of Canada as a nation. This excellent overview gave us background for the learning over the next eleven days. Next was an architectural walking tour of Old Montreal over cobbled streets with stops at the Notre Dame Basilica, Place d'Armes, Place Jacques Cartier and lots of historical information along the way. After a huge lunch we had "free time" so we headed to the Chateau Ramezay, the 18th century home of the first governor. The museum artifacts and multimedia exhibits showed how Montreal and the building changed over time, who lived there, and introduced historical figures from various ... read more