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Published: July 14th 2005
The France of Canada
This is typical of the spectacular scenery in Old Montreal. I love this place!Today was supposed to be a day of relaxation, to catch up with myself after having so many un-routine nights spent travelling and staying up late. And it sort of was. I must refer you to the previous days update, if only to see the pictures that I nowe have. And I'm updating this one before that one because I want any readers to see that I am alive and in case I don't finish yesterdays (Which is a highly likely possibility 😉 ).
So I fell asleep at a rather awkward time yesterday, as after the internet cafe situated inside a very suspiciously Borders-a-like shop (Called, get this, 'Chapters'), I went back to the hostel. I arrived early as well, and instead of attending the fireworks competition that was advertised on the Activities board above the entrance, I went straight up to my room. Inside I met one of my room mates, his name was Chung, and I had gone straight to my bed. he continued the conversation while I was trying to sleep. I never mean to be rude to anybody, but I think I was because when he was talking I wasn't really listening, instead drifitng off
My Lovely Wrap
I adore the food here too! I don't know why the tortilla wrap is red though :s gently and every time he spoke I just wished he would let me go to sleep because that was obviously what I meant to do. I just hope that he didn't get the wrong impression of me, and that he knew I was tired at the time.
After eventually falling asleep, I was woken later by the two other guys who'd come into the room. They were very loud and clearly American, and they tried to say Hello but I was still in a different world inside my head, and after replying with a quick 'Hi' I fell back asleep. They though carried on talking to Chung, and I fell asleep through the night. When I woke up, it was because the two loud guys were packing up ready to leave. I was too tired to say goodbye, and drifted off again. I must have been ready to sleep through a bombing because no matter what I did I couldn't make myself get up even though I knew I would be wasting a day. Sleep to me was just too important though, and there was no offer of a free breakfast to tempt me out of it. When I
Notre Dame Or Not?
I think this is supposed to be a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, but I'm not sure. What do you reckon? actually got up, Chung was awake, and I found my chance to correct things with him. I apologised for being so tired last night, but English was not his first language, and I was suddenly reminded of the conversation and why I was so annoyed; because he kept asking me to explain the things I was doing until I was getting frustrated at having to repeat myself. Anyway, he was leaving to a different room, and so he left and I was alone. I heard the vacuum cleaner in the background, and I knew the cleaners were coming to my room soon, so I finally arose from my bed, jumped down, grabbed my room keycard and went down to the reception to get myself a towel.
When I got to the desk, the both workers there were busy, so I had to stand for five minutes while they both took their time checking themselves in for the day. When one of them was free, the pretty lady, I asked her for a towel, but she seemed to act as if I'd asked her to fetch me a glass of water from the Mountains, as she gave me a funny look and then the towel from the cupboard behind me. I thought it could be because I was asking for a second towel, but this was the one which should have but wasnt given when I checked in yesterday. Silly thing to get cross about anyway. I ran back upstairs and tried to get into the room but lo and behold, I couldn't. I had noticed the key card they used was the same as the hostel in New York, one which I also had problems with, and knew that I would have to go down again. But, opposite me, the cleaner who was sorting out room 209 came out having heard me try the card several times, and let me in. I thanked her, and she seemed really friendly though she probably didn't speak much English. (Quebec is a French place by the way :D) I went in, and had a shower. After that, I felt much better, and got changed ready to do some relaxing in Old Montreal. But no, that didn't work out like that at all.
In the reception room, I met Chung, who explained that he was going to go sightseeing and wanted to come along with me. I didn't really want to decline any company, so I said yes. I explained that first I would want to get some money out of my bank, and he said he would come because he needed some money too. So, we walked the 12 or so blocks to my HSBC (Which I'd had problems withdrawing money from yesterday) and I got my cash. Hooray! But then Chung tried to get money out, and it wouldn't even take his card. I said we should try another ATM. I was starting to feel a bit hungry and thirsty and didn't really want to go and look for ATM's, but I let him do it because I wanted to. And he did keep asking me if I wanted to get food, but I declined because it was obvious that he wouldn't be able to eat if I did, having no cash! So, we tried three different banks in total, and none of them would let him take out money. He even waited in line at the cashier/teller desk so somebody could explain it to him why it wasn't working, and by this time I was feeling really thirsty! When he was told he'd have to call his bank, I said that I wouldn't mind just buying a drink from a shop, and he said he thought it would be ok, so we walked the way back to the hostel, but only because we knew there was a shop along the way.
Along the way, I saw this cafe where they let you go on the internet for free, and the computers even let you put CD's in, and so my aim in the end was to visit this place and try to put my pictures up by loading them onto a CD and uploading from the CD in the comp to this site, and the success should be shown by reading this blog to the end. If you see pictures, it worked! So when we'd arrived at the road to the hostel, I remembered the mention of a supermarket earlier in the day, and decided to go and buy some food so that I wouldn't have to spend all my money on food. I got there, with Chung in tow, and I bought two drinks, some cereal and some milk. I think it came to about 5 pounds, and I think that was average priced. So we went back to the hostel, and I said I was nipping upstairs to pick up my book so that I could read it in a nice grassy area in Old Montreal. I also deposited my food stuffs into the kitchen area, and I'll be angry if anybody's touched it! It's got my name on, so hopefully that will deter any would be starving hostellers!
I met up back up with Chung, who said that he'd phoned his bank and they'd told him that he couldn't use the card yet, or at all, and he'd have to phone later. Never mind, I said, and then when we went outside again he said that he had other things to attend to, something to do with his digital camera, and so we parted ways. I was going to this place now all free and on my own. And what a place it was!
I couldn't understand that my initial views on Montreal were so wrong, because upon my arrival it seemed like a run of the mill cramped and busy city. However, lurking behind Chinatown and to the south next to the port was this stunning place which nearly exactly replicated parts of France and more specifically Paris. I walked through cobbled streets, looked in awesome gift shops with figures and teddies being the main wares they sold, and I even managed to go to a cheap-ish restaurant (Which is a thing in itself, as most of the places seemed reluctant to go below 30 dollars for a good main meal, approx 15 pounds!). The restaurant was amazing, a two storey place in the open with enormous umbrellas protecting their patrons from any rain (But that wasn't going to happen by the look of the weather :D), with a modern fountain and live music from two unknown but quite good musicians, one being a female singer. I had a Daring Wrap, which wasn't as daring as it sounds. I've added it to the picture gallery hopefully! I was sitting next to a great view of the park and port, and saw a good place where I could and di end up reading my new book later on after the food. The staff were really great and I think I ended up tipping about 20% rather than the suggested 15%. After that, I went to the park and had a good read, which took up an hour and a half in an instant. After feeling completely relaxed, I decided I would head back to the digital prints centre inside this electricals superstore, and get my photos transferred to CD. They did it within an hour, and the time between was spent wandering around one of the malls. Seriously, the malls are tardis like, with them being absolutely enormous on the inside compared to the outside.
And that walk eventually brought me to this space! Unfortunately once more I've had to be quite speedy with my writing this up, and didn't even get around to updating yesterdays. No matter, because it's all been written down in my journal, so any time I get to update it all the details will be stored safe. Thanks for reading, and now I am going on this bar tour which is exactly like the bar crawls in European holidays and even British stag and hen nights. SHould be fun, because the drinking age limit is 18 here in Canada. That may help you decide where you want to go on your next holiday, am I right? 😉
Take care
Russ/Epiq
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chloe
non-member comment
hello *in a billy type voice*
wots up bro? pictures are great and you sound like ur makin the most out of ur holiday! doesn't look like u'll come back disapointed! lol c ya soon russ and good luck with the rest of ur trip! chloe xxxx