NOTE:
I had posted this originally three years ago in JOURNALSPACE. Unfortunately, it was all lost when Journalspace went under. I was able to recreate it from e-mails I sent each night home. Luckily, the person receiving the e-mails still had them years later. Thanks, Sunny.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2006
Arrived in Montreal Airport and transferred to my downtown hotel: Abri du voyageur Hotel which is a block from Chinatown.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2006
Arrived at the Montreal Train Station
In the morning and took a train to Ottawa.
Jim and Eunice met me and took me to their home. Stopped at Timmy’s Coffee Shop along the way.
Great coffee.
In the afternoon we had lunch at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel.
There, we met with Jim and Eunice’s daughter and their niece. We had a great lunch.
Afterwards, their niece took us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Canadian Parliament, where she works.
Senate (It was not in seesion when I visited)
We visited both government houses.
It was a great introduction to Ottawa the capital city.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2006
Today I got up at 7 and had breakfast at Jim's house.
At about 11 am we went on a 1 hour drive towards the US New York border, to a beautiful restaurant in the country.
We passed by many farms on the way there.
It was cloudy this morning.
The restaurant was an old country store and it’s called the Brigadoon Restaurant in Oxford Mills, Ontario.
Ckick on following restaurant name for their website: Brigadoon Restaurant
Jim and I had fish and chips and Eunice had a fish crepe. We all had wine.
After lunch we drove back and Jim took us an a sightseeing tour of Ottawa.
Got back about 4 pm
At 5 we went to the train station.
The train took off at 6 and arrived at 8 pm in Montreal.
This time the train was full. It was Friday night.
Mostly college kids going home for the weekend.
Had a chicken wrap at the Montreal train station for dinner.
Took a cab back to the hotel.
After dropping off my backpack, I walked to the internet store.
Sat and Sun should be sunny.
Will try to bicycle tomorrow.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2006
| got up at 6 am on Saturday and at 7 I left my hotel.
I walked towards the old port area.
On the way I passed a McDonalds and had and egg McMuffin and coffee.
Continued down to the water and ships and found the bike rental place at about 745 am.
However a man there told me they didn't open until 10 am on Saturdays and he was only there because he was painting the place.
After I told him I wanted to rent for the day, he made an exemption and rented me the bike. Got a beautiful racy 21-speed at $30 for the day or $10 per hour.
I took off wearing only a t-shirt. It had been sunny already warm but soon a fog came in. Then it got cold, maybe 60 degrees or less. I put my jacket on.
I biked towards old Montreal. The trails were great. Most of the trails were alongside canals. Sometimes the trails went across bridges and sometimes under bridges.
Sometimes it got hilly. Not too many people on the trails that early in the morning.
Only had to go across streets about three times. The rest of the time the trail avoided all traffic. I biked from about 815 am to about 11 am, when I stopped at a Dairy Queen next to the trail for two hot dogs and a coffee.
Then I started to bike back to the port where I had rented the bike.
On the way, I saw a sign that said Jean Drapeau Park along a separate trail.
I went that way and wound up a the 1967 Expo site with the La Ronde amusement park and the biosphere. I had been there on my first trip to Montrewal in 1972.
After 11 am, it got sunny and hot. I think it got up to 80 degrees. Now the trails were full of bikers.
These people really enjoy a beautiful day. They are all out biking with their dogs and children.
I turned the bike back at 2 pm. My butt was sore.
After I returned the bike I walked around the old port. It was full of people enjoying the outdoors.
Maybe in Central Park NYC did I ever see that many people, having so much fun, in one place.
I walked through the old port. It was very pretty and very old with many restaurants.
I eventually walked back to my hotel.
Afterwards, I went back out again and bought a three-day metro (subway) pass, and took a couple of subways to the Montreal train station.
The reason I went to the train station is that I had found a place that made a good meal. They had made my breakfast when I went to Ottawa and it was great.
I got a large cheeseburger and French fries and pea soup. They cook it all in front of you, except the soup, of course.
Once I was stuffed, I wanted to go to a large church I had heard about in the Mount Royal area.
After getting out of the metro, I had to connect with a bus. Well, I found the bus didn't run too often on Saturdays so I gave up and took the metro back to the hotel.
Got there about 5:30 pm, very beat and took a nap.
That's my saga for today. Will sleep well tonight.
When I got back to the hotel I started planning the next day by trying to get everywhere with the subway.
The bike rental guy had said he would wait for me at 7 am the next day. I said, "wait". My butt could not take another day with that hard seat.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2006
"Prochain station St. Laurent"
I learned what Prochain means after hearing it 1000 times on the metro. It means "next".
You would be surprised, even without directly interacting with people, you learn French “automatically” as everything is written in French and sometimes under it in English.
If I lived here for three months I would probably be able to carry on a simple conversation in French.
Today it's been mostly sunny, not as hot as yesterday. Probably, about 75 degrees at most. Feels good in the shade.
The next two days are questionable, weather-wise.
I was up at 5:30 and out of the hotel by 7 am. It's funny, but I wakeup easily at about 5 am. I do go to bed mostly at about 9 pm.
I walked up the hill again towards the port on the way to Notre Dame Cathedral.
Stopped at Mickey D's for a coffee and egg Mc Mufin. About three blocks later, I was at Notre Dame Cathedral: beautiful.
I walked back towards my hotel to get to the metro station.
Went to St. Joseph Oratory, the largest church in Canada. Again, could not take pictures inside.
Took another metro to Montreal Botanical Gardens.
On the walk from the station to the gardens, I passed by the Olympic Stadium: impressive.
The gardens were beautiful. There were acres and acres of plants and flowers in this place. They are celebrating 75 years in 2006.
There was an area even with poisonous plants.
Another area had edible small fruits like berries and grapes, etc.
Another area had vegetables of all kinds.
Then, they had an area with native American Indian plants and they had Indian teepees on the grounds without the skin, just the sticks.
The most interesting and colorful areas were the Japanese and Chinese exhibits.
They were very complete. Both had bonsai trees of all kinds.
The Japanese exhibit showed how they make sake from rice and they had a garden tea ceremony.
The Chinese exhibit had a colorful paper lantern exhibit.
If one comes back at night one can see all the lanterns lit up. They include giant ships and statues and lanterns all around. Must be nice at night.
Squirrels were all around the place. They must really enjoy it here.
When I first got at the gardens, I went straight for the restaurant.
They were serving breakfast and at 10:55 I ordered eggs and home fries. They were great.
At the end of my touring, I went through their green houses. There must have been about five different large (half football field each) glass houses.
The last exhibits were tropical with banana trees and bird of paradise plants. Also, moss all around. They had a section on air plants also.
Spent about three hours there and didn't see half of it. Needed a motorized scooter to see it all.
Talking about scooters. When I went on my bike ride, I noticed two older gentlemen riding their motor scooters on the bike trail. They had walkie-talkies and were carrying on a conversation while the bicycles were zooming around them. Neat.
After this, I took the metro to Mount Royal which is the highest point in Montreal. It is a small mountain in the middle of the city and it’s full of people on nice weekends. You get a great view of the city of Montreal from a couple of scenic overlooks.
When my subway train arrived at the bottom of Mount Royal, I transferred to a bus and rode it all the way up the mountain and by some apartments on the other side and then all the way back to the metro station.
They don't allow bikes on the buses as they would need racks for 50 bikes if they did.
Bikes are a normal way of transportation here.
The bike racks near any metro station are full with about 100 bikes in the larger stations. Some metro trains routes allow bikes in the front car only.
When I got back to the metro I took a walk on Mount Royal Street and checked out the businesses. |I bought a 1/2 liter bottle of merlot wine and the guy opened the cork for me. I took this back to my hotel.
After buying the wine, I stopped at the best coffee house in Canada: "Tim Horton Coffee".
I had a hot chicken and cheese sandwich and coffee. Took the metro back to my hotel. Got “home” at 4:30 pm -- that's 9-1/2 hours!
By the way, when I say I take the metro it takes lots of calculating.
Sometimes I have take three different trains to get to one place. And all the stations are in French. But I'm getting good at it.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2006
I should be home before 2:30 pm on Wednesday. I will get up at 2 am --- Taxi to airport at 3 am---plane at 6:30 am. 8:20 am I should be in Philadelphia. Leave 9:30 am and be at home airport by 1:30 pm.
I’m tired again today. I walked about 8 hours from 7 this morning and after I got back and took a nap at the hotel, I went out again and walked for about another 3 hours.
I spent most of this morning in the downtown area. Again, if the buildings were taller, it reminds me a lot of Manhattan.
There are many combinations of modern buildings, old churches and old buildings. I went to one church that is a copy of St. Peters at the Vatican, except it's 1/4 the size.
Had a weird incident last night that I forgot to mention. I was walking down my street and in the distance I saw a beautiful, large church tower all lit up. Must be a great big church I thought. I went and got in front of this old church and noticed that the doors were open and there was light inside. I thought, well, it's Sunday night, maybe they are having evening services.
I climbed the stairs and what a surprise. It was a mall.
Looks like they knocked down the whole church and just kept the front of it and the inside has all modern stores etc... Weird.
My best place to eat now is Tim Horton's. Tim Horton and Second Cup are the two top Canadian coffee houses here.
Besides coffee, Tim Horton has doughnuts, sandwiches and soups. They make the sandwiches in front of you like at Subway, but with toasted hard roll. They also have good wraps…and great coffee.
On my second walk, I wound up in a really busy area for university students.
In three hours, I must have walked by a couple of hundred restaurants. All kinds. All prices. All countries. Some were full of people at 6 pm, and some were empty.
They have a pedestrian only area that runs about 10 blocks with one restaurant after another, all with tables on the street, like in Miami Beach but larger.
I think it hit 80 today again. It's 75 now. Supposed to start raining tonight and all day tomorrow. Maybe I’ll get some rest tomorrow.
This was Monday night and many of the restaurants I mentioned were full of people eating and drinking.
These people really enjoy going out. Most of them speak in French. Now and then some kids speak in English.
Maybe I'm getting old, but the Montreal girls/women for the most part are very attractive. They dress very modern.
Much like in France with long skirts, black stockings, and nun-type shoes. Lots of them wear jeans. They all seem very independent and carefree. Most are on the thin side. Don't see too many overweight people here.
I think I saw just about as much as it's possible. I bought a couple of touristy things for my 5-year-old granddaughter.
Well, tomorrow I'll try to get my suitcase organized for the trip back on Wednesday.
Most nights I fall asleep with my radio walk-man on as they have some good music stations. Latest hits I never heard in the states. Many songs are in French also.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
This morning I got up at 6 again and was on the street by 7 am.
I Walked in the rain towards the area were I saw all the restaurants yesterday, trying to find a nice place for breakfast. Most of the restaurants were closed and the outdoor tables and chairs were gone.
I finally found Cafe Vienne open and they made a good breakfast with eggs and potatoes.
I walked around a bit more in the rain and by 11 I was back at my hotel and took a nap.
Left the hotel again at 1 pm and walked about 15 blocks to the Paramount theatres I had seen earlier in the downtown area.
Saw "Superman Returns" in an IMAX theater with 3-D.
The movie started at 1:30 and let out at 4:15 pm. I enjoyed it.
When I got out, the rain had stopped.
I started looking for a place to eat a late lunch. I finally found the “famous” underground of Montreal.
It's more than that. There are many buildings with 5 floors of malls most with giant food courts on the ground floor.
I found out that there are many buildings like this one, one next to the other. It's like going from a 5-story indoor mall to another next door and then another. All full of people.
The eating areas always very busy. These people love to eat and shop.
I found one of these malls just a block from my hotel in the Hyatt Building. This one, is only three floors high with a giant food court on the ground floor.
The food court is double the size of the one at my home-town mall with a Subway, a McDonalds, a Burger King, and many food brands unknown to me.
I had a whopper with cheese and coffee -- what else? I may go back there later for my last snack in downtown. I'll probably still snack one more time at the airport before I fly back.
All in all, I believe I had a great time.
If I was young and spoke French I would not mind living here. The transportation is great and bicycling is the main way to go.
Everyone walks around with backpacks, even seniors. I felt at home.
You could spend a snowy winter here without seeing snow. From your apartment you would take the elevator to the underground, get on the metro to your job, walk under ground to your company building and then take the elevator to work.
All your meals, all your shopping and all the entertainment could be done underground.
I’ll be home tomorrow!
Ferme, ouvert, a gauche, a droite, prochain, alquier. Closed, open, left, right, next, rent. All words I hear or read each day.
~
