Snapshots from Montreal

(Above: Montreal skyline, restaurants adjacent to Jacques-Cartier square, Notre Dame cathedral)

Last weekend, I made a little roadtrip to Ottawa and Montreal. I don't think I'll be trying that again, or at least not with such a short time frame. At first I thought Ottawa and Montreal are close enough together, why not do both, right? Afterall, it saves me 2 trips. I hung out at Kel's place in Ottawa a little bit Friday nite and Sunday afternoon, but in the end, I spent most of my time in Montreal. Sorry Kel, next time, i'll make a trip just for you.

Montreal was alot of fun. Thanks N for showing me around. On the one hand, there were the bustling shopping malls that define any major urban center, and on the other hand, there was old montreal which, at this time of year, has an ironically small town charm to it. I wish my French was better, well, alot better... I envy people speaking the language, it has that sophisticated air to it. We had Schwartz's smoked meat, and man, there's nothing else like it in the world. Had to wait in line for like 15min., but it was well worth it, and we laughed at the tour bus that stopped and left because they couldn't afford to wait. Took a short walk in Chinatown because it was so tiny compared to Toronto's! Literally, it was all of a 2-block stretch on a single street! The food there was actually respectable.











In the evening, went to see N at her PT fashion show. It was very entertaining, they had a movie theme for the nite, so all the acts were somehow related to a movie. For example, there was a James bond one where there were 4 different Bonds dressed in tuxes posing with guns and fighting each other. Then the ladies came and reigned them in, and the act ended with the pairs dancing.

Next morning, attended church at Montreal Chinese Alliance. Very pretty, it was entirely stained-glass windows because it used to be a Catholic church. Then headed back to Ottawa, drove by the parliament buildings, museums, and downtown, and headed back to Kel's place for a bit, before C and I left for the long ride home. Which wasn't bad... Ottawa to Mississauga in 4 hours?

Next trip to the region: skating on the Rideau, and skiing at Tremblant. As long as I'm Canadian, a skate on the Rideau is one of my goals.

I have a new respect for my car now. I wasn't sure it would make the 1400km there and back, but it did. The car burns quite a bit of engine oil, but as I found out, it's much better with highway driving... didn't have to use any of the extra oil that I brought.