Wednesday, 10/1/08
Montreal
It is pouring rain this morning so we start slowly. Hurricane Kyle is still working through the Maritimes but our stuff is still rolling in from Pine River and points west. There is a chance of snow right behind us in Sudbury so we don't have much of a lead. It is almost noon when we finally straggle out and wander down to the Montreal visitor center among all of the workers bees who are scurrying about their daily tasks. A nice lady tells us that there is a city tour bus leaving in about a half hour so we book a couple seats and run outside to find food to grab for lunch. Good old Subway is always there for us. By the time we get our tuna sub the bus is already loading so we run back across the street and find a seat near the back. Crowded bus, tuna sub--you get the picture.
The tour lasts three hours and the driver/guide is informational and chatty. We hit the highlights of downtown, old Montreal, the Olympic Park, McGill and Quebec Universities, St. Joseph Oratory, and Mont Royal. Montreal is on an island in the middle of the confluence of the St. Lawrence, Ottawa, and Prairie Rivers and is the largest inland port in the world. The docks are mainly along the St. Lawrence on the south side of the island which is really the east side because the river turns north for a bit here. Just like the west side in St. Paul is really on the south. The highest point in the center of the island is named "Mont Royal" and hence the name of the city. We have opportunities to snap some pictures along the way and we think it was a worthwhile three hours. Most of the folks on the tour are even older than us (hard to believe) and at every stop it takes about 10 minutes just to get everyone off. At the end of the tour the folks across the aisle from us are arguing about whether the bus is really stopped at their hotel while we all waited for resolution. We left them standing in the street still staring at the hotel trying to decide if it was theirs. We decided we had better hurry with any traveling we want to do.
We stopped at "Mary, Queen of the World" Cathedral which is one of four basilicas in the city. All of these huge churches are new by European standards but about the same age as our cathedral in St. Paul. Quebec is 80% Catholic but only 8% attend church on a regular basis so many of the smaller churches are being converted to other uses.
We move underground for the rest of our hike back to the hotel. The subway system (Metro) runs off in various directions from several downtown stations and most are connected by an underground city of shops and restaurants. It is now after 4:00 and all the folks we saw at lunch time are now rushing for their trains and we are swept up in the flow of people. We are certainly the slowest moving as we are trying to peek into the shops and food stalls while everyone else is on a mission. We are spewed back out into the light of day at some point, get our bearings and keep moving in the direction of our hotel.
One last stop back in our neighborhood is s stroll through the few streets of Chinatown. It is mostly restaurants and touristy shops but we find a sort of bakery-buffet just like one we visited in Melbourne. While we are tempted, we pass on the sweets and head up for a little rest before dinner.
In the mood for Chinese, the Princess gets on-line and finds that the best Chinese restaurant in all of Montreal is called Chez Chine and it is located downstairs in the lobby of our hotel. Voila!! John has a beef mixture and Mary has a chicken mixture and we mix and match with a very fluffy fried rice. There are all of the ponds and soft lighting that keeps our Feng Shui vibe moving in the right direction and it is the perfect choice for us tonight.
Montreal
It is pouring rain this morning so we start slowly. Hurricane Kyle is still working through the Maritimes but our stuff is still rolling in from Pine River and points west. There is a chance of snow right behind us in Sudbury so we don't have much of a lead. It is almost noon when we finally straggle out and wander down to the Montreal visitor center among all of the workers bees who are scurrying about their daily tasks. A nice lady tells us that there is a city tour bus leaving in about a half hour so we book a couple seats and run outside to find food to grab for lunch. Good old Subway is always there for us. By the time we get our tuna sub the bus is already loading so we run back across the street and find a seat near the back. Crowded bus, tuna sub--you get the picture.
The tour lasts three hours and the driver/guide is informational and chatty. We hit the highlights of downtown, old Montreal, the Olympic Park, McGill and Quebec Universities, St. Joseph Oratory, and Mont Royal. Montreal is on an island in the middle of the confluence of the St. Lawrence, Ottawa, and Prairie Rivers and is the largest inland port in the world. The docks are mainly along the St. Lawrence on the south side of the island which is really the east side because the river turns north for a bit here. Just like the west side in St. Paul is really on the south. The highest point in the center of the island is named "Mont Royal" and hence the name of the city. We have opportunities to snap some pictures along the way and we think it was a worthwhile three hours. Most of the folks on the tour are even older than us (hard to believe) and at every stop it takes about 10 minutes just to get everyone off. At the end of the tour the folks across the aisle from us are arguing about whether the bus is really stopped at their hotel while we all waited for resolution. We left them standing in the street still staring at the hotel trying to decide if it was theirs. We decided we had better hurry with any traveling we want to do.
We stopped at "Mary, Queen of the World" Cathedral which is one of four basilicas in the city. All of these huge churches are new by European standards but about the same age as our cathedral in St. Paul. Quebec is 80% Catholic but only 8% attend church on a regular basis so many of the smaller churches are being converted to other uses.
We move underground for the rest of our hike back to the hotel. The subway system (Metro) runs off in various directions from several downtown stations and most are connected by an underground city of shops and restaurants. It is now after 4:00 and all the folks we saw at lunch time are now rushing for their trains and we are swept up in the flow of people. We are certainly the slowest moving as we are trying to peek into the shops and food stalls while everyone else is on a mission. We are spewed back out into the light of day at some point, get our bearings and keep moving in the direction of our hotel.
One last stop back in our neighborhood is s stroll through the few streets of Chinatown. It is mostly restaurants and touristy shops but we find a sort of bakery-buffet just like one we visited in Melbourne. While we are tempted, we pass on the sweets and head up for a little rest before dinner.
In the mood for Chinese, the Princess gets on-line and finds that the best Chinese restaurant in all of Montreal is called Chez Chine and it is located downstairs in the lobby of our hotel. Voila!! John has a beef mixture and Mary has a chicken mixture and we mix and match with a very fluffy fried rice. There are all of the ponds and soft lighting that keeps our Feng Shui vibe moving in the right direction and it is the perfect choice for us tonight.
The Wall Street gang is beating on us again today.
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