Slightly Less Cold Montreal

Tom and I spent a lot of our time in Montreal bundled and layered from head to toe. We gave in on the coldest day, and spent most of our time at the Pointe-a-Calliere, the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History. The main permanent exhibit in the museum's basement was quite interesting-- it is built on top of the remains of the Royal Insurance Building (1861-1951). You can walk through the old foundation of the building, and take a look at a layout of the building. There was also a Greek exhibit that was packed to the gills that we took a quick pass through. Or, as quick as you can be, when you are elbow to elbow with a wall of sightseers.

On Monday, a slightly less cold day, Tom and I finally ventured out into the greater Montreal area. We took a walk through the McGill University campus, and made our way through downtown towards Mount Royal Park.

We made our way up the hill, which was covered in snow and ice. Surprisingly, there were a few dedicated health enthusiasts who were running up and down the icy staircases for a mid-afternoon run. We stopped at the Chateau at the top of the hill to warm a bit. We were marveling at what a nice venue the chateay would make for a wedding with it's giant open hall and soaring rafters. But then we used the washroom... And decided it was pretty sketchy for a bunch of wedding guests.

From the top of Mount Royal Park, we were able to take in some nice views of the city. It was not too windy at the top of the hill, so we were actually able to enjoy the sights.

Then we made our way back to Old Montreal so we could fill up on some Quebec poutine, before heading to the airport to catch our flight home. I had regular poutine (featured below), and Tom has "hot dog sausage" poutine. I think Tom had hopes that there would be some sort of fancy sausage in the poutine... But no, it was really just chopped up hot dogs.

All in all, a little chillier than we initially anticipated, but Montreal was a much needed getaway! We'd go back again...

But probably in the summer! :)

Old Montreal (Cold Montreal)

With all the travelling that Tom and I have been lucky enough to do, it has occurred to us that we have not seen much of Canada. Both of us had only stepped foot in three provinces, Alberta, BC and Ontario. We have not even been east across the Alberta border into Saskatchewan!

This weekend past, we can finally add Quebec to our list of Canadian destinations, with a quick trip to Montreal.

First of all, a word of wisdom-- don't book a holiday in Canada in March. Why we thought this would be a good idea? I'm not sure. Although it wasn't too cold on Saturday, it snowed non-stop. Big wet globs that clung to our coats and slowly soaked through. On Sunday, it was SO. COLD. Allegedly -14, but felt like -24 with the wind chill. And it was a strong, bone-chilling wind. And Monday, while slightly better, was about -11, and felt like -19.

Here we go, from the top.

We arrived in Montreal on Friday evening, via Westjet, thanks to a Friends & Family deal through my sister. We hit some turbulence about half-way through the flight and my water spilled everywhere. Tom and I spent the next hour of the flight with wet pants. The remainder of the flight was uneventful, and we headed to our hotel in Old Montreal. We grabbed a pizza dinner, and decided we'd start our sightseeing fresh in the morning.

Old Montreal is beautiful with all the old stone buildings, carvings and bricks. It's a glimpse into some of the oldest buildings in Canada, and by comparison, everything out west is just so very new. We started our morning with a visit to the Basilique Notre-Dame. We went to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2011, and the two don't quite compare, but it is the most impressive basilica I have seen on Canadian soil!

Notre Dame Basilica of Montreal.

Inside Notre Dame Basilica.

In the afternoon, we walked around to get a feel for the city, and tracked down a famed smoked meat shop, "The Main" for lunch. Many people told us to go to Schwartz's for smoked meat but my googling found a website that proclaimed The Main had higher quality meat. I can't personally compare, but our sandwich at the Main was delicious, and we had three pickles to munch on as well. 

Following lunch, we started to make our way to the McGill University campus, but the snow just seemed to come down thicker and thicker, and our coats were started to become waterlogged. We eventually gave up, and headed back to the hotel to dry off and warm up. 

On our way back to the hotel, about a dozen police vehicles passed us with their sirens blazing. We thought, "Hmmm... That can't be good!" And when we made our way a few more blocks we encountered a wall of people in the midst of giant student protest march. Students, but the thousands, were protesting government austerity. This in itself was interesting, and we stopped to watch for a few minutes. I have never seen a large protest before! My photo below only captures the tail end of it, but the link above has some more representative photos.

 

March 21, 2015 student protest.

We spent the evening pigging out on Mediterranean food and Greek wine. It was as awesome as it sounds. 

Stay tuned for Day 2 and 3-- the rest of the trip!

2015 Jet-Setting

The last few weeks have been quiet. A few birthdays, and a few more baking adventures... But for the most part, we've just been hanging on, waiting out the winter. The last few days have been spring-like, but I'm sure one last epic dump of snow is on it's way (like usual). But we are preparing to enjoy spring with a little more globe trotting!

Next weekend, Tom and I are heading to Montreal for an extended weekend.  I have never been, and Tom hasn't been since he was in elementary school. I'm looking forward to poutine, smoked meat, and whatever delicious food Quebec has to offer.

After Montreal, we'll be home for about a month, and then we'll be off to Spain and Portugal and the end of April. We never managed to make an international trip in 2014, so we are looking forward to an extended holiday.

I will, of course, be blogging as we go! We'll be landing in Barcelona, heading north to San Sebastian, then south to Madrid. Afterwards, we'll stay close to the coast while we pass through Granada, Seville, and finally to Lisbon.

Stay tuned! There will be plenty of travel adventures to come.