Back from Montreal

The Apple Store

Last night, Adam and I got back from a weekend trip to Montreal. We flew there Friday afternoon where we checked into our hotel and eventually made our way to Rue Saint Catherine and had lunch and looked around. Being Canada Day, most of the stores, malls and shops were open so admittedly, there wasn't a whole lot to do once we walked around and realized this. We got tired and headed back to take a nap.

While heading out to find something for dinner, we were told by other guests at the hotel that there were fireworks on the waterfront which happened to be just a few minute walk from the hotel, which had us walk through Old Montreal which was pleasantly pretty. Most of the roads were made of stone or brick for a very European look while restaurants and shops were tucked in the walls and corners.

Macarons from Point G

Macaron

Saturday was filled with more exploring and walking around, visiting different stores and areas before returning back to get ready for the Katy Perry concert. Sunday, we got up, checked out of the hotel and made our way north of downtown to Rue Mont-Royal and the area for an adventure involving macarons. There were at least half a dozen shops listed on Yelp that sold macarons. We opted for going to two of those. Worth the hour walk which included passing through Parc La Fountaine.

Overall, it was a nice weekend. Montreal was a fun city to visit despite only being there for a few days so we weren't able to really do a lot of exploring. Everyone we spoke with did speak English which certainly made things easier though both of us were prepared to speak French if need be. I didn't have a problem reading signs and menus since they rarely ever have prepositions and few verbs, which are always my weak points with languages other than English.

Looks like sponge toffee

In comparing Montreal to other cities I've visited, I feel like I may have to defend my opinion on it because I didn't care for it as much as Toronto. In both instances, I went during July where the temperature and weather were both fairly similar. I found Montreal to lack the greenery that a city like Halifax is known for and that even Toronto had. It seemed to me that people and businesses put the effort into making the inside look nice but the outside portion lacked. I've always said that a little bit of green can liven a place up and it really does make a difference. There was so much concrete and sidewalk but very little grassy spaces. I also found it hard to wrap my head around the layout of the city itself. Whether the organization is a bad thing or not, I couldn't get in tune with the order of the layout of the city. I typically knew where I was in relation to other areas but it just felt so odd to me.

Now, I'm certainly expecting someone to make the defensive claim that it's because I can't speak french that I didn't love the city and I'll reply back swiftly with one word: Germany. Montreal was a nice place to visit and I'll definitely go back again because I know we missed so much but I don't think it would be a place I would want to live. Either way, we did have a good time!

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