What a marvelous time we had today. The weather was good most of the time. Not too hot. Not too cold. Mostly sunny. We had agreed to meet at breakfast at 8:30 not knowing how the 5 hours time difference would affect Kate and David. Turns out they were awake very early, so didn’t get much sleep.
Breakfast was included but very ... basic. It was all we needed but no black tea. Only Earl Grey and green. Oh well, ha-ha. And plastic ware which people who cringe on the state of our planet frown on.
We decided to find the tourist information place first. On our map it was a straight walk along our Sainte-Catherine Quest (street). And just in front of it was a “double decker open top hop on hop off bus”. We inquired inside. It was expensive but with only one full day in Montreal we decided to go for it. And a good choice it was!!! First picture taken at 10:13 am sitting in the best seats waiting for it to start.
Alexandra Harbor is where we will get onto our ship tomorrow.
Then we made our way back into the old town. Elevenses were ice coffees in a lovely place to watch the surroundings. We studied our maps to find Admiral Nelson (the British admiral who defeated the French and Spanish fleets in 1805), why was he on a tall pillar HERE?
We decided to walk to #1 to hop on and continue. A bus came soon but it was full to the brim. Only a few seats in the lower very sticky closed part. No thank you. We were aassured another one with plenty of space would come soon. That eventually happened and this one had a very good tour guide. Each one has a “live” person with a mike and we didn’t like (couldn’t understand) the first one. He tried to be funny but wasn’t and mumbled. This lady guide gave excellent information (in English and French) and we got an excellent impression of the city. Picture taking was pretty much impossible because everything went by fast. Modern houses and high rise, old houses in many different styles. Interesting facades with all sorts of decoration/ornaments. So much character everywhere. Love the little side streets. Love the little parks / green spaces everywhere. Statues and art, old and new. Once in a while people had to be careful when the top of the bus drove too close to trees.
Along one street there was a row of swings for adults under the trees for at least a block long. Fun. Lots of bicycle for rent stands and bicycle lanes. Look at the photo of the modern high rise, an old church and the art museum with a totem pool next to each other.
Information that the stones for the red private houses in one area came from Ireland as ballast so that the ships could go back laden. You notice that you are way north because of the flowers like tulips which are long gone where we live.
We were wondering whether we should hop off at #7 at this church but it was getting late. We decide to get off at #8 which is one of the two outlooks on Mount Royal Park.
It was a good decision. We had a little walk on a shady path to the Chalet du Mont Royal with an incredible view. By now it was 2 pm though and we were getting hungry. We should have brought a picnic. It was so nice there with people having fun and a young man even playing around on a piano. The cafe only had sweet things though so we inquired where we could get something savory.
Back the shady path 0.5 km to Manoir Smith. Ah, very nice sandwiches or quiche and beer! We almost could see the bus stop from there and did not have to walk far.
A little wait ... chatting with a couple from England also waiting. Unfortunately no seats upstairs but plenty downstairs. We stopped at #9 the other outlook but didn’t really get off. The bus just let us get off to take a photo. When you don’t know what there is to see, it is difficult to make decisions but we did everything right.
I remembered that I had forgotten me travelcup (to make a decent cup of tea for breakfast) and once again needed to buy another one. This might be the shop to find it. The other were happygame to go with me. Well, Carrefour (a French department store which had been a great source for stuff when we lived in Singapore) didn’t have anything but they gave us a tip to go down to the Metro level to a kitchen store called Stokes. Four pairs of eyes searched around and David found it. It was on sale and James decided to get one too. These insulated cups/bottles (?) will be perfect for our trips to and from Nashville too. Ok.
More sauntering towards the hotel. A little chess game watching.
Our hotel. Not fancy but with charm, perfect location and the price was right. We remembered to go a couple of doors further to buy a bottle of wine each which we are allowed to bring onto the ship in the hand luggage. It’s about 5 pm now and we also buy a couple of beers to enjoy on the hotel back deck.
We meet around 7 pm to walk this time, left out of the hotel to find a place for dinner. At one point there is a street musician which plays “our tunes” so that is where we stop. It was great.
Video 1 (0:48)
Video 2 (0:57)
We remember that it is the day of James and Kate’s sister Patricia and her husband Robertt’s 50th wedding anniversary and raise our glasses in their honor. We will celebrate with them in England in July. Something else to look forward to. We like our food too and have a good time until we feel some rain drops. Luckily we are done anyway. And luckily we get back to the hotel dry and without much haste. We still mingle a little in the (very small) lobby which has actually a comfortable sofa and chairs. Nobody else is around until it is time to say “night, night”.
The map from the Hop-On-Hop-Off, which was the way to go if you only have one day:
1 comment:
You all managed to cram a lot into one day! Lovely city.
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