A Visit from Family

Last week my grandmother and aunt came to visit us and we had a fabulous time.  It was nice and comforting to have them here.  We went lots of places, ate great food and played lots and lots of cards.  In keeping with my theme of dating the city, my grandmother and aunt agreed to join me on my adventures.  I was a little worried that I would break my grandmother with a lot of walking so one day we decided to take a double decker bus tour around the city.  The tour was really great we were able to hop off and on the bus and see the sites. 

St. Joseph's Oratory 

One of the stops on the tour was St. Joseph's Oratory.  It was built in honor of Canada's patron saint, St. Joseph by Brother Andre.  In 1904 Brother Andre raised $200 and built a small wooden chapel 15 feet by 18 feet.  Many people came to the chapel to be healed by Brother Andre.  When he died in 1937 a million people came to see his casket.  In 1955 the present basilica was completed and Brother Andre was buried there.  Brother Andre was recently canonized a saint by Pope Benedict.

The basilica has the world's second largest dome (the first is St. Peter's Basilica) and houses a shrine to St. Joseph.  There are 300 steps to climb to get the top.  People will often climb the middle 100 steps on their knees as a penance. 

 Luckily there was an elevator inside so we only had to climb about 30 stairs.  The inside of the chapel was really simple, especially compared to the Notre Dame Basilica, but beautiful.  I was really happy that we went there and that I was able to share that with my grandmother (who is Catholic).  Inside there is also a shirne to Brother Andre that has crutches from all of the people he healed. 

Botanical Gardens

On Saturday we made a trip out to the Botanical Gardens, this is our favorite place in Montreal.  I was a little nervous that it would be disappointing, that there wouldn't be flowers but I was pleasantly surprised.  We could have spent the whole day wondering around looking at everything but unfortunately we weren't able to.  My favorite places are the Chinese and Japanese gardens.  The bonzai trees were out and they had a Lillac Bonzai and a Canadian Maple Bonzai and there was even a tree with pink pine cones. 

Poutine, A Giant Orange and Pascal

Last week I continued my dating streak and ventured out to La Belle Province for poutine, went to Gibeau Orange Julep and rode the Metro to the end of the line. 

Poutine

Poutine in all it's glory

Photo courtesy of Charlotte

For those of you who have never experienced poutine you are really missing out.  Poutine originated in Quebec and consists of french fries topped with cheese curds and then drenched in gravy.  While it may sound super disgusting it is actually delicious!  You can find poutine at almost every restaurant in Montreal that serves french fries.  One of my missions in Montreal was to try and find the best poutine and many people recommended La Belle Province.  My friend Charlotte and I decided to walk there figuring if we were going to eat 8,000 calories of poutine a half hour walk to and from La Belle Province would be necessary.  I have to admit that it wasn't the best poutine that I have had so far in Montreal but I am still glad I tried it. 

A Giant Orange
After my poutine adventure I met up with my friend Mitali and her two girls for another date.  Upon questioning my friend Molly Ann (who has lived in Montreal longer than either of us) it was decided that we go to Orange Julep.  Apparently, Gibeau Orange Julep is a sight to see.  After a short metro ride and crossing the busy autoroute we finally made it.  A big surprise was that they also served warm pretzels.  To those of you who know me well, you know that I love warm pretzels and NOBODY sells them in Montreal.

Photo courtesy of Mitali

Sonya, Mitali, Leah and Leena sipping our Orange Juleps

Pascal
For my last date, I decided to go solo with only my book and my city.  It was a rainy afternoon and I thought that would be a good time to ride the metro.  I hopped on at the Villa Marie (on the orange line) and rode to Cote Vertu to start my long ride to Montmorency and then back home.  Since it is a very long ride I decided to bring my book, How to be Canadian (a funny read if you are looking for a book about Canada) but instead of reading I ended up mesmorized by Pascal.  If you ride the Metro you will discover that it is a very great place to people watch, if you are into that sort of thing.  Usually there are children screaming, mothers yelling at their screaming children, teenage girls laughing, teenage boys trying to impress the teenage girls but to no avail, people reading and listening to music and even some who are sleeping.  As I opened my book to read an interesting man caught my eye.  He looked about my father's age and had a little twinkle in his eye.  His hair was torn between being white and gray and he was carrying a worn out bag.  I decided to check his footwear to see if his tennis shoes matched my father's but was slightly surprised when I saw the name Pascal written in black Sharpie above his heels.  I have to admit that earlier that day I was feeling sorry for myself and lonely but after seeing Pascal I decided that my problems couldn't be that bad if I didn't have to write my name on my shoes.  For the rest of the metro ride I tried to decide why Pascal had to have his name written on his shoes.  Maybe he was forgetful, maybe he didn't want anyone to take his shoes, maybe his wife made him do it, I guess I will never know.

I wanted to post a map of the Metro route but for some reason couldn't.  If you are really interested in seeing how long my trip was you can look at: http://www.metrodemontreal.com/map.html

Tightrope Walking and Mount Royal Activities

Well, it's official, I'm dating Montreal again and today I had a wonderful date with my city.  It was sunny and relatively warm, the perfect weather for a day at Mount Royal (the side in the plateau).  Forest and I met some friends (Mitali, Derek, Sonya and Leena Ruths) for a picnic, the tam-tam festival, a walk to Mile End, and some tightrope walking.  I was able to cross three items off my bucket list as well as an item off of my ultimate bucket list. 

Forest and Sonya eating lunch in the park.  Forest and Derek made salmon salads for us and we brought them to the park.

Derek, Sonya, Mitali and Leah

While we were eating lunch we saw a woman who was tightrope walking.  It looked pretty sweet and extremely difficult.  Being in an adventurous mood I decided to ask her if I could try.  It was so hard but really fun.  I kept wabbling but didn't fall over.

Mitali tightrope walking

Sonya was fearless!

Every Sunday in the summer there is a tam tam festival at Mount Royal.  It starts early in the morning with one tam tamer.  As the day progresses more people come with their drums to join in.  By the time we went over, there were hundreds of people in the park dancing, listening and drumming.  It was pretty amazing. 

The tam tamers are in the middle

Leah and Mitali on the lion statue

Laurier street in Mile End.  There are a lot of fancy shops there and restaurants.

Back in the Saddle Again

Spring is almost here and I've decided that it's time to get back out and start dating Montreal again.  Since Forest and I will be moving to Minneapolis in early August I've decided to make a list of all of the places and things that I want to do before we leave and I will write about them along the way.  For all of my friends who live here please let me know if there is something I need to add to my list or if you want to join me.   

My Montreal Bucket List.... in no particular order

1) Picnic at Mount Royal
2) Tam Tam Festival at Mount Royal
3) Parc Lafontaine
3) Beaux Arts Museum
4) Beach- Jean Drapeau
5) Restaurant- Au Pied du Cochon
6) Eat poutine at La Belle Province
7) Jazz Festival
8) Just for Laughs festival
9) Firework festival
10) Eat at the original St. Viateur
11) Mile End
12) Outremont
13) Use the Bixi bikes
14) Bike the Lachine Canal
15) Read a book by Margaret Atwood
16) Quebec City
17) See a Mounty
18) Ride the Metro to the end of the line
19) St. Joseph's Oratory
20) Botanical Gardens
21) McGill Arboretum
22) Bank of Montreal Museum
23) Little Italy
24) Contemporary Art Museum
25) Le Musee de Maitres et Artisans du Quebec
26) Stewart Art Gallery
27) Musee de Lachine
28) Sisters of Saint Anne Historic Centre
29) Centre D'Exposition de L'Uninversite de Montreal
30) Cite Historia Musee d'Histoire du Sault-au-Recollet
31) Montreal Archives Center
32) Cinematheque Quebecoise
33) Centre d'exposition la prison-des-patrioles
34) DHC/Art Foundation for Contemporary Art
35) Jardin de Floralies- Ile Notre-Dame

And most importantly... spending time with all of my friends; knitting, talking, eating (lots of baguette) and living.