Sunday, November 24, 2013

Canada Summer 2013: Ottawa, Ontario


August 17, 2013 -- I wasn't sure if I would be able to fit in a trip to Canada's clean and friendly capital city of Ottawa, Ontario so it was an exciting decision to wake up super early in Montreal and take a bus to Ottawa for the day and ride the train back in late afternoon before catching a Montreal Impact soccer game in the evening.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Boarding the Bus: Montreal to Ottawa


August 17, 2013 -- Rising before sunrise, I walked the empty pre-dawn streets of Montreal to Gare d'autocars de Montréal (English: Montreal Coach Terminal). I was ready to take a Greyhound bus to Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Canada Summer 2013: Montreal Downtown East

August 16, 2013 -- On my last full day in Montreal I left the comfortable environs of Westmount for the more gritty downtown east area of Montreal. I stayed in a private room I found through Airbnb and the host was really accommodating. She even skipped across town to let me in since I arrived earlier than expected. While waiting for her, I ate lunch at a great Caribbean restaurant which serves cuisine of the French Antilles and later in the evening heard a live jazz band playing at the restaurant.

Canada Summer 2013: Mount Royal Chalet


August 15, 2013 -- For some of the best views of Montreal's skyline, walk up the stairs at Mount Royal Park to the summit where the Mount Royal Chalet is located. From this vantage point, you get a spectacular view of the downtown skyline and beyond down the Saint Lawrence River and other points in Quebec.

Canada Summer 2013: McGill University


August 15, 2013 -- Montreal's McGill University was founded in 1821 by Glasgow, Scotland native James McGill. I had the chance to walk around the historic ground at the foot of Mount Royal in downtown Montreal.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Canada Summer 2013: Montreal Eaton Centre


August 15, 2013 -- Eaton Centre is multi-level indoor shopping mall located in downtown Montreal on Saint Catherine Street. Eaton Centre is connected to the McGill Metro and is a part of Montreal's Underground City, which is one of the largest underground complexes in the world. The underground city is vital during the cold Canadian winters when sometimes the best option is to get around town nice and warm indoors.

Canada Summer 2013: Montreal Chinatown


August 15, 2013 -- Montreal is not home to a huge Chinatown like New York, San Francisco or Vancouver, but the Chinatown is certainly worth visiting. There are many restaurants, vendors, food markets and Asian convenience stores located past the traditional Chinese paifing, or gateway arch on Saint Laurent Boulevard.

Canada Summer 2013: Montreal Place des Arts

August 15, 2013 -- On this day in Montreal I biked from Westmount down De Maisonneuve Boulevard to the end of the cycle path just past Place des Arts at Metro Station Saint-Laurent.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Riding the Rails: Quebec City to Montreal

August 14, 2013 -- After a short two-day trip to Quebec City, it was back to Montreal so I woke up before dawn and walked from the hostel to the train station for a very early morning VIA Rail Canada train ride back to Montreal. I took some pictures of the historic train station and video departing a rainy Quebec City and crossing the St. Lawrence river into Montreal's train station.

Canada Summer 2013: Quebec City


August 12-14, 2013 -- After a three hour early morning VIA Rail Canada train ride from Montreal to Quebec City, I exited the train station and walked up to the hostel in Old Quebec. When I checked into Auberge Internationale de Québec, I noticed something familiar about the man in front of me. It turns out we sat next to each other for more than three hours on the train and didn't say a word the entire trip.